E-books, the recession, a decrease in immigration, and the closing of Borders have all affected the Spanish-language book industry, but this nimble sector has been able to adapt to the changing landscape. PW spoke with some of the publishers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and librarians who service this market to find out how they are managing the challenges and opportunities of the marketplace.

Who Is the Market?

According to the 2010 census, there are 51.6 million Hispanics in the United States, with a purchasing power expected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2015, which would rank that demographic as the 13th largest economy in the world. Hispanics are also the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S., but this growth is no longer coming from new immigrants but from U.S. births—1 in 4 children being born today are to a Hispanic mother. More Hispanic women are going to college today than ever before and this, along with the population growth, is contributing to their fast-growing purchasing power. These shifts are aiding the growth of the "middle," the percentage of Hispanics that are bilingual-bicultural, which accounts for an estimated 65%–70% of Hispanics. The number of Spanish-only Hispanic consumers has decreased, but not to the benefit of the English-only as one might expect. The majority of Hispanics are proud of their cultural duality and strive to communicate in both languages and not favor one over the other as in the past. Therefore a growing number of second and third generation Hispanics are seeking to learn Spanish and make certain their children grow up bilingual.

There are several common themes that were mentioned throughout the interviews when it came to who makes up the market for Spanish books: most prominent was the observation that the Spanish-reading consumer is more sophisticated, less price sensitive, better informed, and more affluent than in the past, and the books that appeal to this consumer have changed. The typical Spanish-language book consumer is no longer the newly arrived immigrant looking to improve his or her life and more likely to purchase simple how-to books and an entire slew of immigration texts. Now, Hispanics are looking for ways to send their children to college, purchase a home, and improve their health. This was echoed by Todd Stocke, v-p and editorial director of Sourcebook: "We have an advisory committee of college students that tell us what they need, the type of information that would be helpful to them and their parents, and based on their suggestions we are publishing books that meet their necessities. We are publishing these books in English and some in Spanish, but we are exploring doing some original works in Spanish—there is an authenticity in that." And that young Hispanics tend to favor the smartphone holds out considerable promise for e-book consumption.

Although self-help and spiritual books remain big sellers among Hispanics, fiction is enjoying a surge in sales. This is partly attributed to the shifts taking place among Hispanics but also as part of a national trend where bestsellers in fiction become a worldwide phenomenon. Another reason, explains Ernesto Martínez, manager of Spanish Products & Programs at Bookmasters: "Hispanic consumers are becoming more demanding of the content of the books they purchase. Before, consumers didn't have many choices and the only books available were through importers. Publishers are doing a much better job in selecting authors that are relevant to U.S. Hispanic readers."

The Publishers?

Most of the books in Spanish available in the U.S. continue to come from Spain and Latin America, but a growing list of U.S. publishers are finding opportunities for growth with bilingual and Spanish-language books. Editors have also expanded their definition of who the consumer is for these books, and this wider definition has resulted in a greater range of books having appeal to Spanish-language book readers. As Jaime DePablos, editor of Vintage Español, points out, "The reader of books in Spanish has become a bit more sophisticated and this has resulted in a growing preference for fiction. I am not certain that a few years ago the Fifty Shades trilogy would have made it to the top three sellers in Spanish." Aside from publishing 15–20 titles of adult fiction and nonfiction per year, Vintage Español imports an additional 40 titles a year from Latin America and Spain through its partnership with Random House Mondadori. Vintage Español also offers YA books that are often bestsellers in English, such as Oscuros (Fallen) by Lauren Kate and La pirámede roja (The Red Pyramid) by Rick Riordan. In May of this year, Edward Benitez joined Random House as their director of Spanish-language sales. Benitez points out, "Our sales efforts have expanded to include pharmacies, airports, small bodegas, a wide range of small retailers, and we continue to work with mass market retailers."

Atria is no longer the only imprint at Simon & Schuster publishing in Spanish, as several other S&S editors have made their English-language bestsellers shine in Spanish. Atria publishes 8–10 titles in Spanish annually, and an additional half-dozen titles are published by other S&S imprints. Similar to previous years, about 60% of the Spanish-language sales come from nonfiction and 40% from fiction, with digital constituting 15%–20% of sales—a 10% increase from two years ago, according to Johanna Castillo, v-p, senior editor at Atria. "In the next couple of years, Spanish-language e-books will continue to grow, but when books become available via mobile is when it will really take off among Hispanics. Latinos are the major buyers of smartphones and often bypass computer ownership," comments Johanna Castillo, v-p, senior editor, at Atria. She cautions, however, that digital books will make it easier for foreign publishers to enter the market. How they will price their books and what it will do to the market remains to be seen. Castillo also points out that the biggest challenge the market still faces is a deficiency in points-of-sales and the decreasing coverage by the media, but she adds that books in Spanish have a much longer shelf life than books in English.

Marina Tristán, assistant director of Arte Público Press, notes a growing demand for intermediate bilingual chapter books in a flip format. She says that librarians and universities are requesting adult titles in this format due to the growing number of non-Spanish readers learning Spanish. In order to increase their overall offering of adult titles, Arte Público launched a joint publishing program with the Universidad de Alcalá, Instituto Franklin of Spain. "Our clients continuously ask us for a greater number of adult titles and yet when we look at doing translations, the costs are quite high. We are thrilled for this partnership; it will allow us to publish a greater number of adult titles in Spanish," comments Tristán. Arte Público has also been offering its books in an e-book format and has seen its sales of digital books grow dramatically, but the press admits that its biggest challenge is converting older titles into new digital formats. As for the decreasing number of book retailers and resources that provide book reviews, Tristán says, "Both of those factors are affecting the Spanish-language book industry, but Spanish and bilingual books will continue to grow because, as a society, we are increasingly valuing those who are bilingual and multilingual."

Spanish Publishers is a hybrid between a publisher and a distributor, but it is a model that has been working for 10 years, with Lucía Laratelli as its president. It offers select titles in an extensive catalogue representing six different publishers from Latin America and Spain. Although some of the publishers offer titles in e-book formats, they do so directly but aren't aggressively promoting their digital titles in the U.S., although Laratelli points out that they are selling more digital in the U.S. than in Latin America. So far, e-book sales in the U.S. have not impacted the sale of print books, according to Laratelli. When it comes to printed books, Spanish Publishers has seen about a 13% over last year for the same period, with a slight increase in the demand for books on health and alternative medicine. Laratelli says that Who Moved My Cheese, published by Urano, "continues to provide us with permanent sales along with books by Nicholas Sparks that have made it onto the big screen. Working with authors that are U.S.–based and work to promote their books, such as Sharon Koenig of Los ciclos del alma, published by Obelisco, has a significant impact on the sale of a title." In June of this year Spanish Publishers launched a series of award-winning children's books (k–2) by Amalia Low from Urano Argentina. Each title is based on a world-famous person, and Spanish Publishers will be importing about 20 titles per year.

Marketing

Since the industry can no longer rely on readers being attracted to books while browsing at a bookstore, publishers have had to take new approaches to reaching the consumer. Silvia Matute, director, general book division of Santillana USA, says, "We now have to substitute part of that [bookstore] experience with online marketing, social media, etc. Marketing has also moved online, and while there are some success stories of campaigns that go viral and become enormous, the truth is that it is now harder to spread the word about a regular midsize author." Santillana USA currently publishes around 40 titles per year and imports approximately 160 titles from its sister companies in Latin America and Spain. Its import catalogue comprises nearly 60% nonfiction (children's and adults) and 40% fiction. However, 90% of what is published in the U.S. is nonfiction, with children's books primarily nonfiction. Santillana USA's total sales in dollars (children and adult) have dropped 7% from 2009 to 2011, but much of the spike in 2009 was attributed to Stephenie Meyer. Currently, sales are down 2%, but much of that is a result of the lower prices for e-books. Further expanding into digital, Santillana USA has launched "My e-books," an online children's literature library for schools with more than 200 e-books and will soon include more than 50 interactive digital books with audio, comprehension tests, educational activities, and games.

In 2008 Penguin Group launched Celebra, spearheaded by publisher Raymond Garcia; the imprint has been dedicated to publishing books by and about Hispanic personalities. C.A. Press, under the leadership of publisher Carlos Azula, was launched in January 2011, publishing a wide range of commercial titles in trade paperback that includes current events, biographies, astrology, cooking, fiction, health, self-help, reference, and original children's titles. To further expand its reach into the Hispanic market, in April 2013 C.A. Press will start publishing a select number of trade paperback translations into English, with the potential to cross over into the general market. Overall, Penguin publishes 50–60 Spanish-language and bilingual titles a year, including adult and YA. Approximately 70% of the Spanish-language books are nonfiction and 30% are fiction with all titles being available in digital format. Erik Riesenberg, who is associate publisher of C.A. Press, says, "Although the digital revolution has not really arrived yet to the Spanish-language marketplace, it is only a matter of time. We are already preparing ourselves by offering all of our Spanish titles in digital versions."

Children's and YA

Lectorum and Scholastic continue to expand their Spanish-language book offerings in children and YA. Lectorum first opened its doors over 50 years ago, and for 36 years it was led by Teresa Mlawer, who retired from Lectorum in August. One cannot say that Mlawer has fully retired, as she is already working with publishers, in the U.S. and abroad, who want to enter or expand their penetration into the Hispanic book market. Mlawer is also working with public libraries and schools, offering her expertise in the field of children's literature—so there's more to come from her.

In 2009, Alex Correa acquired Lectorum from Scholastic and is the current president and CEO. Lectorum publishes 5–10 titles per year and is the exclusive distributor of over 10,000 titles from 20 different publishers from Spain, Mexico, and Colombia, with children's titles making up almost 80% of its catalogue. One of the opportunities Correa mentions is schools: "More and more school districts are adopting the dual-language system that is truly a bilingual education program. This allows English-language students to learn in Spanish and therefore Spanish-language children's books are expanding their reach. However, schools prefer original works in Spanish from Latin America or U.S.–based Latino authors, while retailers look for books that are linked to movies such as The Hunger Games and Diary of a Wimpy Kid." Although Correa acknowledges that there are difficulties ahead—the continuing decrease in public library budgets among them—Lectorum's sales continue to grow.

Through its school-based book club, Club Leo, Scholastic offers more than 150 Spanish-language and bilingual books to young readers, including fiction and nonfiction titles that are published by the Scholastic en Español imprint. In the digital space, Scholastic offers e-books in Spanish through Storia, a downloadable children's e-reading app. Mariel López-Mota, editorial manager for Club Leo, points out, "One of the challenges is to maintain quality in a rapidly expanding digital book market and at the same time continue to craft content that is relevant and engaging to young readers." A new nonfiction offering this year is Scholastic Discover More in Spanish: Explora tu mundo by Scholastic en Español, which focuses on making science fun and easy to understand for young readers. It is a digitally infused multiplatform series that inspires students to explore their world and help them meet the new Common Core State Standards.

Newcomer children's book publisher Lorito Books was launched in 2008 and has published over 20 titles while distributing several more from publishers in Mexico. Owned by Pam Fochtman, Lorito Books primarily services public libraries and schools, including rural agricultural regions in new areas of growth, such as Nevada and North Carolina. Fochtman says, "In the library market there is still the challenge of many librarians who don't read Spanish and there aren't review resources so it makes it difficult for librarians to make choices."

At the end of this year, Random House will be launching Gol, a new series of children's books in Spanish designed for children ages 8–up with an initial offering of 15–20 titles that come from Spain. Random House's strategy is that if readers can be reached at a young age, they will develop not only their Spanish reading skills but the habit of reading in Spanish and carry that into adulthood.

Bestsellers

Based on a list provided by BookScan, many of the top-selling books in Spanish are reference books and Bibles, as well as dictionaries and required reading for many schools, such as Cien años de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) by Nobelist Gabriel García Márquez and La casa en Mango Street (The House on Mango Street) by Sandra Cisneros. Isabel Allende and Paulo Coelho are also a constant on the list of bestsellers, now joined by translated works such as La Magia (The Magic) by Rhonda Byrne and Cincuenta sombras de Grey (Fifty Shades of Grey) by E.L. James.

E-books

According to Nielsen BookScan, sales of printed and audio books in Spanish in the U.S. have fallen 7% so far this year compared to the same period in 2011. Last year sales were inflated as Border's was selling off its inventory so the decrease might be in part attributed to an inflated number for 2011.The big question is, was that 7% drop get balanced by e-book sales? Since there aren't numbers available for digital books in Spanish it is difficult to know. Santillana USA, however, reports tyhat digital books now make up 12% of sales. While for other U.S.–based Spanish-language book publishers, the percentage of e-book sales amounts to less than 10% of book sales. Although both Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com have developed e-readers for books in Spanish, publishers from Latin America have been slower at making the transition, as e-reader devices are not within the financial reach of many consumers in Latin America. The feeling among those in the U.S. Spanish-language books industry is that books in Spanish have always lagged a couple of years behind the trends of the U.S. industry, and e-books will be no different. Santillana, Random House, and Simon & Schuster are publishing all of their new releases simultaneously in print and digitally. Lectorum will be offering children's e-books in Spanish by the end of this year, but obtaining digital books from publishers in Latin America is less likely than from Spain.

Distributors/Wholesalers

Before U.S.–based publishers began acquiring and editing Spanish-language titles for the Hispanic market, distributors were serving the market by importing books from Latin America and Spain. They remain critical to establishing and growing the Spanish-language book market in the U.S. From large distributors having staff dedicated to books in Spanish to distributors whose entire business plan depends on this market, the shift of the past couple of years has been noticeable, and each organization is approaching it in a slightly different manner.

Baker & Taylor has seen its Spanish-language book sales increase by 4% YTD, with the sales of nonfiction material exceeding fiction by more than 35%. Of course, children's is a different story. Queta Fernandez, manager of national accounts and special collections, notes, "Since most of our clients are librarians, the sale of certain categories has not shifted much in the last year. However, children's books and graphic novels—which are being used for high-low readers—as well as teen novels are seeing a surge in sales." Fernandez explains that B&T is selling very few books in digital format because it is in the midst of an process of adding titles to its own platform for purchasing e-books, Titlesource360. The goal is to have over 3,000 titles in Spanish available.

Larry Bennett, formerly with Baker & Taylor as v-p for its digital print media program, joined Bookmasters last summer as president of its newly formed international division, with a significant emphasis placed on Spanish-language books. In one year, Bookmasters is already representing almost 20 publishers, including an extensive catalogue from Oceano, Pearson Mexico, and Linkgua. Bookmasters also works with several Christian publishers and the Catholic imprints of various publishers, including Planeta, and offers scholastic books through its partnership with distributors such as Follett.

With so many players already in the market, why did Bookmasters decide to enter? "We are offering publishers a wide range of services that are not offered by other distributors or wholesalers," Bennett says. " For example, we offer POD; converting their books to e-books; editorial services in Spanish; and marketing services for their titles." Bennett also stressed that cuts in library budgets have affected most companies in the book business, but the cuts have been steeper for English-language books than those in Spanish. Bookmasters also seems to be the only company offering services to self-published authors in Spanish, a service welcomed by U.S. Latino writers.

"Communities where before there were no books in Spanish are now requesting them to serve their community," notes Nerissa Moran, manager of Spanish collections and acquisitions at Brodart Books & Library Services, another important distributor. "Demographics are shifting and will continue to change as Hispanics look for jobs in different areas. This is particularly true of the Spanish-dominant consumer." This means that new librarians have to do outreach in Spanish while having to select books they might not be familiar with and at a time when budget cuts are prevalent. Libraries also have to do additional outreach to the community, and many new librarians are now faced with the challenge of doing so in Spanish. More than half of Spanish-language titles sold by Brodart are adult and 40% are children's, with fiction making up 50% of sales and 12% being how-to books. Although only 3% of its Spanish-language book sales come from YA, there has been a noticeable increase in the demand for such books. Another area of growth has been patron-driven acquisitions; as Hispanic consumers have become more sophisticated readers, they are also more willing to seek out the content they wish to read.

Digital books have contributed significantly to the Spanish-language book sales at Follett, according to Lucia Doyle, buyer-acquisitions at Follett. "When offered, it sells, and sells well, thanks in part to the FollettShelf," says Doyle. Although book sales have decreased slightly at Follett, its e-book sales are offsetting the decrease. As to how the market has changed, Doyle says that a recession, whether it is domestic or global, always leads to reflection, analysis, and creative thought. "The biggest challenge this market faces is no different than what the book industry in general is facing. It is the economy, not only here in the U.S, but globally as well. E-books and POD are models to be investigated as possible solutions."

IPG represents approximately 30 Spanish-language book publishers, mostly from Spain, but has found it challenging for Latin American publishers to understand how the U.S. market works. Although IPG offers a wide range of categories in Spanish, self-help, parenting, and children's books are the ones that do best. With its Spanish-language business growing about 20% annually, the decrease in retail space has placed a greater emphasis on library and institutional sales. IPG Spanish book specialist Diana Calice says that "Library funding for Spanish does not seem to have decreased significantly. If anything, libraries are expanding their offering, so we've had to add several part-time field representatives to sell Spanish-language books to libraries and had to increase the number of people selling to bookstores." Calice attributes part of this growth in demand to the increasing number of second-and third-generation Hispanics who are looking to improve their Spanish reading and writing skills.

The Bilingual Publications Company works with about 200 publishers worldwide. Its president, Linda E. Goodman, notes the critical changes taking place among adult books in Spanish, with librarians previously spending about half their budget on fiction and the other half on nonfiction and now, perhaps 80% nonfiction and 20% fiction. "Nowadays," she says, "communities need books and media to help them seek jobs, master computer skills and social media, improve interpersonal skills, learn financial management, and more. Books that will help people to manage in today's economy are what we are seeking to buy for our clients." She also notes the movement toward more electronic materials, with librarians spending a greater portion of budgets on e-resources. Although e-books are selling, Goodman thinks that the big shift toward digital books in Spanish will take place within the next two years.

Points-of-Sale

Many publishers and distributors remarked on the continued problem of fewer bookstores and smaller sections of books in Spanish at remaining bookstores as key problems facing the Spanish-language book industry. The closing of Borders further compounded the issue especially since the Borders stores in Plaza Americas in San Juan, P.R., was one of the highest grossing stores of the retail chain. Accustomed to more challenges than most, Spanish-language publishers and distributors quickly moved into action and began looking for new points-of-sale, not just in Puerto Rico but all over the U.S. With the Hispanic population more than doubling in states such as South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee, servicing Spanish readers has expanded to every corner of the country. As Ernesto Martínez of Bookmasters explains, "Books are often an impulse purchase." Asked if it would make sense for convenience stores to sell books, Martinez says, "Yes, absolutely, as well as chain restaurants and pharmacies, and even through vending machines. Especially books by celebrities—they would sell well at c-stores [small bodegas]."

Girónbooks is a distributor, retailer, wholesaler, co-publisher, and owns one book fair in Chicago and partners with the Latino Book and Family Festival for another fair in the Windy City. Owner Juan Manuel Girón explains, "For the past 10 years, in partnership with one of our clients, we organize a book fair in Atlanta. The past two years we have been a major participant at LéaLA, the Los Angeles Spanish-language book fair, and this year for the first time we will take part in the Miami Book Fair. These events have become book sales outlets for us and allow us to have a pulse on consumers' preference." High returns from big box stores have also forced Girónbooks and others to reach out to small retailers, independent book stores, and independent bookstore chains, even non-traditional book retailers—"This is a door-to-door kind of business," adds Girón.

Barnes & Noble has been carrying books in Spanish for over 10 years, and in 2010 launched the Nook in Español. Patricia Bostelman, v-p of marketing, describes how Spanish-language book sales have outgrown other categories in all channels and in all formats. As for digital book sales in Spanish, Bostelman says, "Sales are up every month. Having e-books available has solved many of the challenges, such as immediacy, pricing, and selection." She notes that bestsellers in Spanish mirror English-language bestsellers: new age, religion, and cultural icons do very well, while romance is very backlist driven, so lack of availability has been an issue. As for children's books in Spanish, children like to read about the same characters as non-Hispanics. Converting more children's books into digital books and apps will provide further growth in this area.

Amazon currently offers more than 35,000 titles in Spanish, with fiction and young adult seeing significant growth. Among its offerings is the exclusive nonfiction work, El Libro de los Manuales, from Paulo Coelho, the bestselling Spanish-language author of all time on Amazon, and over a thousand free classics in Spanish. The most significant news has been the launch of the Kindle en Español in April 2012. Asked about sales of Spanish-language books since 2009, Sarah Gelman, spokesperson for Amazon, says, "We've seen substantial and sustained growth during this time period and we're committed to adding even more content to our Spanish-language store while continuing to evolve the customer experience."

Book Fairs

With the decrease in the number of bookstores and the recent closing of Direct Brands' Mosaico Spanish-language book club, book fairs are playing an increasingly important role in terms of Spanish-language book sales. According to the U.S. Book Retail 2010 report published by Mintel, a global market research company, 21% of Hispanics attended a book fair in the last year, compared to only 14% of all survey respondents. Organizations such as FIL (the Guadalajara book fair) have taken notice, and in 2011 launched LéaLA, a Hispanic book fair in Los Angeles. With over 67,000 people in attendance in 2012, in just its second year, it has become the largest Spanish-language book fair in the country. Marisol Schulz, director of LéaLA, is not only excited that more than 180 publishers and 180 authors from the U.S., Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Spain, and El Salvador participated, but that the response from consumers has been overwhelming. Schulz says, "I have participated and worked in over 100 book fairs in my career, but I have never seen people come up to organizers and booksellers and thank them for being there and bringing books to them. It is very rewarding to know that you are filling the need of a community, and now our challenge is to offer literary events throughout the year."

Schulz attributes the success of LéaLA to the lack of bookstore distribution. "Feelings are at play; consumers want to be in touch with their culture. You hear Spanish all over Los Angeles and yet you walk into a bookstore and it says ‘foreign language.' Booksellers need to realize that in some markets Spanish is not necessarily a foreign language. Most industries understand this and yet it seems that retailers have not yet caught on to the changing demographics."

Although not a Spanish-language book fair, the Miami Book Fair International has a strong program of authors who publish in Spanish. In its 28th year, the fair will present approximately 30 Spanish-language authors during a week of literary events in November.

Media

Except for attention paid to celebrity and bestselling authors such as Isabel Allende and Paulo Coelho, most publishers and distributors are disappointed in the amount of coverage in the media. This problem is not unique to the Spanish-language book and media industries, but lack of advertising support isn't the primary issue. Hilda Garcia, digital content director for impreMedia, the largest network of Spanish-language newspapers in the country, explains: "Newspapers have a limited number of pages and each paper within our network publishes what is of interest to their readers, but there is a disconnect between the types of books publishers are offering and what our readers are interested in. On the digital side we have a bit more flexibility and include a wider range of books through our partnership with TintaFresca," the only literary magazine dedicated to Spanish-language books in the U.S.

Although not a media outlet, America Reads Spanish is a resource available to the industry, developed by the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade (ICEX) and the Spanish Association of Publishers Guilds (FGEE). It aims to increase the use and reading of Spanish through libraries, schools, and bookstores in the U.S.

With the expansion of Hispanic television networks, Univision and Telemundo aren't the only TV networks available. CNN Español has two national programs that often book authors on their shows. Mundo Fox, Azteca TV, Estrella TV, and numerous other networks have started, with programing in English, Spanish, or both—reflecting the growing bilingual Hispanic market.

Libraries

What do shifting demographics mean to the library community? Daniel Berdaner, director of the Forest Hill Public Library in Texas, shared with us the story of the new library that opened in 2008 with fewer than 1% of its titles in Spanish. Today, almost 40% of the community is Hispanic so purchasing books in Spanish is a priority for Berdaner. In just 10 years, Forest Hill, a community of 12,000, has changed from a predominantly African-American community to Spanish-reading patrons who come from Mexico, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, and the Caribbean. "Latinos in Texas are shifting and they are reading in both languages and want their children to learn Spanish to make them more competitive in the future. Grandparents babysitting their grandchildren look for books in Spanish to share with their grandchildren," notes Berdaner.

As Hispanics continue to shift geographically and demographically, the types of books they wish to read, the format of these books, and where they will purchase them will continue to evolve. For the publishing industry, it is no longer about "if" they should reach out to

Hispanic consumers but "how."

Leylha Ahuile is the owner of PromoLatino and founder of TintaFresca.