The Spanish-language book industry in the United States has come a long way in the last five years. Hispanics are now the largest minority group. Dozens of U.S. publishers have added Spanish-language imprints to their lists. Large wholesalers have partnered with both international and domestic distributors to expand their title offerings. Bookspan launched Mosaico, the leading consumer book club for Spanish-language books.

There have been plenty of growing pains as well: fewer bilingual education programs, an overall economic downturn, budget cuts for public libraries nationwide, and closures of several Spanish-book distributors and bookstores.

Is the U.S. market for Spanish-language books really growing to the extent that the Census numbers suggest? How have sales grown for U.S. publishers? What can publishers expect from the market in the next 3-5 years?

Since 2000, there’s been a significant increase in media coverage of all things Hispanic. Census numbers showed a “boom” in the Latino population. Hispanics surpassed African-Americans as the largest minority group. The American Association of Publishers declared 2003 as the “Year of Publishing for Latinos.” All of these events suggest a large and growing market potential for Spanish-language books. Publishers and distributors throughout the United States took notice, as evidenced by these milestones:

2001
• Bookspan launched Mosaico
• Ileón was founded as an alternative to standard distribution models

2002
• La Lengua de Cervantes bookstore opened in Washington, DC
• Librería Cultura Hispana bookstore opened in St. Ann, MO
• Librería Martinez Books & Art Gallery expanded to Lynwood and Montebello, CA

2003
• Ingram partnered with Argentina’s Grupo IHLSA to expand its Spanish-language title offering
• Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing launched its “Libros para niños” imprint
• Scholastic launched new imprint, “Scholastic en Español”
• Barnes and Noble announced Spanish-language title increase in 450+ stores

2004
• Brodart acquired Books on Wings to expand Brodart’s title offering in Spanish
• Public Square Books was founded as a distributor of Spanish-language graphic novels

Despite these signs of growth, the industry has seen its share of setbacks as well. Kensington Publishing discontinued its Spanish-language and bilingual editions of the Encanto line of romances. Plough Publishing began translating some of its key titles in 2001, only to terminate the effort a couple of years later. Ileón’s launch was followed by a quick expansion of offices in Mexico, Colombia and Spain, then suddenly ceased operations last year. Random House Español reorganized to focus more on importing and distributing and less on publishing adult Spanish-language titles. Bernard H. Hamel Spanish Book Corp., a long-time distributor of Spanish-language books based in Los Angeles, closed its doors. A number of U.S. publishers learned the hard way that not all translations are created equal; many were poorly translated, while others simply had little market potential as Spanish-language translations.

The growing number of publishers with Spanish-language books coupled with the increased output from large- and mid-size houses could lead to market saturation. “Much of the expansion in the industry has been mistakenly called ‘market growth’,” notes Benjamin Mireles, CEO of Spanish Book Center and former head of Fondo de Cultura Economica’s U.S. operations. “When mainstream bookstores double the number of stores that carry Spanish-language titles, or triple the size of their current Spanish sections, this does not necessarily mean that their sales doubled, or that the number of customers tripled. True market growth can only be measured by end consumer sales,” he adds.

U.S. publishers are mixed about the general state of the industry. According to Llewellyn’s Alison Aten, sales of their Spanish-language titles are up 50% since they started their program ten years ago. Even more impressive is the growth at Santillana Publishing. Santillana’s Silvia Matute reports a 54% sales increase of adult trade titles from 2001 to 2002, followed by another 32% increase in 2003. Caribe-Betania Editores reports a 20% sales increase over the last couple of years, while sales have increased 18% at Lexicon Marketing, publisher of Inglés sin Barreras.

Initial print sizes are also up, from Llewellyn’s 3000-5000 copies in 1999 to 4500-5000 copies now. Inner Traditions also has larger initial runs, from 1000-1500 copies when they started their program, to the current 1500-3000 copies. Three years ago, Santillana’s initial print runs topped out at 3000 units. Today they range between 3000-10,000 copies. Caribe-Betania Editores has initial print runs twice the size of those five years ago.

Sales at Lee & Low Books, Hay House, Grupo Editorial Norma, and Spanish Literature Publications have remained steady over the last few years. Ulises Roldan, Norma’s U.S. sales and marketing manager, expects steady sales for the foreseeable future. “The great increase in titles and players will make it a very tight market to grow,” notes Roldan. “It’s unlikely that title rotation will increase at the same rate as new title releases.”

Imports of Spanish-language books in 2003 are up 1.2% from 2002 (compared to the 8.2% jump from 2001-02), which could either indicate a slowing trend in the market, or it could be a sign that domestic publishers are picking up more market share. The reluctance of publishers to reveal even general sales figures makes it difficult to accurately measure the size of the U.S. market, or determine its annual growth rate. While publishers interviewed for this article shied away from revealing sales figures, they were quick to point out the obstacles that continue to make selling Spanish-language books a challenge.

“The distribution chain is still inadequate for the geographical size and complexity of the market,” notes Santillana’s Matute. “The demand is there but there are many areas of the country where there are Hispanic readers, and books in Spanish are not available.” Sam Rodriguez, associate publisher for Caribe-Betania Editores, also points to “unsophisticated distribution networks” as a major challenge to selling more books in Spanish. “Some of our main stores still operate without a computer,” Rodriguez laments. “Distribution is difficult,” adds Llewellyn’s Alison Aten. “Even though some of the larger chain stores have a Spanish-language section, the shelf space is limited,” she adds.

Although mainstream chains have made a concerted effort to increase their Spanish-language offerings, and publishers are putting more Spanish-language product in the pipeline, both are struggling to reach the readers. “It is very hard to reach readers through the media,” notes Matute. “First of all, many of our readers consume media in English. Secondly, in order to reach the readers who do watch TV and read newspapers in Spanish we depend on media that is not really promoting books.”

Indeed, aside from the book feature on Univision’s “Despierta America” morning program, there is little talk of books across Spanish-language media, be it television, newspapers, magazines or radio. “The exception is books authored by TV or radio personalities such as Jorge Ramos, Ma. Antonieta Collins and Dra. Isabel,” notes Benjamin Mireles. “The difference in media exposure between those books and their non-personality counterparts is tremendous. These personalities are in the consumer’s eye and ear almost daily, whereas other authors rarely receive significant media attention.”

Lee & Low’s publisher Philip Lee agrees that publicity is the biggest obstacle in publishing Spanish-language books. “There are too few sources that review Spanish books,” Lee affirms. “It is particularly difficult for parents to get information about Spanish books. I don’t feel that schools, booksellers, and the media are utilizing Hispanic Heritage Month properly, partly because it coincides so closely with the start of school and there’s little time to plan for related events.”

Most publishers interviewed cited the growing Hispanic population as reason to believe the market for Spanish-language books will continue to grow over the next five years. However, this is true only if the rate of immigration from Spanish-speaking countries steadily increases. Studies have shown that Spanish-dominant Latinos are overwhelmingly first-generation immigrants, whereas their children tend to be bilingual or English-dominant. This means that market growth for Spanish-language books in the United States will depend in large part on immigration.

Growth will also depend on Hispanic outreach. Increased media hype about Hispanics and their buying power has certainly helped to put more product in the pipeline. Getting product out of the pipeline and into the hands of Spanish readers is far more challenging. While retailers nationwide have expanded their selections of Spanish books, few are going out into the Latino communities and bringing Spanish readers to their stores. Much more needs to be done to get the word out about the availability of Spanish-language books. This means submitting more author interviews to the media, as well as article ideas, frequent press releases, and advertising. It also means connecting directly with the end consumer through direct mail and direct response. “As we retailers, publishers, and media make enough noise about the availability of books in Spanish, more and more Hispanics will start buying books,” affirms Santillana’s Matute.