Spanish Language Books Are Hitting Best-Seller Lists in the U.S.
The Spanish-language book market in the United States is turning a new chapter in its appeal to the Latin population with more accessibility to Spanish-language publications.
According to Amazon's Director of KINDLE Content, Pedro Huerta, Amazon's opportunity in the U.S. Spanish-language book market is very appealing as "77 percent of Spanish-language books ever published are available in the U.S.," Portada reports.
What are some of Amazon's Best Sellers en Español that have sparked an interest in Latino readership?
There's an interesting mix of publications that touch upon religion, health improvement, the intrigue of the late Mexican superstar, Jenni Rivera, novels about love and deception and the love of classic children books.
Amazon's Best Sellers en Español include: "El Asesinato de Pitágoras" ("The Assassination of Pythagoras") by Marcos Chicot, "Salvando vidas: Cambia tus habitos, cambia tu vida," ("Saving lives, Change your habits, change your life") by nutritionist and trainer José Fernandez, "Inquebrantable: Mi Historia, A Mi Manera" ("Unbreakable: My History, My Way") by the late Mexican icon, Jenni Rivera, "La Biblia de los Caídos. Tomo 1 del testamento de Mad" ("The Bible of the Fallen. Volume 1 of the will of Mad") by Fernando Trujillo Sanz and "Dulces Mentiras, Amargas Verdades: Revelaciones" ("Sweet Lies, Bitter Truths: Revelations") by Lily Perozo.
Several children's books also made Amazon's Best Sellers in Spanish, including "Buenas Noches Luna" ("Goodnight Moon") and "Un Pez, Dos Peces, Pez Rojo, Pez Azul" ("One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish") by Dr. Seuss, among others.
Some of Amazon's Best Sellers en Español for e-books include:
"El color de la maldad" ("The Color of Evil") by Armando Rodera, "Falling Into You" by Jasinda Wilder, "The Insiders" by Craig Hickman, "Libros en Español para ninos: El Pirata Flatulento" (Children's Books In Spanish: The Pirate Flatulento") by Samantha Foster and "Cómo No Rendirse - Una Guía de Motivación e Inspiración para Establecer Metas y Alcanzar Sueños" ("How Not to Surrender - A Motivation and Inspiration Guide for Setting Goals and Achieving Dreams") by R.L. Adams.
Huerta pointed out this U.S. Spanish-language book market boost at a Portada Mexico Forum in Mexico City, where he further explained his role at Amazon.
The digital guru, who leads Amazon Kindle's expansion into Latin America, including the U.S. Hispanic market, shared his experience introducing the Kindle in Brazil and Mexico.
"The consumer knows that a digital book should cost less than a physical book. But how much less we really do not know." Huerta added that subscription models (e.g. Netflix) tend to be more profitable to publishers than one off-online sales.
According to a report by PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), "the trade e-books (excluding educational publications) will reach $8.2 billion in sales by 2017 in the U.S. alone. The e-book market has witnessed unprecedented growth as both authors and readers have benefited from it," Yahoo! Finance reports. "Amazon, through its Kindle reader and Kindle apps, is currently the leading seller of e-books. However, if the company is unable to build further on its Kindle or slash prices drastically, it could see its share of overall book spending decline."
Recently, Amazon has been aggressively moving into international e-book markets and continues to constantly upgrade its e-book reader which in turn is benefiting customers. The launch of the first Kindle store in Mexico, enabled Mexican customers to read e-books using Android and iOS apps, Windows 8 PCs and tablets, PC and Mac.
The Mexico Kindle Store offers over 2 million titles in various languages, including 1,500 free Spanish titles in a collection of more than 70,000 Spanish e-books. It offers new releases and best sellers from a number of Mexican and other Latin American authors and publishers. They include works by popular authors such as Carlos Fuentes, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Isabel Allende and Paulo Coelho, among others.
Last December, Amazon launched its Kindle Store in Brazil and China. It also opened App stores in certain parts of Europe, including the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain, along with the introduction of the Kindle Fire tablet.
Sales promotions seem to have an impact on the digital book market. Limited time offers at substantial discount are very effective, Huerta added.
Who are the top e-book players?
According to Huerta, the four key players in the digital book market are Google, Amazon, Samsung and Apple. Besides these big contenders, Huerta mentions that local players will also play a role, such as Gandhi chain book and media store as well as Sanborns (America Movil) in Mexico.
In terms of book market share, Huerta acknowledged that "Apple and Google have an advantage in less developed markets (those markets, including Latin America, where Amazon's Kindle has not been present yet or was recently introduced in.) This is because the relatively wide availability of both Apple and Android based tablets in those markets."
While there is already a lot of competition for the Spanish-language e-book market in the U.S., BajaLibros, an Argentinian digital book store that sells Spanish-language e-books throughout Latin America also hopes to get a piece of the pie.
BajaLibros has launched in the United States says its bookstore sells over 60,000 free and paid Spanish-language e-books. The e-books are available as EPUB files, protected by Adobe DRM, and can be read on BajaLibros' iOS and Android apps or on devices that support Adobe Digital Editions, including Barnes & Noble's Nook and Kobo.
It may be challenging to break into the U.S. market of Spanish-language digital bookstores, where Google, Amazon, Samsung and Apple Amazon reign, but with time and the increase of interest in Latinos in the U.S., there might be some shifts along the way.