The change of seasons has brought changes in the landscape of Spanish-language book publishing. In September, the Celebra imprint announced that it will stop acquiring new titles, and the Sélector USA imprint launched.
Celebra was founded in 2007 by Raymond Garcia at Penguin as part of the Berkley imprint. It focused on celebrity-driven titles for adults and children. The imprint published 8–10 titles per year in both Spanish and English. There are currently still eight titles set to be published under the Celebra banner, but no new titles will be contracted. According to Craig Burke, spokesman for Berkley: “Celebra published several high-profile successes—including bestsellers by Ricky Martin, Rita Moreno, and Jennifer Lopez. However, inconsistent consumer demand made it increasingly difficult to sustain an imprint with Celebra’s tightly focused mix of lifestyle and celebrity titles. So, after much analysis and reflection, Berkley decided to phase out the Celebra publishing program. While we are no longer acquiring new titles, we will publish books currently under contract to Celebra and will continue to sell the imprint’s backlist under the Celebra logo.”
Sélector USA, which was launched on September 1, is a joint venture between the American Book Group (ABG) and Mexican publisher Editorial Sélector. Prior to the agreement with ABG, Editorial Sélector titles were available in the U.S. through various distributors, including Baker & Taylor and Random House, but this is its first imprint for the U.S. market. Ernesto Martínez, sales director of ABG, says that revised editions of Sélector’s backlist and frontlist titles will be released by ABG under the Sélector USA imprint and will feature U.S. ISBNs and LCC numbers.
Editorial Sélector is known for publishing a wide range of fiction and nonfiction titles for adults and children at low prices. Sélector USA was launched in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico with 21 titles, including Hacer dinero sin tener dinero (How to make money without money) by Ruben Martín Mosqueda and three titles by bestselling author Elios Herrera. Martínez says, “The plan is to launch approximately 250 titles per year, which is significant considering the number of books in Spanish released on a yearly basis in the U.S.”
Daniel Araico, CEO of Sélector, says: “Part of the offering that will nurture Sélector USA’s catalogue early next year will be titles on a wide range of topics, such as culture, politics, and the economic and social environment, as well as cooking and health care. We hope to become a source for relevant and easy-to-understand books for first and second generation of Hispanics.”
LifeWay and B&H Pick Up Seven SEPA Awards
LifeWay Global and its B&H Español division won big at the Spanish Evangelical Publishers Association (SEPA) Awards, held September 14 in Miami during Expolit 2016. Expolit, an annual Christian Spanish literature and music convention, aims to promote the growth of ministry and resources within Spanish-speaking markets. B&H Español won three awards for trade books and Bibles, and three awards for sales excellence, and LifeWay Global won one award for the Cuarto de guerra (War room) Bible study.
