Scholastic is launching a new Spanish-language imprint this month, Scholastic en Español, as part of its strategy to expand its commitment to the Spanish market and to make its Spanish-language publishing and promotion more cohesive across the company's divisions. The imprint will publish about 100 books a year that will be distributed through all the company's channels including mass market, bookstores and book fairs in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico and Argentina. It will debut with the September 15 release of Madonna's first children's book, The English Roses (Las rosas inglesas).
"There is going to be a lot of marketing behind the title," said Macarena Salas, editorial director of Spanish book publishing for Scholastic. "A lot of people are going to be at least curious about the book, and it's a great title, a beautiful story, very well written. I think Madonna's book will capture people's attention—that's why we decided to make it the lead."
Initially, the imprint will be heavily weighted toward translations, though it will publish some original Spanish-language works. On the translation side, the new imprint will mine the best of Scholastic's frontlist and backlist, publishing books based on characters such as Clifford and Captain Underpants, as well as re-launching Goosebumps in Spanish. With the formation of the new imprint, Scholastic is also dropping the Mariposa name under which it published books in Spanish.
In the future, the imprint will seek out more original Spanish titles to publish, though, at least in the U.S. market, translated books will continue to be in the majority, said Mauricio Sabene, Scholastic's v-p of Spanish Publishing. Scholastic recently brought all of its Spanish book publishing activities together under one group, led by Sabene. The goal, he said, is to support the different divisions not only in their publishing, but also in their marketing to Spanish-speaking readers. Scholastic subsidiary Lectorum, a Spanish-language distributor, publisher and bookstore, will continue to operate under president Teresa Mlawer.
