Could you introduce us to Les Fourmis Rouges publishing house, which you set up in 2013?

Les Fourmis Rouges is an independent publishing house that I set up in 2013. It's a deliberately human-scale structure: we publish between 10 and 13 titles a year, and there are currently two of us working full-time. I look after all editorial matters and the management of the company, while Rozenn Samson is in charge of communications, with occasional support from an apprentice. From the outset, the editorial line was very clearly defined. Les Fourmis Rouges publishes almost exclusively illustrated albums of fiction for young people. No novels, no documentaries: the album is really at the heart of the project, even if we have made the occasional foray into books for adults. This direction came about naturally, because I had long experience in this field and real expertise in children's books.

The creation of the company came about through a combination of circumstances, at a time when I found myself unemployed after working for Gallimard, Bayard, and then spending thirteen years at Thierry Magnier. I hadn't necessarily planned to create my own structure, but many authors had been encouraging me to do so for a long time. After raising the necessary money, the project was born, and the first books came out in March 2013.

How did you discover Poisson-Fesse by Pauline Pinson and Magali Le Huche, which is now one of your biggest hits?

I'd already worked several times with Magali Le Huche, whom I knew very well, and I'd also met Pauline Pinson, who is a close friend of Magali. When Pauline sent me the text of Poisson-Fesse, I first discovered it on its own, without images, and it was a real reading shock: the text made me laugh immediately, which is quite rare. Even before thinking about the illustrations, I felt that it was an extremely strong text, funny, but also full of meaning.

I immediately saw the potential, so much so that I printed 6,000 copies of the book, which was already huge for me, especially as it was coming out in June and my cash flow was fragile. On the other hand, it was impossible to imagine the scale of the success to come. The book took off immediately, and never stagnated. Reprints followed, some of them too modest, and we even found ourselves out of print.

The main thing that confirmed my intuition was the booksellers. Very quickly, Poisson-Fesse became a massive crush. I also remember a very telling sign: on the very day of delivery, a friend wrote to tell me he'd bought the book... while it was still in a box, even before it hit the shelves. At that moment, I knew something exceptional was happening.

The book tackles universal themes such as difference, resilience or harassment, but without ever dealing with them head-on.

Poisson-Fesse was first selected by Shoot the Book! Jeunesse au Salon du livre et de la presse jeunesse en Seine-Saint-Denis en 2024, a program of the Société civile des éditeurs de langue française that offers producers a showcase for children's literature, for audiovisual adaptation projects. What do you take away from this experience?

This wasn't a first for me, as I'd already submitted a title to Shoot the Book!, but I also know that few books are really adaptable. Some years, I offer none at all. For Poisson-Fesse, on the other hand, it was obvious: there's a very strong character, a clear theme, and above all figures that exist immediately, which is essential for an adaptation.

Shoot the Book! is a fundamental moment, not just for this book, but for the house in general. Les Fourmis Rouges is too small to approach audiovisual producers directly. So this event is the main place where I can make myself known, present the catalog as a whole and forge long-term links. It's both a showcase and a gas pedal. In the case of Poisson-Fesse, the experience was particularly strong: four producers showed interest, including two who discovered the book precisely at Shoot the Book!.

Following this, Poisson-Fesse was supported as a priority by the French Institute's Publication Assistance Program (PAP) in 2025. How did this support concretely facilitate translations and negotiations?

In the specific case of Poisson-Fesse, support from the Publication Assistance Program came after translation contracts had already been negotiated, and sometimes even signed. On the other hand, it played an essential role downstream, particularly in terms of communication. The fact that foreign publishers benefit from financial support enables them to reallocate budgets they don't have to commit to advances or initial costs, and invest them more in book promotion. For more fragile languages or markets, such as Gaelic, this is obviously invaluable. This support therefore acts as a lever to support sales over the long term.

More broadly speaking, publishing subsidies are fundamental to the international visibility of French publishers. All foreign publishers know that these schemes exist, and this considerably facilitates exchanges and negotiations. Even when, as with Poisson-Fesse, success has already been achieved, these aids play a structuring role, strengthening the distribution and impact of books abroad.

Poisson-Fesse is now translated in 12 countries, with three new translations supported by the PAP in 2025 (Austria, Japan, UK). How do you explain the universality of this title?
Today, Poisson-Fesseis translated into 13 languages, for 15 contracts, if we count certain languages declined in several versions, like Spanish and Catalan. This international circulation can be explained first and foremost by the strength of the character and the illustration: the visual impact is immediate, both very funny and deeply moving. It's often the image that catches the eye first. The book also tackles universal themes such as difference, resilience and bullying, but without ever dealing with them head-on. Harassment, for example, is present at the start, then fades away, leaving a trace that makes the character deeply endearing. We laugh, sometimes even with the harassers, before feeling a slight sense of unease: this ambiguity creates empathy and has a lasting effect.

This is at the heart of my editorial work: talking about complex subjects with humor and delicacy, without pressing the issue. This approach enables the book to reach a very wide audience, from toddlers to adults. Humor plays an essential role, particularly in educational uses, both in kindergarten and primary school, and no doubt explains why Poisson-Fesse travels so well from one country to another.

As an independent house, what does this export success mean to you? Does it influence the way you support your authors and your future publications?

For an independent house like Les Fourmis Rouges, this export success first has a very concrete consequence on cash flow. Unlike some structures that resemble independent houses but have solid financial backing, we operate on what we actually have in our account. When success arrives, it immediately relieves this permanent tension, without making prudence disappear. It gives us a breath of fresh air, a much-appreciated flexibility.

This situation doesn't encourage me to hire or speed up production - quite the contrary. Rather, it gives me the opportunity to slow down, to make perhaps a few fewer books, but under better conditions, and with more freedom. It also allows me to invest more serenely in communication, without hesitating to defend the books even more, while remaining extremely vigilant. Publishing is still made up of unpredictable cycles, and one success never guarantees the next.

This success doesn't change my way of working or my vision of the company, apart from confirming its independence and reinforcing the right to take a few more risks, with modesty. As for the adaptations, they are underway, but they are long processes, which we are approaching with great caution. In the same way, a possible sequel will only be made if an idea comes naturally to the author: there's no logic of profitability at any price, only the desire to continue making the books as well as possible.