The most talked about novel at the start of this new literary season is written by Alexis Jenni, a biology teacher from Lyon, who has published L'Art français de la guerre (The French art of war) (Gallimard), a captivating saga interweaving different eras and places. One of the novels triggering the most interest at present is Le Ravissement de Britney Spears (The abduction of Britney Spears) (POL), by Jean Rolin, which takes us to California. Patrice Pluyette promises us Un été sur le Magnifique (Summer on the Magnificent) (Seuil). Antoine Choplin changes the tone completely with Le héron de Guernica (The heron of Guernica) (Le Rouergue). Emmanuel Carrère, author of Un Roman russe (A Russian Novel) (2007) and D’autres vies que la mienne (Lives other than mine) (2009), publishes the novel Limonov, focusing on the sulphurous life of the eponymous Russian poet and dissident who lived for a time in Paris. Amélie Nothomb is another of the heavyweights of this new season, with her twentieth novel, entitled Tuer le père (Kill the father) (Albin Michel). Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt is back with La femme au miroir (The woman in the mirror) (Albin Michel). Other French literary stars this autumn include: Yasmina Khadra, Eliette Abécassis, Charles Dantzig, Michel Schneider, Sorj Chalandon, Eric Reinhardt, etc.

The autumn publishing season is an unmissable event for publishers. Why this season rather than another? Because this is the season of the great literary prizes. In the publishing sector, laurels are bestowed in the autumn. Since the beginnings of the Goncourt Prize in 1903 or the Femina Prize in 1904, publishers have followed the calendar of the autumn publishing season, making this ritual a real French exception.

In recent years, the amount of books published in the autumn has been increasing constantly. 1998 saw a harvest of 488 works, and in 2000 there were 557. In 2007, the season was particularly rich with 727 volumes. The publishing market is growing constantly, in spite of the economic situation, for books can withstand times of crisis. The only slight hint of caution among publishers due to the economic situation in 2010 was the choice of safe bets such as famous and French writers.