When many Latinas were growing up, their parents talked to them about everything—except sex. According to a study conducted by the market research company Mintel, sexual well-being is a big topic of discussion among adult Latinas. They are turning to books and websites for the information that was not shared with them while growing up.
In the report, Mintel interviewed Rene Alegria, owner of the website Mamiverse and former publisher of HarperCollins/Rayo, who explains: “Latinas are much more open to discussing sex than in the past and are moving at light speed compared to where they were 10 years ago.” This tendency is not only noticeable online but also at the cash register of bookstores.
A prime example is the success of the book Cincuenta sombras de Grey (Fifty Shades of Grey), published by Vintage Español. With the upcoming release of the movie on February 13 in the U.S., timed for Valentine’s Day, and February 12 in Latin America, to coincide with El Día del Amor y la Amistad (which is similar to Valentine’s Day), the book is back on the bestseller list.
Although Penguin Random House doesn’t release in-print numbers for individual titles in the Fifty Shades trilogy, the three volumes sold more than 450,000 in Spanish in the U.S. The movie-tie-in edition of Fifty Shades of Grey was released on January 6 by Vintage Español, with an initial printing of 25,000 copies. The same week it was released it made it to #5 in the Spanish fiction bestsellers list published by Nielsen. According to Jaime de Pablos, director of Spanish-language publishing at Penguin Random House, the publisher has gone back to print three times for the original edition of Cincuenta. He also notes that sales of both the original and movie-tie-in versions have spiked significantly since the release of the trailer, with each topping the Spanish-language romance bestseller list, and, he adds, e-book sales of the tie-in edition even surpassed the print version for the first week in January.
“The decision to publish in January was made to allow for publicity for the movie and for booksellers to have ample time for lay down before the movie release date,” de Pablos says. The movie trailer alone has more than 70 million views on YouTube. And, according to several media reports, advance tickets for the expected blockbuster were the fastest-selling in Fandango history for an R-rated movie. Theaters around the U.S. have been scrambling to add extra show times to keep up with demand.
And if you can’t get enough of the book and the movie, there’s also Fifty Shades of Grey, the wine!
