As the number of Spanish-speaking Latinos in the U.S. tops 20 million, publishers—including major U.S. houses, independent presses and international companies—are moving to capture a greater share of this fast-growing market.
In the past year alone, HarperCollins, Thomas Nelson, Lerner, Santillana and Planeta have all started or expanded Spanish publishing programs. The number of Spanish books published in the U.S., already about 80,000 a year, is poised to rise. While that suggests a possible sales boost for publishers, it also means competition will increase, making it more important than ever to figure out what does and doesn't work in reaching this audience.
Among publishers that have recently increased their focus on the market is HarperCollins, where three imprints—Rayo, Avon Books and HarperTorch—combine to publish one mass market paperback in Spanish per month. The "mass market en Español" initiative was launched last fall with La noche de la bruja muerta, a translation of Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking. Other translations include mystery, thriller and romance titles.
Last fall also saw the start of Ediciones Lerner, a Spanish-language imprint by Lerner Publishing Group (Minneapolis). Lerner's publicist Madeline Cooper says the imprint got off to an ambitious beginning, with 55 titles published last fall aimed at schools and libraries. "We are planning to publish 50 additional Spanish-language titles in 2006," Cooper adds. "All of these titles are translations of English-language originals."
Thomas Nelson Publishers of Nashville, Tenn., and its new Grupo Nelson division has an aggressive Spanish-language publishing plan for 2006, with five imprints focusing on Bibles and reference guides (Editorial Caribe), gift editions of Catholic Bibles (Editorial Católica), inspirational titles (Editorial Betania), self-help titles (Editorial 10 Puntos) and business books (Líder Latino). Leading the program is Grupo Nelson's v-p and publisher, Larry Downs, who was hired a year ago as part of an initiative to bring Spanish publishing expertise into the company. "We have really cranked up the engines here through specific new hires," says Downs. Beyond its current staff of six, Grupo Nelson plans to add four positions within the next few months.
This month, Santillana (Miami) relocated its nonfiction acquisitions editor from Mexico City to Miami as part of an expansion plan that includes publishing 10 new health, spirituality and self-help titles in the U.S. this year, followed by two dozen more in 2007. Silvia Matute, Santillana's general books division director, says the company will also start publishing in mass market format this year.
On the distribution end, Planeta Publishing (Miami) added four imprints from Spain to its distribution roster: Gestion 2000, Amat, CEAC and Deusto. Grupo Editorial Norma (Puerto Rico) added an imprint of its own: Bellaqua.
The publishers that compete for a share of the U.S. market can be divided into four groups.
The first group includes a handful of international publishers with U.S. sales offices, such as Santillana, Norma, Planeta and Urano. They have had a significant presence in the U.S. for more than a decade, making them the leading competitors in this market. These "publisher-distributors" bring in books from their affiliate companies in Spanish-speaking countries, choosing only those they think will appeal to the U.S. market.
The second group is international publishers that do not have local sales offices and often partner with local distributors such as Lectorum Publications, Bilingual Publications Company and Independent Publishers Group to market and sell their books.
The third group of publishing players includes large U.S. houses such as Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Scholastic and Thomas Nelson—all of which have separate divisions or imprints dedicated to publishing books in Spanish. Some, like Random House, have a bilingual sales force to target trade accounts and special markets, while others rely on their existing reps to push the Spanish-language list.
Smaller U.S. publishers make up the fourth group. Typically, they take a few of their biggest titles and translate them into Spanish.
Some Strategies Do Translate
Whatever the business model, veterans of the Spanish-language market caution against looking for a single, surefire way to capture an audience. "There are no quick formulas for success. Most of the things that apply in publishing in general apply to books in Spanish," says Planeta Publishing's Marla Norman.
Grupo Nelson, for example, provides excerpts of its books to consumer magazines, and publishes in trade and mass market formats to reach customers at all price points. Santillana targets readers through bilingual and Spanish-language newspapers. "We work closely with the media, sending advance copies of all titles and coordinating reviews and interviews with authors," says Silvia Matute, Santillana's general books division director. Random House and Llewellyn Español also stress the importance of Hispanic media. "We promote our books to various domestic Spanish-language newspapers, and on national radio and televisions shows on Univisión and Telemundo," says Llewellyn's Ximena Ortiz.
But just because the strategies are similar doesn't mean publishers don't need to hire staff with expertise in the Spanish-speaking market. "We currently have six full-time dedicated persons to Spanish, and our own marketing person as well," says Downs. "We work with distributors but also work very much directly with stores, ensuring that we get placement for Spanish product." For most resellers, the margins are too thin to do more than create a catalogue, maintain a Web site, and exhibit at conferences and trade shows. Publishers that are successful in the U.S. market take an active role in promoting their books. This means organizing book signings, getting book reviews in Spanish, participating in local book fairs, and getting coverage in newspapers and magazines and on TV and radio.
And there are some tactics specific to the Spanish market. "We try to release our translations as closely as possible to the English release to catch the initial media push," Norman says. Planeta's top title last year was La sombra del viento (The Shadow of the Wind) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. "We launched our trade paper version in 2003 to coincide with the Penguin hardcover launch in English," Norman notes. "We had both editions displayed side by side in the chains. Last spring, Penguin released its trade paper version, and Carlos toured a second time, which helped the sales remain consistently high."
Lectorum Publications takes a nontraditional approach, targeting not only libraries and schools, but also nonprofit organizations, such as Reach Out and Read and Reading Is Fundamental, that distribute books to children who might otherwise not have access to quality Spanish-language books, says Lectorum president Teresa Mlawer. Partly because of this strategy, Lectorum's special edition of Dr. Seuss's Huevos verdes con jamón (Green Eggs and Ham) sold 15,000 copies last year alone, while the eight titles in the La casa del árbol (The Magic Tree House) series racked up sales of 80,000 units in 2005.
Finding Out What Readers Want
Of course, the simplest recipe for success is to publish what readers want to read—but that can be harder than it sounds, especially for publishers inexperienced in the Spanish-language market. U.S. publishers often assume, wrongly, that their bestselling titles in English will be just as popular in Spanish. Random House business development manager Erik Riesenberg advises publishers: "Know your readers. Keep the line of communication open to know what interests and trends are developing."
Linda Goodman, president of Bilingual Publications Company, a Spanish book distributor based in New York, partnered with Mexico's Colibrí Publishers to create a series of novels for adult readers. As a long-time Spanish book distributor with years of front-line selling experience, Goodman knew there was a demand for stories written in a straightforward style with easy vocabulary and enticing plots. The joint-venture series Lectura a la medida fills the need by creating books written by Mexican authors specifically for U.S. Hispanic adults.
For those books that originate in English, nothing can stop sales faster than a poor translation. Díaz Educational Group's Diccionario escolar enfocado bilingual dictionary set, for example, contains a number of errors in translation, usage and spelling—making it an especially hard sell for the school market.
"Accurate, readable translations have been the key to our success in the market," says Lerner's Madeline Cooper. "Our editors collaborate with professional translators from a variety of backgrounds to translate ideas—not just words—into neutral Spanish-language adaptations."
The most important advice of all, say publishers: Don't take a tepid approach to this hot market. "Jump in with both feet and set realistic expectations," says Nelson's Downs. Hire someone to do it in-house. Don't give it as a project to someone who can only devote 5% of his time to it. Bottom line: invest."
