Once considered a lowbrow genre, crime fiction is now a beloved companion for many readers, whether they are casual fans or true enthusiasts. This is precisely why Laurent Vareille, who is better known on the Nice radio waves, launched his digital bookstore concept: https://librairie-polar.com.
Nice Premium: Laurent Vareille, can you explain your concept of a virtual yet very real bookstore?
Laurent Vareille: Yes, librairie-polar.com is indeed a very real bookstore. I do genuine bookseller work. I select, classify, guide, and advise. The only difference is that I offer digital books and I am specialized in crime fiction, detective novels.
NP: How do you go from radio to digital books?
LV: I’d like to reassure my banker, I’m not leaving radio. It’s an additional activity, but being a journalist helps me a lot in writing the reviews available on the site. It also helps in managing the bookstore’s presence on social media.
NP: How many digital books does your virtual bookstore have?
LV: Currently, across all genres, I have more than 2,000 titles. From thrillers to children’s crime stories, including essays on noir fiction and historical detective novels.
NP: The crime fiction genre, you got into it quite young, I believe?
LV: My father was an academic, a specialist in detective novels at a time when this genre was considered lowbrow literature. He fought to have it recognized as a legitimate literary genre, and I am very proud of that. I have always been immersed in this world as a result.
NP: What would you say to authors or publishers who are still hesitant to make the leap to digital?
LV: They shouldn’t hesitate! Being modern, avant-garde, progressive is precisely about embracing digital to build the book industry together. Not to leave it to the giant American corporations… Need I say more? Publishing digitally is about fighting and existing.
NP: I’m an author and I want to publish my book digitally… Is it complicated?
LV: As a bookseller, this part eludes me. But I seriously think that bookstores can also help discover new talents and support young authors.
NP: Finally, after a few months of existence, how do you assess your project which has become a virtual reality?
LV: I spent a year organizing my bookstore. Now, the catalog is quite good. The goal now is to make myself known. I want to find customers who will be happy to come and buy from me and discuss books with the bookstore.
