Question 1

What is LATRAME?

Accepted Answer

A house for people who write. It brings together everything a book needs in order to exist: somewhere to write it, somewhere to show it, somewhere to sell it, and somewhere to let its characters live.

Four spaces in one house, with a single account for all of them.

Question 2

What are the four spaces?

Accepted Answer

The Foundry — the long-form writing workshop: chapters, scenes, a Codex of characters, a checker, EPUB and PDF export The Reading Room — the bookshop: books by the house's authors, to read and to buy The Web Room — the author website: your own public site, built by you LATRAME — the network: public narrative scenes, where authors, readers and characters meet

Question 3

Where do I start?

Accepted Answer

With whatever you want to do today.

Writing a book: The Foundry. Already have a book and want an address of your own: The Web Room. Want to read or buy: The Reading Room. Want your characters to exist in public: LATRAME.

Nothing obliges you to use all four, and nothing stops you adding one later.

Question 4

One account, or one per space?

Accepted Answer

One account for the whole house. You sign in once and move between spaces without ever retyping your password.

Question 5

What is free?

Accepted Answer

LATRAME, the network, is free and will stay free: reading, following, publishing scenes, creating characters, having your page.

Writing in The Foundry is free too, with no time limit. And a pioneer seat opens the workshop for free, for life — no card, no expiry. The remaining seats are counted on the Pioneers page.

Question 6

Who owns what I write?

Accepted Answer

You do. Your words stay yours, and you can take a full copy at any time — your book, your Codex, your research — to keep outside LATRAME.

Nothing you write is used to train artificial intelligence.

Question 7

Who sells, and who gets the money?

Accepted Answer

The author. Every author sells their own books, and payment goes straight to them — the house is not a middleman taking the money on their behalf. Payments go through Stripe.

Question 8

In which languages?

Accepted Answer

The house speaks French, English and Spanish. You switch language whenever you like, from the menu, and wherever you are comes with you.

Question 9

What is a pioneer?

Accepted Answer

The first arrivals. A pioneer seat opens the workshop for free, forever — no card, no expiry, including whatever comes later. How many seats are left is shown on the Pioneers page.

Question 10

A question nobody answers here?

Accepted Answer

Each space has its own tab on this page, just above. And if the answer isn't there either, write to us: someone actually reads.

Question 11

What is The Foundry?

Accepted Answer

LATRAME's long-form writing studio — for writing a whole book (chapters, scenes, characters, narrative threads), not just short social-style scenes. All in your browser, nothing to install.

Question 12

What's included?

Accepted Answer

A binder to organize chapters and scenes, a private Codex for your character/place sheets and narrative threads, a research space for images/notes/links, exporting your book as EPUB/PDF (plus a format designed for submitting to a publisher or agent), and a full downloadable backup anytime.

Question 13

Does it cost anything?

Accepted Answer

Not for pioneers. The first 500 LATRAME creators get the studio free, forever — no card, no expiry, including whatever comes later. The number of remaining seats is shown on the Pioneers page.

Question 14

Can I ever lose my book?

Accepted Answer

No, never. Your books, your Codex, your research stay exactly as you left them — everything is there when you come back. We never delete your work.

Question 15

Do I have to go through Word to check my text?

Accepted Answer

No — and avoiding exactly that is the point. Many authors export to Word to run a checker there, and end up with two versions of their book: the one in the writing software, which goes stale, and the one in Word, where the corrections keep happening. The checking lives here, in the workshop, on your current text: a spellchecker in the language of your manuscript, language rules that tell you WHY (and that you can silence), consistency across the whole book — the words you spell two different ways — and your style sheet, which remembers your decisions. Nothing is ever rewritten for you: it underlines, you decide. And DOCX is still there when you need it — as a file you generate, not a second version to maintain.

Question 16

Will the checker underline my invented names?

Accepted Answer

Not once they have an entry in your Codex: the checker knows your book's names and aliases. For everything else, one click keeps a word — for this book only, or for all your books. And it works the other way round: a word that looks like one of your Codex names without being one earns a “did you mean…?”. An ordinary checker can't do that — it doesn't know who your characters are.

Question 17

Is this AI?

Accepted Answer

No. None. It's a dictionary and a list of hand-written rules, which can be read and corrected. That's deliberate: a rule explains itself and gives the same answer twice, and about language you need to know why, not to obey. Your text never leaves the workshop to be checked.

Question 18

Do I have to sell?

Accepted Answer

No, never. Plenty of people come just to write. You can keep your book to yourself and export it anytime, publish a simple showcase page with no price, or publish nothing at all. Nothing forces you to put a book up for sale.

Question 19

How do I sell my book?

Accepted Answer

Selling is optional. For a book to actually be buyable, four things must be true at once: it's marked "finished", you've set a price and switched it to "for sale", your public page is published, and your Stripe account is active (that's what collects payment — the money goes straight to you). Markers at the top of the "Public page & shop settings" tab show at a glance what's left to do. Once everything's green, your book appears on your author page AND in The Reading Room.

Question 20

What is The Reading Room?

Accepted Answer

LATRAME's public bookshop — the multi-author catalogue where readers discover books for sale. As soon as your book is for sale and your page is published, it shows up there, in addition to your author page. It's the main way to get found by new readers.

Question 21

I fix my book after a sale — what does my buyer see?

Accepted Answer

Your buyer gets a frozen edition: they keep the version as it was at the moment of purchase. Your edits only reach them the day you explicitly publish an edition update (they're then notified by email). So you can polish your text freely, without what they bought changing under their eyes.

Question 22

How do I let people know it's out?

Accepted Answer

Interested readers can join a "notify me" list on your page. They get a confirmation when they sign up, then a single "it's out" email — which YOU trigger when you're ready. The list is then erased. You only ever see the number of sign-ups, never the raw list, and it's never public. That's what we promised them under the field: one email, no newsletter. For a list you keep and can take with you, see the next question.

Question 23

Do I get my own reader list?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it's separate from "notify me". Your public page carries a "Get the news" block, and under each upcoming book there's an unticked box, "I'd also like news from the author". Readers who tick it agree that YOU may write to them: you see their addresses, and you download the list as a file from "Your storefront at a glance". It's yours. Nothing stops you from taking it to the mailing tool of your choice — the file holds one unsubscribe link per reader, to drop into your own mailings. Two things to know: we collect no first name, only the address; and if you import the list elsewhere, that tool's unsubscribe becomes the one that counts. You can close the list any time under "Public page & shop settings".

Question 24

Can I write a book together with other people?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Invite your co-authors by their username, one at a time: everyone gets equal, shared access to the book, you can see who's writing alongside you in real time, and you can leave each other Sticky Notes and anchored highlights right in the text.

Question 25

What language can I write in?

Accepted Answer

French, English, or Spanish, chosen per book — typography (quotes, dashes) adapts automatically to your text's language.

Question 26

I've already started my manuscript elsewhere — do I have to retype everything?

Accepted Answer

No. You can import a Word file (.docx) or plain text (.txt) directly: every major heading becomes a chapter, with a review screen to check and adjust before anything is saved. From Scrivener it takes two steps: Compile → Microsoft Word (.docx), then import that file here. Your chapter breaks come with it, and you review them before anything is kept. Any tool that can export to Word comes through the same door.

Question 27

Is my data safe?

Accepted Answer

Autosave on every scene as you write. You can also export a full backup (.json) of your entire book — text, Codex, research — anytime, to keep your own copy outside LATRAME.

Question 28

Does it work offline?

Accepted Answer

Halfway — and that half protects what matters most: the typing you're doing right now. The open scene keeps a local copy on your device at every keystroke, before the save even tries the network. If the save fails for lack of connection, the draft stays on your device and picks itself back up as soon as the network returns. A dropout mid-chapter loses nothing of what you're typing. What it does not do: open a book or move around the studio offline. For that, you need a connection.

Question 29

What is The Reading Room?

Accepted Answer

LATRAME's bookshop: books from independent authors, to read and buy. Each author publishes and sells their own books directly — when you buy, you support the person writing, not a middleman.

Question 30

How does buying work?

Accepted Answer

Payment is secure and handled by Stripe. The money goes straight to the book's author: they sell and handle their own sales. Once your purchase goes through, the book joins your personal library.

Question 31

How do I read a book I've bought?

Accepted Answer

Two ways — take your pick. The moment you buy, your EPUB download link arrives by email and shows on screen too, no account needed. Or if you'd rather read online, your book is waiting for you in your library, in your browser, with your reading settings (theme, comfort) — just sign in with the email you used to buy it.

Question 32

Do I need an account?

Accepted Answer

Not to buy, and not to get your EPUB — that's sent by email (and shown on screen) right after purchase, no account required. A free account becomes useful if you want to read online in your browser: it gives you your library, your highlights, and your reading settings synced across every device — no file to manage or lose.

Question 33

The author updates their book — do I get the new version?

Accepted Answer

You keep the edition you bought, exactly as it is — it never changes behind your back. When the author publishes an update, you're notified by email and can get the new version.

Question 34

A question or an issue with a purchase?

Accepted Answer

Each author handles their own sales. For a question about a specific book, the best route is the author's page; for a payment or access problem, write to us and we'll help.

Question 35

What is The Web Room?

Accepted Answer

Your author website, built by you. You pick a starting point, turn the dials — layout, mood, typography, ornaments — and write your words straight into the page. What you see while building is exactly what your readers will see.

Question 36

Do I need an account to try it?

Accepted Answer

No. You can build the whole thing, write everything, drop in your portrait and your cover, and look at it full screen or on a phone. The account becomes necessary to reserve your address — `yourname.latrame.app` or your own domain name — and to make the site public.

Question 37

Do I need to know how to code?

Accepted Answer

No, and there is nothing to install. Everything is set with dials and text typed straight into the page.

Question 38

What will my address be?

Accepted Answer

`yourname.latrame.app` — you choose the label when you publish. You can also connect your own domain name, whether you already have one or want to get one. It is included, at no extra cost.

Question 39

Can I sell my books from my site?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You upload your files, set your prices, and your site sells them. Payment goes through Stripe and the money goes straight to you. A book that isn't out yet is announced as such: the button offers to notify your readers instead of leading to a purchase that doesn't exist.

Question 40

Can my readers follow me?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Your site collects the addresses of people who want to hear about your next release, and you download them from your dashboard. They can also write to you directly from your site.

Question 41

Will Google find my site?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every published site serves its own `robots.txt` and its own sitemap, under your address. A switch in your dashboard takes it back out.

Question 42

What does it cost?

Accepted Answer

$100 a year for the public address: hosting, certificate, backups, and your own domain name if you connect one. Building the site and keeping it as a draft costs nothing. Cancel any time: if you stop, your site stays online until the end of the year you paid for.

Question 43

How does this relate to The Foundry?

Accepted Answer

The Foundry is the writing workshop, The Web Room is your site. A book written in the workshop can move to your site and sell there, without you retyping it.

Question 44

What is LATRAME?

Accepted Answer

A social network where the line between fiction and reality is intentional — that's the whole point. Creators publish narrative scenes: posts, exchanges, comment threads. Real people. Invented characters. Both coexisting in the same feed.

Question 45

Who can use it? For what?

Accepted Answer

Pretty much anyone with a story to tell — or a character to bring to life. Authors who want their characters to exist beyond the book. Fans who imagine what their literary, cinematic, or historical heroes would say today. Sports teams who want to introduce their players as more than stats — one handle per player, a personality, fictional exchanges before the game. Satirists who give voice to archetypes with wit. Teachers and storytellers who want their audience to meet a character rather than read a description. Independent studios and podcasts extending their universe between episodes. And everyone else — those who didn't have a word for what they wanted to do, but recognize it the moment they see it.

Question 46

The fun part: you control your feed

Accepted Answer

Your main feed shows posts from the people and characters you follow — in chronological order. No algorithm deciding what you deserve to see. 99% of the time, you see exactly what you chose to follow. Occasionally LATRAME surfaces a creator or character you might like — but rarely, and never intrusively. You'll also see comments and likes from people you follow on other people's posts. What your people love, you discover naturally.

Question 47

Coming in late? No problem.

Accepted Answer

On a creator's page, you can reverse the order — oldest to newest — to read from the beginning. Perfect if you discover someone who's been publishing a series for months: start from scene 1 and catch up at your own pace.

Question 48

What's free?

Accepted Answer

Read all published scenes Follow creators and characters Create an account and a public page All formats — Classic, Modern, Poster Multilingual publishing FR / EN / ES Unlimited published scenes Unlimited characters

Question 49

When does it cost money?

Accepted Answer

Never, for LATRAME. Reading, following, publishing, creating characters, having your page — all of it is free and will stay that way. The Foundry, the long-form writing workshop, is free too for pioneers: the first 500 creators get it forever — no card, no expiration. The number of remaining seats is shown on the Pioneers page.

Question 50

Creators VS Characters — what's the difference?

Accepted Answer

Creators are real people. They have an account, a profile, a handle that belongs to them. They make the scenes. Characters are fictional beings created by authors. They have their own handle, their own voice, sometimes their own narrative arc across multiple scenes. Concrete example: @mariefa is a real person — she's the one writing and publishing. @dougfromaz is a character she created — he doesn't exist, but he posts, comments, and has his own voice. How do you tell them apart? Every character page has a terracotta header and a centered avatar — a distinctly different look from a creator page. You always know who you're dealing with.

Question 51

Fictional comments VS real comments

Accepted Answer

Scenes can contain fictional comments — written by the creator as part of the narrative. Fictional likes and replies included. That's staging, not real reactions. Real comments from your readers appear separately, below the scene. What's fiction is fiction. What's real is real.

Question 52

The golden rule

Accepted Answer

Hate, racism, discrimination, insults — out. Immediately. No warning. No second chances. LATRAME is a zero-negative space, and we mean it.

Maison LATRAME — FAQ

What is LATRAME?

What are the four spaces?

Where do I start?

One account, or one per space?

What is free?

Who owns what I write?

Who sells, and who gets the money?

In which languages?

What is a pioneer?

A question nobody answers here?