Rarely is there a book so in demand in a language other than English that a major trade publisher rushes its release before the translation. But given the overwhelming demand for Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez's new Spanish-language autobiography, Vivir para Contarla (Living to Tell the Tale), Knopf is releasing the book almost a year ahead of schedule. After a prolonged bidding war, García Márquez's first volume in a three-part memoir was sold to Knopf for a sum in the "six-figure range" by Spanish literary agent Carmen Balcells. Vivir para Contarla will have an initial 50,000-copy print run for the hardcover Spanish-language version, to be released December 3.
The book, released abroad in early October, has set sales records throughout the Spanish-speaking world. In Spain, the initial print run of 300,000 copies sold out in 10 days. In Colombia, 200,000 copies have sold, and a second printing of 90,000 is in the works. The book currently sits atop the bestseller lists in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Spain and several other Latin American countries, and is sure to hit Críticas's list.
García Márquez's previous book, News of a Kidnapping, was a well-received journalistic escapade into Colombia's drug-trafficking world. The 1996 title was also rushed into release in Spanish before the English edition; its initial print run was a paperback edition from Penguin. Knopf seems to have set a precedent in first releasing a hardcover version in Spanish for the U.S. market.
Due to poor health, García Márquez hasn't made many public appearances, but is expected to speak at this year's Guadalajara Book Fair in early December.
