With smash hits such as Harry Potter, South Beach Diet, Da Vinci Code, and Living History selling tens of thousands of copies nationwide in Spanish translation, the U.S. publishing industry is finally reaping the benefits of a much anticipated English/Spanish publishing synergy. At this year’s BEA, more and more U.S. publishers announced Spanish editions for their best-selling English titles. One of the most significant was Bill Clinton’s memoir, Mi vida, which Knopf will release this August with an impressive first run of 100,000 copies.

Moreover, after the critical and commercial success last year of high-profile Latino and Latin American authors such as Sandra Cisneros and Gabriel García Márquez, U.S. publishers seemed more aware of the crossover potential of Spanish-language writers. At the show, Penguin Press promoted the New York Times best-selling novel Shadow of the Wind by Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

BEA’s fourth annual Spanish Book Pavilion, sponsored by Críticas magazine, also reflected this cross-pollination between north and south. Amid the shelves of Spanish-language titles from the nearly 160 international exhibitors that participated this year, translations of U.S. best sellers stood out. 'Before, we used to think that translations didn’t work really well,' said Silvia Matute, director of sales and marketing at Santillana USA. 'But since successes like Código Da Vinci (Urano) and La dieta South Beach (Rodale), publishers in this market are looking more for translations than originals.' This was clear at the Pavilion, where publishers were taking advantage of the ongoing boom of religion-themed books, presenting translations of such smash hits as Holy Blood, Holy Grail (Planeta), The Passion of Jesus Christ (Unilit), as well as original titles like Las claves del Código Da Vinci (The Keys of The Da Vinci Code, Nowtilus).

For the second year in a row, BEA joined forces with Críticas and the Association of American Publishers to promote Latino authors and educate the publishing world about the makeup of the market for Latino writing. On Saturday, a series of industry seminars and author events aimed at booksellers and librarians serving Latino communities became the launching ground for what promises to be another exciting year in Latino publishing.

Spanish Titles for U.S. Latinos

At 'BEA’s Latin American & Latino Book Buzz Workshop,' editors from leading Spanish-language book publishers sat down with booksellers to describe their upcoming titles and solicit feedback about bookselling trends. Santillana’s Matute announced the release of José Saramago’s Ensayo sobre la lucidez (Lucidity), the Nobel Prize-winner’s sequel to the acclaimed novel Blindness. Matute also presented two books written exclusively for U.S. Latinos, Cocina latinoamericana (Latin American Cuisine) and Cómo vivir y trabajar en EstadosUnidos (How to Live and Work in the United States), confirming that international and U.S. houses are finally responding to the tastes and needs of this bicultural reader.

One way international publishers are speaking directly to Latinos is by cashing in on the country’s current political debates. Hot titles at this year’s fair included Spanish-language translations of Ron Suskind’s The Price of Loyalty (Océano), Richard Clarke’s Against All Enemies (Santillana), and Samuel Huntington’s Who Are We? (Paidós). HarperRayo was also promoting Univision anchor Jorge Ramos’s The Latino Wave, or La ola latina, an analysis of the crucial role Latinos will play in the upcoming presidential elections. Santillana announced another timely release, Contra Bush (Against Bush, Aug.), a collection of essays by renowned Mexican author Carlos Fuentes.

Children’s Picks

Also on the 'Book Buzz' panel, Macarena Salas, editorial director of Spanish book publishing for Scholastic, reiterated the increased interest from publishers for books by and for U.S. Hispanics. 'We want to do more books where Latinos are the protagonists and the heroes; books that empower Latino children,' she claimed and then announced the October release of the YA novel Vuelo a la libertad (Flight to Freedom), a 13-year-old girl’s account of her life in Cuba and later as an immigrant in Miami. Two November releases for young readers, Adivinanzas (Riddles) and Trabalenguas (Tongue Twisters), as well as the Spanish-language translation of Madonna’s latest book, Yakov y los siete ladrones (June), also generated buzz at the seminar.

But perhaps the most exciting news during the panel came from Katelin Trowbridge, manager of publicity and administration at Public Square Books, a new publisher and distributor of Spanish-language graphic novels. 'We plan to bring the fastest growing genre in the United States to the fastest growing population group,' said Trowbridge as she introduced some of the 42 graphic novels that the house will release in 2004. Booksellers were thrilled to hear that the popular Hellboy and Sin City series will now be available in Spanish and that their launch will coincide with major Hollywood productions by Latino directors.

Debuts and First Novels

Among the debut novels at the show, Joe Loya’s memoir The Man Who Outgrew His Prison Cell (HarperRayo, Sept.) got the crowd’s full attention. Loya recounts his upbringing under a devoutly religious and abusive father, and the chain of bank robberies that gained him an eight-year prison sentence. 'Every time I think about what Joe’s been through, I’m reminded of why he captivates so many,' said HarperRayo editor René Alegria. 'It sounds cliché, but Joe is as authentic as it gets, every single little wrinkle exposed.'

Another debut novel, Nina Marie Martínez’s ¡Caramba! (Knopf), was on the tips of many tongues at Saturday’s 'Latin American and Latino Book Forum.' 'It’s a book very preoccupied with homelands,' explained Martínez, who was born to a first generation Mexican American and an American mother of Germanic descent. In a bubbly mix of English and Spanglish, Martínez narrates the zany stories of six protagonists, among them a born-again Christian mariachi, a transvestite beautician, and a practicing witch. The result: an explosion of kitsch that has been compared to Sandra Cisneros’s work and was selected by Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great New Writers program this spring.

Talk of Luis Rodríguez’s much-anticipated first novel Music of the Mill (HarperRayo, March 05) also piqued attendees’ attention at the author forum. An award-winning Chicano writer, Rodríguez, previewed his multi-generational story of a steel mill working family, describing how it retraces the decline of the country’s one’s potent industrial machine.

Overall, the growing body of work by U.S. Latinos stood out. 'While last year’s hot picks such as Valdés-Rodgríguez’s Dirty Girls and Fuguet’s Movies of My Life didn’t necessarily live up to the public expectations of the ‘quintessential’ Latino experience, this year’s group of authors did just the opposite,' explained Críticas editor Adriana Lopez. 'From Chicano and Puerto Rican urban voices to the plight of Cuban refugees to Nicaraguan folklore, this group had a lot to say about their varied ethnic experiences.'

Spanish-language Authors in English

Celebrated Mexican author Ignacio Padilla was promoting Antipodes, his second work to be translated into English by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. This collection of short fables reflects the author’s effort to deviate from the formulaic offerings of contemporary Mexican literature. 'I don’t write about Mexico, or ask questions about my Mexicanity,' Padilla explained, adding that his stories span the world and the ages. 'There’s been a reaction to magical realism and exoticism, and right now I feel comfortable writing about other nations, that I don’t know personally, but that I know through fiction.'

Books such as Padilla’s reflect U.S. publishers’ increased interest in Spanish-speaking writers-not just the Spanish classics or magical realism exponents. FSG has been one of the leaders in this effort, translating such acclaimed Latin American authors as Padilla, Elena Poniatowska (The Skin of the Sky, Oct.) and Mayra Montero (The Captain of the Sleeping, Fall 05). At BEA booksellers were also raving about Putnam’s hot-of-the-press Queen of the South by international best-selling Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte.

In order to remain competitive, international publishers with U.S. offices are also considering translating their authors into English. 'The interest in Spanish-language authors is solid, and we feel that we have unequaled access to some of the finest talent in Latin America and Spain,' said Marla Norman, sales director of Spain’s leading publisher Planeta. In early November, the publisher will release three of its popular titles in English, among them Gabo y Fidel, about the controversial friendship between Gabriel García Márquez and the Cuban leader.

Spanish Book Pavilion

Most exhibitors at the Spanish Book Pavilion were satisfied with the contacts that they made and the efforts by the show’s organizers to encourage discussion about the state of the industry. 'This year I noticed that the buyers are more savvy and know what works and what doesn’t in their particular channel,' said Santillana’s Matute. 'I remember BEA 2002 when several of the buyers still didn’t know what genres, price point, and authors worked in Spanish. Now, most buyers know very well what they want, what kind of returns can be expected, and how many copies they should buy. This is very positive; it is less risky to do business today.'

Roberto Rivas, exports manager at Océano, noticed more interest in the Spanish-language market from the big retailers. 'The absence of many small and independent distributors this year will put bigger companies at an advantage,' he predicted. Marla Norman, U.S. sales director of Planeta, agreed: 'Movement within Barnes & Noble and Borders is terrific and book sales within Sam’s Clubs, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Target have also continued to gain momentum.'

But amid the optimism, there was also a general consensus that there were less floor traffic and fewer or smaller booths. 'I was expecting more activity, quite frankly,' said Planeta’s Norman. 'We’re coming off a spectacular year, with extremely strong sales in 2003, so I was a little surprised at the pace of the show.'

Next year’s show seems more promising, however, as international publishers prefer to spend money to exhibit in New York over Chicago. As Matute put it: 'We will definitely participate next year. In a country so big, where customers are so dispersed, BEA is the only opportunity we have to see them all in just a couple of days and to show our new releases.'