A book of poetry by Spanish singer-songwriter Marwan has now spent over 43 weeks on bestseller lists in the author's home country. The work, which Marwan's literary agent described as a mix of "urban poetry, short texts, and tweets," is selling, in part, thanks to its author's social media following.
Book title: Todos Mis Futuros Son Contigo (All My Futures Are With You )
First published by: Planeta on May 19, 2015
Format: hardcover and paperback
Author: Marwan, born in Madrid in 1979, is a poet and singer-songwriter. He self-published his first book of poetry La Triste Historia de Tu Cuerpo Sobre El Mio, selling 35,000 copies in Spain alone. Todos Mis Futuros Son Contigo is his second book of poetry.
Acquiring Editors: Emilio Albi and Raquel Gisbert
How It’s Done: All My Futures Are With You has been on Spain's bestseller lists for poetry since its publication in May, 2015. According to Maria Lynch of Spanish agency Casanovas & Lynch Literary, sales of the book have exceeded 45,000 copies which, she added, is an unusually large number in Spain for a book of poetry. Rights to the book have been sold to publishers in Italy (Giunti) and Portugal (Marcador).
Why It’s Working: Lynch thinks Marwan has been able to move so many copies thank to his mastery of, and strong presence on, social media. (He has more than 74,000 followers on Twitter; over 187,000 likes on Facebook; and over 60,000 followers on Instagram.) Noting that both of Marwan's books have been selling steadily since they were published--she estimated they each move "an average of 1,000 copies per week"--Lynch said the titles are well-priced and attracting a particularly strong following among the author's core fan base of young adults.
