Nelson Opens in Brazil

by Lynn Garrett, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 1/24/2007

Thomas Nelson announced yesterday the launch of Thomas Nelson Brasil, a new publishing group based in Rio de Janeiro. The joint venture between publishing group Ediouro Publicações and Nelson will bring popular American authors such as Max Lucado, John Maxwell, Donald Miller and Charles Stanley to Brazilian consumers. The unit will release 48 Portuguese-language titles in 2007 in the business, self-help and spiritual growth categories. Overseeing the unit from Nelson’s U.S. office will be Tod Shuttleworth, senior v-p and group publisher of Nelson Global Publishing and Specialty Publishing. The publisher in Brazil is Carlo Carrenho.

For Nelson president and CEO Michael Hyatt, this is the partial fulfillment of a broad global strategy. In a December 11 profile in Publishers Weekly (see "Innovation Far and Wide"), Hyatt said, "Outside the U.S. is where the church is growing most rapidly…. That’s why we’ve opened offices in Mexico City, Beijing and Rio de Janeiro." The units in Mexico and China will launch later this year, according to Hyatt.

Hyatt said the new venture combines Nelson’s content with Ediouro’s robust distribution, marketing and publishing expertise in Brazil. According to Nelson, the country of 180 million has a growing evangelical Christian population currently estimated at 30 million.

Luiz Fernando Pedroso, CEO of Ediouro, a 68-year-old company that publishes books and magazines, stated, "The market for inspirational books in Brazil is booming. Distributors, booksellers and the public are eager to see good quality inspirational books on Brazilian shelves."