A presentation for the University of Texas Libraries, Austin, TX, July 8-9, 2010, Thursday/Friday

1. Latin American Publishing Trends:
Challenges and Opportunities for
US Libraries
A presentation for
University of Texas Libraries
Austin, TX, July 8-9, 2010
Thursday/Friday
Jesús Lau
jlau@uv.mx / jesuslau@hotmail.com
www.jesuslau.com
www.twitter.com/jesuslau

2. Topics
Introduction to Latin America
General regional publishing
Printed production
e-Book beginnings
Challenges and opportunities for
US libraries

3. First Part
General Regional
Publishing
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

4. Publishing Sectors
Commercial publishers
University printing houses
Government printing output
Other publishers (individuals, institutions)

5. Source: CERLALC, 2008
Global LA Statistics
Estimated general book title output: 112,845
Commercial publishers title contribution: 83%
Authors/institutions who edit their work: 7%
Public sector produces: 10%
Titles that get reprinted 3.8%

6. Source: CERLALC, websites of the publishers, FGEE
New and Reprinted Titles – LA and Spain

7. Source: CERLALC, websites of the publishers, FGEE, 2006
Estimated Book Production in LA

8. Universities
Source: CERLALC, websites of the publishers, FGEE.
Other Editors
Participation in
editorial agents’
universe
Participation in title
production
University Book Output Vs. Regional Production

9. Sources: Agencias Nacionales ISBN; Base de datos SIER-CERLALC. April 2007;
Spain: Agencia Española del ISBN; *Mexico INDAUTOR
LARGE
Agents Who Registered Books
at ISBN Offices
Editors
Country

10. Sources: Agencias Nacionales ISBN; Base de datos SIER-CERLALC. April 2007;
Spain: Agencia Española del ISBN
MEDIUM
Agents Who Registered Books
at ISBN Offices
Editors
Country

11. Country Editors
Bolivia 209
Paraguay 161
Dominican Republic 137
Honduras 131
Nicaragua 126
El Salvador 118
Ecuador 88
Cuba 79
Panama 79
Guatemala 22
Sources: Agencias Nacionales ISBN; Base de datos SIER-CERLALC. April 2007;
Spain: Agencia Española del ISBN
SMALL
Agents Who Registered Books
at ISBN Offices

12. Members
CountrySource: CERLALC, 2008
Members of Book Chambers

13. Main Book Fairs
Guadalajara, Mexico
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Bogota, Colombia
Santiago, Chile
Rio de Janeiro / Sao Paulo, Brazil

14. Second Part
e-Books
Are Emerging

15. e-Books
They are in their infancy
Commercial publishing has been timid
No production statistics yet
Universities are exploring with some titles
Digitizing of older materials
e-Books sales are still low
Journals are quite advanced: Redalyc, Scielo

16. Library e-Book Distributors
Casalini Libri: (Italy), www.casalini.it/
Digitalia: (New York), www.digitalia.us/
Ebrary: (USA) www.ebrary.com
e-libro: (Argentina-USA) www.e-libro.com/
Marcial Pons: (Madrid), http://revistas.marcialpons.es/index.php
Net Library: (USA) www.netlibrary.com/
Publidisa: (Spain) www.comunicacion-cultural.com/
Source: Adan Griego

17. Third Part
Challenges and
Opportunities for US
Libraries
Chichen Itza, Mexico

18. Challenges - Distribution
Discovery of materials: No single identifying
source
Ordering: Local language, slow reply
Payment: Complicated bank transfers
Delivery: Limited postal service
Sales departments: Academic/Government
institutions often do not have them

19. Country Bookstores
Sales
Points
SP per
Inhabitants
(1,000’s)
Costa Rica 231 265 16
Argentina 1,719 1,985 20
Venezuela - 1,326 20
Brasil 1,363 2,676 69
Peru - 371 70
Mexico 545 1,452 71
Colombia 355 574 80
Ecuador 65 148 89
Chile 99 157 99
Source: Costa Rica. Estudio de librerías Costa Rica. CCL, Cerlalc. Venezuela: II estudio de mercado sobre el sector del libro. Cámara
Venezolana del Libro. 2007. Argentina: Estudio CAPLA sobre librerías en Argentina año 2007. Perú: Antonioli Dellucchi, Dante. El sector
editorial peruano. 2005. México: Cámara de la industria editorial mexicana, CANIEM. 2006. Colombia: Datos SIER-Cerlalc. Ecuador:
Estudio Cámara Ecuatoriana del libro, núcleo pichincha. 2006. Chile: Estudio Canales de Comercialización del libro en América Latina y
el Caribe, 2003. Brasil: Informe librerías 2008 (in: CERLALC, 2008).
Bookstores

20. Opportunities – Paper Publishing
Opportunities for distribution of LA books
Need to tap and create publishing reference
sources (Databases, Portals)
Social science and humanities titles are
unique
Need to create a university/government
publishers catalogue

21. e-Books Opportunities
Opportunities to co-edit e-Books in social sciences and
humanities
Request e-Books from US aggregators
Arrival of e-Reading devices (Kindle, iPad) will foster new
e-Publishing in LA
Rising US demand for e-Books in Spanish will benefit
local publishers

22. Other Opportunities
Open field for library research in publishing and
related subjects
Investment in joint editorial projects
Training opportunities for sharing experiences
Connect US publishers with local printing
houses

23. Latin America publishing is concentrated in Brazil,
Argentina, Mexico and Colombia
Spanish publishers dominate the market
e-Books are just emerging, mainly at universities
Distribution is the greatest challenge
Opportunities to tap and create publishing Web
reference sources
Social science and humanities titles are a must for US
libraries
Conclusions

24. References
• Agencias Nacionales ISBN. Base de datos SIER-Cerlalc. Abril de 2007. In: Cerlalc. El Espacio Iberoaméricano del Libro 2008.
• Antonioli, D. (2005). El sector editorial peruano, un estudio sobre el libro en Perú. In: Cerlalc. El Espacio Iberoaméricano del
Libro 2008.
• Cámara Argentina de papelerías, librería y afines. CAPLA. Estudio CAPLA sobre librerías en Argentina. 2007. In: Cerlalc. El
Espacio Iberoaméricano del Libro 2008.
• Câmara Brasileira do libro. Diagnóstico do Setor Livreiro. 2008. In: Cerlalc. El Espacio Iberoaméricano del Libro 2008.
• Cámara de la Industria Editorial Mexicana. CANIEM. Actividad editorial libros. 2006. In: Cerlalc. El Espacio Iberoaméricano
del Libro 2008.
• Cámara Venezolana del Libro. CAVELIBRO. II estudio de mercado sobre el sector del libro. 2007 In: Cerlalc. El Espacio
Iberoaméricano del Libro 2008.
• Central Intelligence Agency. CIA. The World Factbook (On Line). Retrieved July 3, 2010 from
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/rankorderguide.html
• Centro Regional para el Fomento del Libro en América Latina y el Caribe, CERLALC . El Espacio Iberoaméricano del Libro
2008. (On line). Retrieved July 3, 2010 from
http://www.cerlalc.org/secciones/libro_desarrollo/El_espacio_iberoamericano.pdf
• deviantART. 2010. http://www.deviantart.com/
• Griego, A. (2010). Bibliotecas en EUA: mercados para libros de interés general, E-books y edición universitaria. Presented in
the 36th Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• International Monetary Found. World Economic Outlook Database. (On line). Retrieved July 1, 2010 from
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/01/weodata/index.aspx
• Uribe, R. (2003). Estudio de canales de comercialización del libro en América Latina y el Caribe. In: Cerlalc. El Espacio
Iberoaméricano del Libro 2008.

25. Cartegena de Indias, Colombia
End
Questions!