Author Custom Fragrance Collaborations

Working one on one with authors to make their books even more immersive through custom fragrances is the heart of our business! There's nothing like watching a story come to life through the sense of smell, which is so closely intertwined with memory and emotion. This page contains all of the information you need to understand how the custom fragrance collaboration process works.

Please do not hesitate to reach out at the bottom of this page if you have a question that is not answered here!

• We take collaboration requests by application ONLY. We post the author customs application form for a limited time. The link to this form will be on this page, on the BibliOddities home page, in our email list, and on all social media. There will be announcements leading up to the posting of the link, as it will be open for a very limited time. In the past, we have received an overwhelming number of requests in a very short time frame. In very rare circumstances, we may reach out to an author personally to offer a collaboration. These are outside of my usual offerings and are not typical.
• We accept roughly 24 collaborations per year, 2 per month. One is a free slot (author is responsible for shipping+taxes) and one is a paid slot. Starting in 2027, paid slots will cost $250 (plus tax & shipping for your samples). We may occasionally take a third commission on months where we feel like that will not compromise our mental health or the quality of our work. The third slot is always paid. The last time we opened our applications we received over 60 submissions. 
• If you are accepted, you will be offered a month and slot type. You may either accept or decline. We try to match people to their expressed preferences while also keeping the month's books unique enough that they won't feel competitive. The exact month you request, if you request a specific month, might not always be available.
• We always prioritize authors who are BIPOC, trans, disabled, or have otherwise othered life experiences.
• All authors we work with must use sensitivity readers for experiences outside of their own, and forgo the use of generative AI in their work and marketing. Mistakes happen, but if you are respectfully approached about an issue regarding one of these important topics and are unwilling to make a shift, this will cause a termination of our collaboration. 
• The collaboration timeline takes about 3 months from start to release. Any paid slots must have made their payment and signed their contract 3 months before their release. (ie: April authors would submit payment no later than January, so we can start working on the fragrance at the beginning of February).
• We also require a physical address we can ship to, a copy of your book (physical is preferred for marketing but audio is also acceptable, as migraines prevent the team from reading full length works digitally), and a description of your hopes/preferences for the fragrance. Any other information regarding your book is helpful. Authors have sent us character art, character descriptions, playlists, etc.
• Authors receive up to two sets of 3 mini tester sizes of potential fragrances. If one of the fragrances of the first set is not the right fit we will send out a second set with alterations, one of those must be selected as the final fragrance. Authors then receive their release box, which includes a 50ml of their final fragrance.
• Unless negotiated otherwise under rare circumstances, authors retain the ability to purchase their fragrance at wholesale cost (20% off) for as long as we can source the materials to make it, EVEN if we stop stocking it in the shop. 
• International authors will not receive alcohol based scents. We do offer oil based and solid versions of their scent and in will have an altered timeframe due to customs and shipping delays as outlined in our contract.

Applications for the 2026 year are now CLOSED.