The Bookwire
Spanish and Portuguese
Digital Markets Report
Bookwire
Index
1. INTRODUCTION
3
2. DIGITAL TRENDS IN THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE MARKETS
5
3. PUBLISHING IN THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE MARKETS
7
ARGENTINA
7
BRAZIL
10
COLOMBIA
12
CHILE
14
ECUADOR
16
SPAIN
18
MEXICO
23
PERU
27
PORTUGAL
28
4. CONCLUSIONS
30
5. ABOUT BOOKWIRE, CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
33
Notes
34
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1. INTRODUCTION
Over the past few years, many international publishers who regularly attend book fairs in Latin
American countries and have established their
publishing brands on that continent have clearly
observed two critical issues central to the future
of books there: print book exports to the region
have stagnated – and are trending downward –
while the emerging digital transition is beginning
generate keen interest all over the region. There
is a convergence of forces that could lead to a real
explosion of digital commerce in these countries
within the next decade.
This paper presents a range of essential figures
and perspectives with a view to enabling professionals in the publishing sector around the world
to understand the transformation currently
taking place in the Spanish- and Portugueselanguage markets, as well as the business
opportunities this transformation presents.
Spanish-language markets represent over 500
million Spanish speakers mainly living in Latin
America and Spain, along with the US, where
the latest census counted over 50 million people
of Hispanic or Latino origin, including nearly 40
million who speak Spanish at home. Portuguese
markets represent over 200 million Portuguese
speakers, living mainly in Brazil and Portugal, as
well as Mozambique and Angola.
A decade of economic, political and social stability across Latin America has provided a solid
foundation for its various book markets. A look at
the data around future growth in Latin America,
however, should give any publishing professional
pause. Latin America and the Caribbean are
currently in a period of transition: the end of the
“golden decade” (2003-2013), a cycle of prosperity
marked by continuous economic growth and
huge social progress, and the birth of a new era
that will be marked by a slower growth rate and
a drop in the prices of raw materials. A number
of sources have forecast that Latin America’s GDP
will grow by 2.5% in 2015, one of the lowest rates
in a decade, according to IMF numbers. This rate
may be pushed up by a highly likely rise in foreign
demand, or it could fall if the decrease in demand
for raw materials were to force prices down.
In such case, Latin American economies with
greater dependence on exports may enter into a
period of sluggishness.
In this decade, Latin America has witnessed a significant rise of the middle class (50% according to
the World Bank), private consumption (now up to
67% to 75% of the GDP) and access to education
(school enrolment rates have greatly increased
although there are still high levels of poverty and
inequality). Some indicators suggest that the
region is facing a profound social (and cultural)
transition. In order to sustain future growth
and continue progress in reducing poverty and
inequality, Latin American countries need to
address three important challenges: support
for education, a firm commitment to the digital
economy, and an increase in R&D spending,
which represents 0.8% of regional GDP – still a
far cry from the nearly 3% in the U.S. or 3.4% in
South Korea.
In order to analyse and design suitable business
scenarios, it is important to distinguish the two economic and largely geo-political blocs which have
emerged in Latin America. On the one hand, the
Pacific Alliance (Chile, Peru, Colombia y Mexico),
and on the other Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil,
Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela). The first bloc is
much more dynamic, pragmatic and open, and the
second bloc is more protectionist and bureaucratic.
Needless to say, the first bloc offers better perspectives for all kinds of business and transactions,
particularly in the book sector, primarily due to the
opening up of its economies to the outside world
and the free trade agreements they have with
Europe, Asia and the U.S. A basic working knowledge of this situation is an important prerequisite
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to designing publishing business and marketing
strategies for the continent.
We firmly believe that digital books offer a
unique opportunity for Spanish- and Portugueselanguage publishing, a global marketplace that
could create greater visibility for Latin American
titles on both sides of the Atlantic. For the past 40
years, the Spanish-language book business has
been built on a lack of symmetry between Spain
and Latin America. Spanish books travelled to
America but Latin American books for the most
part didn’t make it to Spain, or arrived in dribs
and drabs. Digital books have the potential to
shatter this imbalance if Latin American publishers understand and accept the need to build
the basic digital infrastructure necessary to make
their own publishing industry competitive.
The design of digital distribution and sales
channels is essential for emerging publishers in
these countries. At the same time, the growing
penetration of e-commerce platforms, both B2B
and B2C, and their arrival in America mark the
beginning of a new and undeniably significant
market ecosystem in terms of the potential for
greater visibility for Latin American publisher
catalogues. Considering that the number of publishers that exported paper books to America was
relatively limited until recently, the ready availability of mature digital platforms could bring
about an exponential increase in the number of
titles available in Spanish in Latin America from
publishers all over the world. From this standpoint, the digital book business has reached a
crucial juncture on both sides of the Atlantic.
The opportunity is there and should be realized,
both in Spain and Latin America. As readers, we
can consider ourselves extremely lucky; access
to a great mass of content in Spanish is excellent
news.
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2. DIGITAL TRENDS IN THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE MARKETS
Though it wouldn’t be correct to talk about Latin
America as a unified whole, given that each
country moves at its own pace and has its unique
characteristics, still there are general trends
throughout the continent, and these should be
analysed with precision, as well as with a certain
amount of caution.
thus contributing to a gradual improvement
in the GDP of each country in the region. A rise
in 3G broadband connections would yield an
increase in mobile e-commerce for the entire
region – keeping in mind that mobile (cell) phone
penetration currently stands at 84% across Latin
America.
In a few short years we have seen the world’s
economy begin to revolve around the Internet.
According to the World Bank, every 10%
increase in penetration on the Internet can
mean a 1.3% growth rate in the GDP of emerging countries. Latin America is a continent with
a very high growth forecast despite the fact that
the average of internet connected users is a little
over 40%, whereas the average in OECD countries is around 80%. The potential for growth
is very high due to the substantial rise of the
middle class throughout the entire continent
resulting from the positive economic outlook in
the region.
When it comes to the book world and its potential development, there are two important phenomena to look at: publishing production on one
hand, and on the other the speed of the digital
transition in buying habits. According to recent
research published by CERLALC1 in its report,
“Libro en Cifras nº 5” (The Book in Numbers,
No. 5), we are at the brink of an important transition. Here’s a look at some of the data:
Despite this growth, the region still has an enormous digital divide, both of supply and demand.
The former is caused by the limited reach of wired
networks due to lack of infrastructure, which
translates into slow Internet connections; the
latter is determined by the economic inequality
affecting much of the population and related low
levels of cultural and educational attainment.
Nevertheless, Internet usage is increasing rapidly
and penetration is expected to reach 53% in 2016,
with an annual growth rate of 13%.
Breaking the digital divide is a challenge faced
by all Latin American economies. Economic
modernization requires investing in new technologies and promoting Internet use in areas such
as business, industry, and politics. In this sense, it
is essential to encourage and implement public
policies that support the adoption of broadband,
End of year data for 2013 shows an increase in
publishing production of 8.9%, from 178,971 titles
published in 2012 to 194,009 titles in 2013.
The number of titles published digitally accounted for about 17%.
eBooks have increased share from 8% of
books published in 2010, to 14% in 2011, and
17% in 2013.
Although the digital percentage may still seem
fairly low, what is noteworthy is the way the
numbers are trending upward. Coupled with
the large increase in the number of readers who
claim to read on electronic devices, it would be
reasonable to assume that there will be a substantial change in reading habits in the region.
For more than a year now, e-commerce volume
via B2C channels has been very strong. Many
Spanish publishers have acknowledged that their
digital sales in Latin America account for 25% to
50% of their total worldwide ebook sales.
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Figures pertaining to LATAM paper imports allow
us to contrast the content and impact of books
exported from Spain.
Value of Book Exports by Subject 2013
2013/12
Literature
10.38%
-16.76%
Religion
18.64%
14.81%
Science and technology
13.20%
-13.01%
Social Science
12.53%
-7.26%
Children’s & young adult
literature
14.32%
-4.88%
According to various studies, 60% of these subjects are absorbed by non-retail channels. This
suggests that reach of the digital transition has
the potential to be very broad, with accelerated
rates of change.
The predictable and already evident decrease in
print book sales is bound to be accompanied by
an increase in digital sales, particularly in libraries, universities, and institutions. A reasonable
forecast would be that in four or five years, more
than 60% of purchases by libraries and universities in Latin America will be entirely digital. It is
consequently essential to develop far reaching
e-commerce networks, aggregation platforms
with large and comprehensive catalogues and
user-friendly purchase mechanisms, and clearly
identifiable commercial metadata. Print on
demand (POD) is also likely to reach significant
volume within a very short space of time.
Estimate by Country
Institutional digital book sales market share
Total
100%
50%
36
0%
Brazil
30
26
Mexico
Chile
20
18
14
Colombia
Argentina
Peru
The significant loss of momentum for print
books in all non-retail sales channels in the
region is increasingly plain, opening up major
business opportunities for publishers that lead
the creation of new institutional B2B sales channels. Publishers capable of implementing new
business models and digital sales networks2 in
Latin America will achieve a secure and lasting
competitive advantage. Fearlessness in embracing innovation through new business models
designed to facilitate access and purchasing by
libraries, universities, schools and government
institutions will be one of the keys to the digital
market in the region.
Finally, one model with great potential for Latin
America is subscription, primarily through retail
channels and linked to major telecom operators, which will offer ebooks as part of service
packages including television, fixed and mobile
telephony, and related cultural and entertainment content such as music, video, films, and
videogames. The development of these models
should lead the publishing industry to view subscription models from the perspective of a service
rather than conforming to the pay-per-download
model.
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3. PUBLISHING IN THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE MARKETS
The enormous production of titles in the last
few years, both in print and digital, would seem
to indicate that LATAM is thirsty for books. This
increase in production is evidenced by the data
periodically gathered by CERLALC, using national
ISBN agencies as sources. In 2013, 194,009 titles
were published in Latin America, an increase of
8.9% over the 178,971 titles published in 2012.
Stepping back to look at production rates within
a broader time frame, the remarkable increase
from the 49,648 titles published in 2000 means
that production has increased at an average
annual rate of 12%. This significant growth, sustained over many years, leads to the conclusion
that highly consolidated and competitive national markets are being created.
Even so, LATAM is still a basically an import
market with running trade deficits. Moreover, its
boost in production has not been accompanied
by a significant increase in rates of reading, which
implies a growing tension in distribution channels with little flexibility in terms of operational
functionality. This state of affairs points to certain
variables that need improvement in the Latin
American book ecosystem:
ʞʞ Improvement and expansion of digital
sales and distribution channels.
ʞʞ Creation of national metadata standards, for
both print and digital formats, so that any
sales platform can receive clean, well-formed
metadata, both structural and commercial,
ready to be ingested into its databases and
made available to all kinds of users.
ʞʞ Linking these national standards into a
worldwide Spanish pan-Latin American
standard should be considered as a move
toward the construction of a powerful
digital framework for global e-commerce.
ʞʞ Promotion of policies to support the digitisation of publishing content.
ʞʞ Support of access to reading through
public policies.
ʞʞ Reduction of unit prices with a view
to reaching larger segments of the
population.
ʞʞ Construction of reading networks and new
marketing channels for the dissemination
of books.
ʞʞ Plans to support the bookstore ecosystem.
ʞʞ Promotion of policies to generate demand.
ʞʞ Development of policies to promote the
widespread incorporation of information
technology to every link in the book value
chain in order to increase return on invested capital.
ARGENTINA
The Republic of Argentina, with a population of
over 41 million inhabitants and one of the highest
rates of development, per capita income, and
quality of life in South America, is a major power
in the region.
An initial glance at the latest survey on cultural
consumption3 indicates that Argentina is one of
the countries with the highest rates of reading
in Latin America. There are a lot of readers (85%)
and reading habits are widespread in almost
every format (newspapers, books, magazines
and computer screens). 73% of the population
reads newspapers, about 56% reads at least 1
book a year, a little less than 50% have read magazines over the past year, and almost the same
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percentage read texts from computer screens or
tablets.
Digital reading is already widespread when it
comes to newspapers, although it is much lower
for books (just 8% of the population claims to
have read a digital book). Computer screens are
the fastest growing format and have already
reached 45% of Argentineans, more than double
the percentage revealed by the First National
Reading Survey 10 years ago. As to those who
reported reading at least one book a year, 37%
read weekly (either every day or a few days a
week), 11% read on a monthly basis and 8% read
with less frequency. Looking at the total population of the country (including those who do not
read), almost 3 books are read a year per person
aged 12 or older. The most widely read genres are
stories, novels, and biographies, and the most
popular subject is history.
Books are therefore widely read in Argentina:
56% of the population, the highest rate in Latin
America. However, magazines, read by 47%
of readers, seem to be at a standstill or on the
decline. Until recently, digital books have been a
marginal phenomenon: only 7% of Argentinians
read in both formats and just 1% claim to exclusively read ebooks.
Cell phones play a central role in digital consumption. Their extended use as music and radio
players indicate significant possibilities for development. 24% of users connect to the Internet via
their cell phones.
Among content consumed online, social networks top the list with a 57% share of users. The
primacy of social networks is confirmed in a
ranking of the most visited websites: Facebook
ranks first with 24% of hits and You Tube is
second with 22%. 55% of users have a profile
on Facebook and 13% have a Twitter account.
Checking emails, downloading or listening to
music online, and finding out the latest news
from newspapers or alternative media are also
common activities. 30% of Argentinians play
videogames.
The penetration of digital technologies in the
publishing industry is uneven. Although online
newspapers, blogs and magazines are increasing
steadily and may snatch consumers away from
the print market, the consumption of ebooks is
very scarce in Argentina and still in no position to
complement traditional books. The most popular
spending on culture is the purchase or rental of
films or movies: 55% spent money on that sector
during the last year and 34% spent up to $100.
The percentage of consumers who purchased
books within the last year (39%) is somewhat
lower than that of consumers who bought or
rented films, but the amount spent was greater
(20% spent more than $200 on book purchases).
Total spending on culture comes to about 5% of
the minimum yearly salary the year the survey
was given (2013) excluding Internet, and 9% if the
cost of Internet is included.
According to the Cámara del Libro de Argentina4,
publishing production rose in 2013 to 27,757
titles and 88,171,750 copies. There was a 5%
increase in titles over 2012, when 26,367 titles
were published, however there was a 6%
decrease in copies, as 2012 saw the production of
94,272,206 copies.
Looking at titles by declared print run, the
average among the 16,366 trade titles is 2,969
copies. 46% of books had a declared print run of
1 to 999 copies, 16% of 1,000 to 1,999 copies, and
about 9% of 2000 to 2999 copies.
Turning to production figures based on publishers’ legal status, 55% of books were published
by publishing companies, about 17% by other
businesses, 12% by authors, and 6% by public
universities.
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Book distribution channels may be broken down
as follows:
ʞʞ Free distribution: 8%
ʞʞ Newsstands: 8%
ʞʞ Bookstores: 20%
ʞʞ Direct distribution: 61%
ʞʞ Institutional sales: 2%
As to formats produced, print books represent
84% and ebooks 16%, demonstrating slow annual
growth with respect to ebooks. 4,427 ebooks were
produced in 2013, 58% of which were distributed
directly, 15% were sold through bookstores, and
16% were distributed free of charge. The most
widely published subjects in digital format were
social science, 19%, and literature, 22%. According
to information published by CERLALC (2013),
ebooks experienced a higher rate of growth in
Argentina than in the region as a whole. eBooks
grew in Latin America from 2010-2012 at a rate
of 131.3%, while in Argentina they tripled: in
2008, 981 ebooks were produced, while by 2013
that number had increased to 4,427. Despite this
strong upward trend, the overall ebook share is
still just 1% of the total market.
Turning now to an examination of foreign trade,
three major developments stand out. Firstly,
there has been a significant drop in imports,
which fell from $117 million in 2011 to $52 million
in 2013; secondly, there has been a drop in exports
from $41 million in 2011 to $31 million in 2013; and
finally, there has been a significant improvement
in the negative trade balance in the past few
years due not to an increase in exports but rather
to the drastic drop in imports.
The severe reduction in imports was prompted
by policies attempting to replace part of the publishing imports with nationally manufactured
products, or by causing companies to compensate imports with an equal amount of products
sold abroad. In this regard, the information
provided by CERLALC for 2013 indicates that 14%
of imports came from within Latin America and
86% from outside the region. On the other side of
the equation, Argentinian books were exported
mainly to Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay.
Although the Chamber did not disclose sales
volume data, a report from the Observatorio de
Industrias Creativas5 indicates total sales of 3,200
million pesos in 2012, and more recent figures
estimate the size of the market at about 3,600
million pesos.
One positive development of note is the increasing importance of the Buenos Aires Book Fair6.
It has become the most popular book fair in
the Spanish speaking world in terms of visitors
(over 1.2 million) and the second most important in relation to publishing, preceded only by
Guadalajara in Mexico.
Lastly, mention should also be made of the excellent selection of bookstores in Argentina, many of
which are concentrated in Buenos Aires. By some
counts there are more than 2,200 bookstores,
with an increasingly important role played by
bookselling chains (Fausto, Distal, Yenny, Ateneo,
Cúspide), many of which have been modernised
in the last few years. These chains often have a
large number of stores, although independent
bookstores are also plentiful. According to the
Sistema de Información Cultural de Argentina7,
there are 2,256 registered bookstores, generating
80% of sales. Bookstores are generally larger
than those in Spain and the booksellers who staff
them tend to be highly knowledgeable.
In short, Argentina is the third largest Spanishlanguage book producer, behind Spain and
Mexico, with an expanding market and enormous potential for digital sales within the next
few years.
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BRAZIL
Brazil is the world’s fifth largest and most populated country (200 million inhabitants), occupying the eastern half of South America. With a
value of 3 billion euros, Brazil’s is the ninth largest
book market in the world, behind Italy and Spain
and roughly on a par with Korea and India, while
clearly outstripping Russia.
Despite its recent economic slowdown, Brazil’s
economy is one of the ten most powerful in the
world. In the last few years it has grown at a rate
of 4%, despite evident signs of sluggishness and
stagnation, with an inflation rate of about 6%.
Having experienced exceptional growth, the
Brazilian economy appears to be showing signs
of exhaustion, related to a drop in investment
and stagnation in domestic consumption (due
to housing debt) and export commodity prices.
Growth was weak in 2012 but rose again in 2013
(2.5%) and inflation reached 6%. The pace of
economic growth should remain consistent over
the next few years. The country has made a huge
effort in the past decade to update infrastructure
and increase competitiveness, resulting in across
the board improvement in the population’s
human development index.
In the cultural sector, Brazil has made huge
strides in improving reading rates and library services. There are now over 5,000 libraries, equalling a high ratio of 2.47 libraries per 100,000
inhabitants. According to CERLALC8, 4 books are
read per person per year, 50% of Brazilians are
considered non-readers, and libraries see high
rates of use.
The boom of the book sector in Brazil, largely
supported by the government through programs
to boost education and digital publishing, has
slowed of late. A close look at the publishing
sector in Brazil shows a high concentration of
capital and a wide range of products on offer in
all areas of publishing. An ample number of titles
are published per year, with a particular emphasis on education and practical nonfiction, as well
as fiction for adults, young adults, and children.
One distinguishing feature of Brazil’s market is
that domestic authors predominate: 51,905 titles
by Brazilian authors were published in 2012 as
opposed to 5,862 by foreign authors.
The book market in Brazil has been in constant
growth for many years. There are more than 750
highly active publishers, of which more than 500
published at least 5 works per year and over 5,000
copies in total, demonstrating a highly developed
professional publishing sector and high quality
book production measured by international
standards. This, in turn, has led to a significant
expansion of the market and awoken the interest
of many international publishing groups and the
major digital retailers. Brazil is a high growth
market. Fairs such as the Rio Book Fair (Bienal do
Livro Rio), the Sao Paulo Book Fair (Bienal do Livro
Sao Paulo) or the Porto Alegre Book Fair (Feria
do Livro de Porto Alegre) have begun to play an
important role in the international book trade.
According to information released by the
Brazilian Book Chamber (Camara Brazileira do
Livro)9:
ʞʞ Nominal growth of the Brazilian publishing industry was 7.52% in 2013.
ʞʞ This percentage signifies real growth of
1.52% in terms of a 5.91% variation of the
HICP in 2013.
ʞʞ The total number of copies sold increased
by 4.13% counting trade sales only, and
20.41% counting sales to government.
ʞʞ This means that the book sector experienced an increase of 1.70% in 2013 counting trade sales only. The average price of
books, however, decreased by 4% if the
5.91% HCIP is taken into consideration.
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ʞʞ The sale of ebooks increased 225.13% from
2012 to 2013 but still represents a very
small percentage of total book revenues.
Looking at data around published titles, production increased from 57,473 titles in 2012 to
62,235 in 2013, an 8.29% increase. 21,085 of these
titles were new frontlist and 41,150 were reprints.
There was a 3.59% drop in copies printed, from
485 million down to 467 million. Sales in the
sector increased from 4.984 million reals in 2012
to 5.359 million reals (around 2.024 million USD)
in 2013, a rise of 7.52%. Measuring this growth
in constant reals reduces that number by 1.52%.
Copies sold grew from 434 million in 2012 to 479
million in 2013, of which 279 million copies were
sold to the state and 200 million sold to the trade.
The average price rose from 13.66 reals in 2012 to
13.89 reals in 2013, an increase of 1.70%. In constant reals, this increase would actually be a 4%
drop. It is worth noting that the average price in
constant reals has dropped by 43% in trade sales
since 2004.
As far as sales channels are concerned, sales
through bookstores, both brick and mortar and
online, represented 61.40%, direct sales through
distributors 19.35%, and 5.13% door to door and
catalogue sales.
In foreign trade, according to figures provided
by CERLALC10, exports in 2013 amounted to $18.3
million and the value of imports came to $170.2
million. It should be noted that institutional
support for publishing is likely to give a strong
boost to exports in the next few years, resulting in
a more even balance of trade.
Turning to the digital market, 30,683 titles were
published and 889,146 downloads were sold,
873,973 of which were ebooks and 15,173 apps.
Digital sales were estimated at 3.9 million reals in
2012 and 12.7 million reals in 2013, an increase of
225.13%11. However, according to various sources
in the sector, these figures do not reflect the
reality in view of the lack of transparency of the
main players in the digital market. These sources
indicate that the digital market may be double
what the official numbers indicate. Important
Brazilian publishers such as Rocco, Objetiva,
Record, Saraiva, and Zahar now offer extensive
digital catalogues.
In the last few years, Brazil has turned into an
interesting destination for all the major international players in the book industry. Amazon,
for example, having established itself in Brazil at
the end of 2012 and opened a local version of its
online store, has now submitted a bid to participate in government programs for the distribution
of digital textbooks. The government has already
distributed some 600,000 tablets to educators.
With the acquisition of Santillana’s trade business in early 2014, Penguin Random House has
also invested heavily in this market. Spanish publishers have been investing heavily in Brazil for a
few years now – Santillana Education, Grupo SM,
Anaya, and Grupo Planeta all have established
subsidiaries in Brazil, as have other international
groups such as Oxford, Longman, HarperCollins,
etc.
In this context of global attention, there are a
few other emerging trends in the market worth
keeping an eye on during the next few years:
ʞʞ Absorption of publishers by major media
groups.
ʞʞ Acquisition of publishers for the purpose of
exploring specific linguistic or geographic
markets.
ʞʞ Forthcoming concentration of current
distribution platforms due to the growing
sophistication of the market.
From a business standpoint, the huge influence
of bookselling chains in Brazil is an important
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factor to bear in mind. As has occurred in other
parts of the world, the chains have continually
increased market share to the detriment of
small, independent bookstores, which are losing
ground. The competitive advantage of the major
stores, based on economies of scale, the optimization of administrative costs, and large traffic
volume, make it more and more difficult for
independent bookstores to survive in the market.
This has an unfortunate effect on the distribution
of books at a national level; although the chains
may work with a large volume of books, the
selection is not as varied as that offered by small
and midsize independent bookstores, and service
to customers is not as personalized. This trend is
evident in many Latin American countries12.
possesses a high consumer potential and an ideal
geostrategic location for the development of the
book market in the region. While the literacy rate
among its population of 48 million inhabitants
is still low, its pro-reading policies and multitude
of libraries have put Colombia on the path to an
interesting cultural transition.
COLOMBIA
According to the Ministry of Culture13, 104 public
libraries were built, equipped and connected
between 2010 and 2014, whereas in the previous
8 years only 50 libraries were built. How did
Colombia manage to jump from a deficiency
in libraries to almost complete coverage, and
become an example to follow with its National
Network of Public Libraries? To begin with, there
was an increase of investment in books and
reading. While 20% of the Ministry’s resources
were invested between 2007 and 2010, in the
last four years this percentage has increased to
37.21%, to reach 350,419 million pesos. 39,968
million pesos were used for the construction
of libraries alone, of which 4,655 million pesos
were contributions from supporters of the
“Reading is my Story” Plan (Plan Leer es mi
cuento). According to Bernardo Jaramillo, Deputy
Director of CERLALC, the Public Library Law was
a “cornerstone” in that process. It allowed part
of the former VAT on cell phones to be used for
culture, thus creating a regular source of funding
earmarked for libraries and books every year.
As described by a ministry spokesperson, “The
Ministry of Culture has over 20,000 million pesos,
by virtue of the law, exclusively for investment
in libraries”14. This prompted the construction of
44 libraries in 2014, pushing the total number to
1,404 public libraries, entirely or partially supported by the state.
The reality of Colombia today is that it is a
country in transition: a high rate of economic
growth in the last few years, political stability,
and a strong sense of social optimism are proof
positive of big changes. The third largest market
in Latin America, following Mexico and Brazil, it
The Colombian Book Chamber is an entity in
Colombia whose main objective is to “promote
the development of Colombia’s publishing
industry with a view to guiding, representing
and protecting the interests of its agents while
working toward the well-being, cooperation and
One of the international agents, the Kobo ebook
platform, has announced a partnership with
Livraria Cultura, the largest bookstore chain in
Brazil, with 14 stores throughout the country and
one of the most significant online bookstores.
This bookstore already boasts a catalogue of
around 330,000 titles, and will increase its offering to almost 3 million titles. Other bookstore
chains, such as Martin Fontes, are also preparing
alliances of this nature. The chains have increased
their share of sales from 6% to 15% in the last few
years.
In short, Brazil is a high growth and fast-expanding market in which it seems essential to take up
positions. The prudent course of action is to enter
the market in association with local partners who
are familiar with its peculiarities and evolution.
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educational and cultural progress of the nation”.
Its activities include administering the ISBN
agency and, as representative of the book publishers association, publishing Colombia’s yearly
book statistics. The last report published refers to
information obtained in 2013.15
The Book Sector
According to research conducted in 2013, the
number of books and copies which were published and produced are as follows:
ʞʞ 2011: 10,696 titles and 27.8 million copies.
ʞʞ 2012: 10,922 titles and 29.8 million copies.
ʞʞ 2013: 12,736 titles and 23.4 million copies.
The 17% increase in the publication of titles for
sale and the 21% decrease in the total production
of copies is noteworthy since it implies a significant increase in the number of books and a drop
in the print run for each one.
The information provided by CERLALC, based
on the number of titles registered with the ISBN
Agency in 2013, cites production of 15,811 titles,
implying an 11.7% increase from 2012, during
which 14,235 were registered. This increase in
titles is likely due to the inclusion of both trade
and non-trade titles; the latter in this case represent about 25%.
The book world in en Colombia is represented
by four sub sectors: Education; General Interest;
Science, Technology, and Higher Education; and
Religion. The 174 companies in the association,
including publishers and distributors, collaborated in supplying the book statistics for 2013, which
has been optimised to analyse critical variables
in the Colombian book business, information
which the Colombian Book Chamber verifies and
compares with internal and external databases,
administrative records, and governmental databases. These 174 companies represent the
basis for creating a census of the sector that
encompasses 2,719 companies, made up of local
publishers, importers, and exporters. Based on
registration records, 72.6% of the book business
in Colombia is concentrated in Bogota; Medellín
is a distant second with 7%.
Sales in the Colombian market, including domestic and foreign trade, stack up as follows:
ʞʞ 2010: 530,943,517,088 million pesos (around
US$241 million)
ʞʞ 2011: 557,490,692,676 million pesos (around
US$253 million)
ʞʞ 2012: 596,381,332,771 million pesos (around
US$271 million)
ʞʞ 2013: 618,782,745,847 million pesos (around
US$281 million)
These figures represent an 11% increase in the
last two years.
Counting sales by copies sold, the increase from
2011 to 2013 was of 22.8%, ranging from 31 to 38
million copies. The subjects that experienced
the highest growth during the last period were
education and general interest.
There are 4,828 employees in the sector, which
dropped 4% from 2012.
Digital Publishing
On the digital side, 1,913 ebooks were published
in 2012, an increase of 1.5% from 2011, which
amounts to 13.2% of published titles. Thanks to
policies implemented by the Book Chamber with
a view to standardizing the ISBN registration of
ebooks, the figure rose to 3,921 titles in 2013, a
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104.97% increase. By 2014, what may be described
as a normalization of the trend occurred, with a
total of 3,711 registered titles. This means that in
2014, digital publishing in Colombia represented
23% of total titles published and print 77%, a very
high digital publishing rate in comparison with
other Latin American countries.
The most popular subjects in digital publishing
were Social Studies (6.2%), Education (5.4%),
Spanish Language (4%) and Law (3.7%). Only
1.9% of Colombian fiction is published in ebook
form. 380 different subjects were registered by
the ISBN Agency in 2013.
It is important to bear in mind that university
publishers, with 686 registrations or 36% of the
total, and private publishers, with 579 registrations, are the main drivers of digital publishing in
Colombia.
The most significant format is PDF, perhaps due
to the importance of university publishing in
Colombia, representing 2,006 titles, followed by
ePub with 673. In any event, the adaptation and
use of the ePub format in Colombia experienced
a 136% increase between 2012 and 2013. The
remaining share is distributed among many
other different formats.
51% of digitally published books were translated
from English, 46% originated in Spanish, and 3%
in Portuguese. In 2013, digital sales generated
around 21.650 million pesos (US$9.8 million),
3.6% of total sales.
In conclusion, Colombia’s emerging publishing
sector continues to grow in importance along with
its thriving cultural industry. The magnitude of
the incentives promoting digitisation and digital
entrepreneurship, and state policies aiming to turn
the country into a regional leader in the digital
sector, make Colombia a promising market, with
particularly interesting conditions for the introduction and development of digital markets.
CHILE
The 17 million inhabitants of Chile rank among
the highest in Latin America in terms of quality
of life, development and GDP per capita. GDP
growth during the last few years, driven primarily
by minerals exports, has led to a growth rate of
over 5%, although a certain amount of economic
slowdown has been noticeable of late due to the
fall in commodities prices. Public policies aimed
at improving income redistribution have had a
positive impact on cultural consumption, due
both to expansion of the library system and campaigns to promote reading.
Data looking at books read in the past year evidence a major improvement: while only 22.6%
of the population claimed to have read one
book a year in 2005, this figure rose to 47% in
2012. Of those readers, 77.4% said they had read
between one and five books, 15% more than six,
and 7.5% more than eleven books.16
Efforts to improve and equip the library
network in Chile have been ongoing over the
last few years. The DIBAM (Department of
Libraries, Archives and Museums) reports that
the number of libraries grew from 403 in 2009
to 457 in 2013. They acquired 248 titles in 2013,
equivalent to 22,252 copies, which represents a
36.2% increase in the number of titles of from
2012, and a 22.7% decrease in the number of
copies acquired.
There has also been substantial growth in library
use over the past five years, with a 53.5% increase
in visits from 2009 to 2013. The number of new
users registered as members of the public library
network in 2013 reached 121,855, representing a
35.4% increase with respect to 2012.17
A look at the statistics provided by the Chilean
ISBN Agency18 for 2013 shows that 5,952 titles
were published, 1.5% less than 2012 and 4%
more than 2011. Chile has produced 27,286 titles
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in the last five years. Publishing figures for 2013
revealed the publication of 900 titles in formats
other than print. This figure represents 15.12%
of total registered titles in the country, a 48.27%
increase since 2012. eBooks were top of the list of
non-print formats with 523 registrations, 8.78%
of total production.
The most popular subjects published in 2013
were fiction (2,142 titles), representing 35.99%
of the total, education (990 titles), representing
15.79%, social studies (45 titles), representing
9.16%, and law (366 titles) representing 6.15%.
From 2000 to 2013, fiction was the most popular
subject published, with 18,180 titles, followed by
education, with 9,195 registered titles, and technology, with 4,182.
Among the 5,952 titles registered in 2013, book
production was concentrated in the Santiago
metropolitan area with 5,046 titles, representing
84.78%. 269 titles were translations in 2013, representing 4.52% of the registered total.
Print runs were low due to internal market constraints. The majority of print runs in 2013 ranged
from 1 - 500 copies (3,042 titles, representing
51,1%), followed by 501-1000 copies (1,290 titles,
representing 21.67%).
Self-publishing generated 881 titles in 2013, representing 14.80% of total production. From 2000
to 2013, self-published books made up 8,038
registered titles, representing 14.24% of total
production.
Among the 5,952 titles registered in 2013, 3,909
were categorized as trade. This figure represents
65.68% of the total sum of registered titles. Print
books were the top format with 3,480 titles;
digital books were second with 407 registered
titles; bulletins were in third place, with 16 titles;
followed by part-works, with 6 publications.
However, not all of these publications would be
in the trade category. Trade comprised 407 digital
titles, or 10.41%, and 3,480 print titles, or 89%,
as compared with the total number of registered
titles, where digital books accounted for 6.84%
and print books for 58.47%.
Independent publishing has really taken off
during the same period, with around 100 new
publishing companies created in the last few
years, indicating a very interesting and diverse
panorama for Chilean books.
Following is a synthesis of the sector’s main
figures:
ʞʞ A total of 5,952 titles were registered in
2013, representing a 1.56% decrease compared to 2012.
ʞʞ 900 registered titles correspond to digital
publications (15.12% of the total).
ʞʞ Fiction was the most widely published
subject in 2013, with 2,142 registered titles
accounting for 35.99% of the total amount.
ʞʞ Trends for previous years were maintained:
fiction, in first place, followed by education, in second, were the most published
subjects.
ʞʞ 881 titles were self-published in 2013,
representing 14.80% of the total number of
titles registered.
ʞʞ From 2000 to 2013, 8,038 titles were
self-published books, accounting for
14.24% of the total amount during that
period.
ʞʞ New frontlist books in 2013 made up 5,450
titles, or 91.56%.
ʞʞ In Chilean literature, fiction was the most
popular genre in 2013, with 480 titles,
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followed by children’s books, with 458.
Poetry came third, with 326 registered
titles, followed by nonfiction, with 186.
ʞʞ From 2000 to 2013, 12,600 titles were
registered in the Chilean literature category. Chilean poetry was the leader within
the category, with 3,689 registered titles,
followed by fiction, with 3,646 registered
titles. Children’s and young adult ranked
third with 3,194 titles, followed by nonfiction, with 2,071 titles.
ʞʞ The second most widely published subject
was education, making up a total of 940
titles in 2013, 15.79% of the total number of
titles registered in Chile.
ʞʞ Publishing production was concentrated
in Santiago in 2013, with 5,046 books
accounting for 84.78%.
ʞʞ During 2013, 144 new publishers were
incorporated into the ISBN system for the
first time, of which 113, or 78.47%, were
located in Santiago.
ʞʞ Translations made up only 269 of registered titles, representing 4.52% of the total
number of registered titles.
ʞʞ English to Spanish translations were the
most common, with 96 registered titles.
ʞʞ The majority of print runs in 2013 ranged
from 1 to 500 copies, with 3,042 registered
titles falling in this range.
The Chilean Book Chamber does not offer sales
figures. CERLALC19, however, reported that
exports by the Chilean book industry were valued
at $9.3 million in 2013 and imports were estimated at $82.3 million. 80% of imports came from
countries outside the Latin American region.
One estimate, always debatable and subject to
interpretation, would put the value of the Chilean
market at about $220 million, counting both
official and non-official consumption. Again, this
figure is an educated guess.
ECUADOR
Ecuador is the second smallest Latin American
country with an area of 256,670 square kilometres (about half the size of Spain). It is situated
in the northeast of South America and shares its
northern border with Colombia and its southern and eastern borders with Peru. Its western
boundary is the Pacific Ocean. In 2010, it had an
estimated population of 14,161,361 inhabitants.
66% of the population is concentrated in cities
and 34% in rural areas. With high GDP growth
in the region of 4.5% since 2010, the population’s
purchasing power has greatly increased, giving
rise to a significant middle class.
Ecuador is a country with good potential for
growth in the publishing sector. Reading is still
not a deeply rooted habit among the local population and this circumstance, combined with
the high price of books, has caused most of the
demand to be concentrated on the academic and
professional fields. In spite of this, increases in
national production, external trade, and internal
demand during the last decade demonstrate a
positive trend in the sector which will, in all likelihood, be maintained in the short and mid-term,
boosted by the growth across the Latin American
region, which has managed to overcome the
global economic crisis more easily than other
areas of the world. Furthermore, the demographic evolution of the country, with an increasing
number of university graduates and a more educated population, will help to transform existing
cultural patterns and reinforce the consumption
of books.20
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There are three main problems affecting this
market. First, imported books carry high prices.
Second, almost 30% of publications are not registered with the ISBN agency. Third, book piracy
is extensive: 15% of the books sold in bookstores
are pirate editions, leading to a parallel publishing industry in which wide swaths of the population find refuge, their access to the legal market
being obviously limited due to lack of income.
Despite these challenges, the Ecuadorian market
offers great opportunities, both because of the
development potential in the book industry
and the creation of a highly sustainable internal
market. The emergence of ebooks promises
business opportunities in a country with highly
differentiated consumer segments, where a
target audience is coming into existence with a
sufficiently high income to develop these kinds of
niches in the market.
According to the Ecuadorian Book Chamber21,
the number of officially registered publishers
is 322. This figure has risen rapidly in the last
20 years, ranging from 71 in 1991 to the current
322, with a high concentration in the country’s
capital, Quito.
The publishers referred to in these figures,
however, include foundations, universities, and
governmental organizations, which print a very
low quantity of books and copies, meaning the
number of publishers that actually print books in
large quantities is much lower. In fact, among the
322 publishing houses registered in the country,
99 are non-profits, 36 are NGOs, and 41 belong to
national, provincial or municipal public entities,
and 13 are owned by international corporations
or organizations.
More than 20,000 people in Ecuador work in
the publishing sector, according to the Book
Chamber, including distributors, importers,
booksellers and publishers; 80% are employed
full time and 30% hold temporary positions.
Below are the figures from the Ecuadorian Book
Chamber corresponding to book production by
number of titles and copies:
ʞʞ 2008: 3,596 titles and 9.6 million copies
ʞʞ 2009: 3,399 titles and 8.6 million copies
ʞʞ 2010: 4,164 titles and 12.1million copies
ʞʞ 2011: 4,371 titles and 11.8 million copies
With respect to 2011, the five publishers with the
highest number of registered titles were:
ʞʞ Universidad Técnica de Loja: 749 titles.
ʞʞ Santillana: 444 titles.
ʞʞ Governmental and public sector: 255 titles.
ʞʞ Corporación Estudios y Publicaciones: 240
titles.
ʞʞ Norma Group: 199 titles.
Ecuadorian market figures are difficult to come
by because the Ecuadorian Book Chamber
does not collect statistics of that nature, which
are exclusively controlled by publishers and
bookstores, thus making it necessary to resort to
estimations.
A total of 4,488 domestically produced titles were
registered in 2012, an increase of 2.67% in comparison with 2011; 9.1 million copies were produced in
2012, a drop of 22.92% with respect to 201122.
The most popular subjects and formats were as
follows:
ʞʞ General interest: 2,170
ʞʞ Educational: 1,308
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ʞʞ STM: 897
University presses, particularly the University of
Loja, also have an outsized impact on production
and the diversity of books published.
ʞʞ Religion: 113
ʞʞ Total: 4,448
ʞʞ Print: 4,249 (2.39% more than in 2011)
ʞʞ Digital: 239 (8.14% more than in 2011)
The increase in number of digital titles produced
was significant:
ʞʞ 2008: 27
ʞʞ 2009: 32
ʞʞ 2010: 219
ʞʞ 2011: 221
ʞʞ 2012: 239
Foreign trade figures in 2012 revealed imports in
the amount of $47.6 million, 7.64% less than in
2011, and exports worth $5 million, 25.58% more
than in 2011. The change in the figures from 2008
to 2012 is quite interesting, showing a big fall in
imports and a significant increase in exports. In
2008 imports were valued at $57.7 million and
exports at $2.8 million.
Ecuador’s exports went to a diverse range of
countries, although the most significant partners
were Mexico (23%), Guatemala (22%), El Salvador
(16,8%) and Peru (9,2%). Imports also came from
diverse sources and were mainly received from
Colombia (19%), Mexico (15.3%), the US (14.3%)
and Spain (13.7%).
Spanish exports dominated the Ecuadorian
market until the mid 1990s. The presence in
Ecuador of a number of Spanish publishers such
as Planeta and Santillana may be the reason.
An approximation of the market size, based on
estimations and projections, would put Ecuador
in a range between 110 and 125 million. Again,
this is only an estimate.
SPAIN
The history of Spain’s ebook market could be
said to begin in September 2011 with the arrival
of Amazon to the Spanish market. It is thus quite
a short history, in the early stages of its development. Since then, the growth of ebooks has been
significant. From a production standpoint, figures
rose from 2,519 registered titles in 2008 to 19,077
in 2014, representing 26% of total publishing
production. These figures do not include titles
by authors who have chosen to self-publish, a
rapidly expanding business in Spanish-language
markets, discussed in greater detail below. If
ebooks currently represent 4% of trade sales, it
would be not be unreasonable to expect they
could reach a share of close to 20% by 2020.
This gives rise to the question of whether there
is, in fact, a corresponding revenue opportunity
when it comes to ebooks in Spain. It is true that
sales and revenue do not necessarily develop
in parallel. We believe that the cause is to be
found much more by looking at the speed at
which highly disruptive technologies are being
introduced, rather than focusing on piracy – the
effects of which, without dismissing them entirely, cannot be properly evaluated in the absence
of serious, cautious, and independent studies
carried out by objective observers. An increase
in the rate of purchasing habits among Spanish
readers is directly related to the integration into
the marketplace of younger generations, already
familiar with the use of screens, and the incorporation of secondary sales channels, such as library
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borrowing services, both in public and university libraries. An increase in disposable income
among the younger generations, coupled with
library lending and new subscription models that
are suited to the needs of this particular group,
may well lead directly to an increase in demand
for ebooks within the next few years.
number of smart phones in the hands of users
(over 80% penetration in 2013), the inescapable
conclusion is that there is a serious gap between
the huge fascination caused by digital and the
low commercial payoff.
The penetration of devices in Spain, at an average
of six devices (smartphones, PC, tablets, etc.) per
user23, out of which, there are a sum of almost 7
million devices between e-readers and tablets,
in combination with established habits of consuming entertainment via screens, constitute
necessary – though not in and of themselves sufficient – conditions for the market to take off. An
analysis of the low rate of purchase or download
per device offers cause for doubt.
According to e-commerce statistics in Spain, 11
million people made a purchase over the Internet
in the last year, totalling a sum of €12.383 million,
a 13.4% increase from 201224. This represents
31.5% of the entire population, still far below
the 47% European average reported Eurostat.
Despite the adverse economic situation, the
growth in Spain gives rise to a certain general
optimism, although a breakdown of numbers in
search of business figures relating specifically to
digital content reveals a widespread slowdown of
the entire content industry.25
In the last two years, sales of tablets have largely
surpassed those of e-readers. The question is why
the ratio of downloads is so low in relation to the
number of devices. Adding to this equation the
Statistics pertaining to the production of digital
books reflect the publishing sector’s efforts to
create a major offering of digital content for users
in spite of the crisis.
2008
Digital books
As a percentage of
total books
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Variation
2,519
5,077
12,948
18,339
20,708
20,656
-0,2%
2.4
4.6
11.3
16.4
19.8
23.2
3.4
Source: The Book Sector in Spain, 2012-2014.
The digital offering in Spain continues to be
limited nonetheless. Comparing the digital
production above with that of print books at
almost 75.00026 titles, and observing the number
of new frontlist titles and first editions, clearly
the limited digital catalogue is a serious handicap when it comes to developing the market.
Spanish publishers registered a total of 72,416
titles in 2014 in every format (print, digital, and
others), according to the ISBN Agency. This figure
represents a 2.5% decrease with respect to the
number of books registered in 2013 (74,300). In
2014, 19,077 titles in digital format were registered, 6.2% less than in 2013, representing 26%
of total production by Spanish publishers during
that year.
There is also the question of self-published
books without ISBN numbers. They are by no
means small in number, but specifics are difficult
to come by given that they reside in the hands
of companies unwilling to share information,
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making it difficult to establish the percentage
of these titles as compared to ISBN registered
digital titles. Regardless, self-publishing is
unquestionably an important factor to bear in
mind. According to estimations, self-publishing
generates about €8 million, and at least 50% is
calculated to be clearly digital. These figures are
hidden in part when it comes to accurately calculating the real size of the digital market in Spain.
Moving from self-published authors to publishers, there has been an increase in the number of
publishers publishing digital books: up to 709
publishers in 2013 from 664 in 2012, i.e. 23% of
publishing companies active in 2013. Thus the
problem of a limited digital offering persists. The
Spanish catalogue in print contains more than
500,000 titles. There is clearly a need to consider
whether incentives are called for to promote the
digitization of this immense catalogue, as proof
against it becoming an argument in the ongoing
debate over piracy.
Looking at formats, ePub2 is gaining ground in
digital production. In 2012, 42.7% of ebooks were
published in PDF and 35.4% in ePub format; in
2013, 38.5% published in PDF and 39.1% in ePub,
with a parallel increase in Mobi format to 6.3%.
The decision to publish in one format or another
is related to the nature of the subject matter and
reader behavior. For example, university presses
and publishers of social studies and humanities
texts are more inclined to publish in PDF format
due to the use readers make of their texts
(underlining, note taking, etc.). The upcoming
emergence of ePub3, which even more amenable
to these kinds of uses than PDF, will bring about
a gradual migration to more sophisticated electronic formats.
The growth in digital textbooks is also a significant factor worth noting. According to the
Spanish Association of Publishers of Books
and Educational Material (ANELE), 6,334 titles
were published for the 2014-2015 school year, as
opposed to 3,029 in the previous school year, a
97% increase.
Turning to ebook sales figures, the Internal Trade
Report for 2013 cited sales of €80.2 million, or
3.7% of total book sales. Various sources have
questioned this figure since it does not include
information held by certain multi-national
online platforms with a catalogue of thousands
of self-published books, many of them with no
assigned ISBN. These sources indicate that the
number of downloads, when it comes to trade
titles sold through retail channels, increased to
4.1 million27 in 2014. Calculated at an average
price of €5.85, this would indicate sales of €24
million, about 10% more than the previous year.
In any case, the €80 million of total sales figure,
though it may seem small, is in line with the
digital share of sales in other European markets.
Sales in €
Average
Price
Year
Downloads
2010
40,000
520,000
13
2011
240,000
2,200,000
9.17
2012
2,000,00
14,000,000
7
2013
3,200,000
22,000,000
6.88
2014
4,100,000
24,000,000
5.85
Whatever the exact sales figures, it’s worth pointing out that while the publishing sector has been
shrinking since 2009, with an 11.7% decrease in
2013, digital sales are increasing on a yearly basis
and achieved 8.1% growth in 2013.
On the subject of pricing, the most noteworthy
trend is an ongoing drop in prices since 2011, with
a current average of about €6. A faulty pricing
mechanism, taking as its basis the print edition,
the growth of self-publishing, and the pressure
exerted by certain online platforms, has resulted
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in extremely low prices which should lead to a
reflection on the possibilities of sustainable business models for wide swaths of the publishing
sector in the future. That said, another important
variable is the enormous elasticity with respect
to price among consumers when buying ebooks.
One reasonable recommendation would therefore be a dynamic price for ebooks, structured as
a fixed price for the retailer but with immediate,
time-sensitive mobility for the customer. This is
not about giving each platform free rein to set its
own prices, but rather allowing publishers to be
able to change prices at their discretion via realtime software tools.
eBook sales are overwhelmingly realized through
digital sales platforms, at around 85% of sales,
whereas direct sales by publishers are estimated
to be in the region of 15%. Direct sales are likely
to trend downwards, particularly for non-specialized publishers. The powerful combination
of aggregation and traffic, values rewarded on
the Internet, enable a small number of platforms
to accumulate such high market share that it
becomes a cause for reflection. While it is quite
complicated to pin down the ebook market share
of the various platforms, the table below shows a
situation tending toward digital oligopoly, with
just one Spanish company (Tagus-Casa del LibroEl Corte Inglés) in a position to compete with the
big international players.28
Retailer
eBook Market Share
Amazon
35-40%
Apple
25-30%
Google
16-20%
Tagus-CDL-El Corte Inglés
14-16%
Others
7-9%
Share 1
Share 2
Total
100%
50%
29
23
17
25
0%
Amazon
19
Apple
14
14
12
8
7
Google
Tagus-CDL
Others
Another interesting development is the percentage of sales generated from these platforms in
foreign markets, especially in Latin America.
Many publishers report that 30% to 50% of their
sales are now coming from outside of Spain,
primarily from Latin America. This is quite a significant point to ponder.
The most widespread sales models work via
either downloads or online reading (streaming).
The sheer number of aggregators is not justified
by the size of the market. While general interest
ebook platforms, which offer both direct and
indirect sales, have popped up in profusion
in Spain, there are very few specialised ebook
platforms that aggregate content relating to specific subjects. This is an area where there would
seem to be an opening in the market, there are
obviously still large niches for specialized sales
waiting to be exploited.
Another case worth mentioning is the subscription model, for which there are already four
options in Spain (24Symbols, Nubico, Skoobe,
and Nube de Libros), all offering more or less
the same customer proposition and business
model. Thus far, the combination of freemium
and premium models to reach enough of a
critical mass to make them to be sustainable
has not quite come together, which opens a
range of opportunities to platforms willing to
take the risk of innovating with a different focus,
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selection, specialization, or business model. At
the moment, sales generated by the general
interest subscription models are residual owing
to the fact that they do not address the reading or
purchasing needs of most readers.
Libraries: A Firm Commitment
to the Digital Age
The potential for sales to libraries opens up a new
channel, unexplored to date essentially due to the
lack of digital lending platforms, to significantly
increase digital sales. Incorporating secondary
channels like libraries is an important step in creating a broader and more balanced digital market,
as a number of recent reports have indicated.
Building a well-structured digital market means
not only developing retail or consumer channels,
but also the institutional and/or secondary channels. To this end, university and public libraries
can be drivers in the development of the digital
book market in Spain.
Despite budget cuts in recent years, public libraries in Spain have achieved very high ratings (7.83
out of 10) in all customer satisfaction surveys in
relation to public services, reflecting the enormous appreciation and value this service holds
for the average citizen. In 2014, digital lending
received a strong push, an effort which will continue on into 2015 with the widespread adoption
by public (and academic) libraries of this new
service. For this reason, it seems prudent for publishers to begin implementing more diversified
digital models, and for libraries new acquisition
models. While it is true that only 11% of public
library users currently make use of digital
lending, the important thing to consider is the
trend line, a sharp upward curve in the demand
for these new lending services.
In Spain the hybrid print/ebook model is still in
its early stages, keeping in mind that prior to this
year libraries with digital lending platforms were
few and far between. However, this scenario is
rapidly changing. 2015 will clearly be the year
in which digital books in public and university
libraries achieve lift-off. Platforms such as
Liburutegia29 in the Basque Country, Galicia Le,
or eBiblio in other parts of the country, appear
to confirm this trend, and expansion across all
of Spain this year has become an indisputable
fact. The 111 million visits to public libraries last
year are evidence of a real market (even from a
marketing standpoint), one worthy of serious
consideration by publishers.
While all the available reports indicate that
public libraries in the U.S. only invested 4% of
their budget in digital books in 2012, and university libraries invested 30%, the speed of change
for these budgets is so rapid that predictions
for 2017 estimate a 20% investment for public
libraries and 60% for university libraries. These
types of forecasts are now being made for Spain,
and according to the latest public estimates,
spending on digital content in libraries is currently believed to be in the region of 2% but will grow
to between 15% and 20% by 2016. It should be
noted that book sales (currently in print format)
to libraries (of all kinds) in Spain are in the region
of €225 million. Estimating a 25% migration
to digital over two years would put the digital
market for libraries at about €55 million.
To support this estimate, it is instructive to look at
the ongoing development of digital textbooks in
education. According to the Spanish Association
of Publishers of Books and Educational Material
(ANELE), digital sales for the 2013-2014 school
year amounted to more than €23 million,
representing 29% of all digital book sales. The
digital share of textbook production has already
increased from 7.5% to 32.2%. One third of textbooks are now published in digital format. The
forecasts being published, without overstating
the cause for optimism, offer quite hopeful statistics for the publishing sector.
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One very positive effect for Spanish publishers
is the expansion and development of a number
of digital lending platforms, built for both public
and university libraries. The penetration of these
services over the course of 2015 will be nearly total.
The data shows that during 2015, digital lending
services will expand to almost the entire national
library sector, indicating enormous potential for
sales. According to various sources, looking at the
data from 2014, it would be reasonable to think
that digital sales to libraries (of all kinds) will pass
€5 million in 2015. For this reason, it would be
wise for publishers to pay more attention to these
kinds of channels, and to be more flexible in their
business models. The development and consolidation of this market could substantially aid the
development of retail channels, giving a strong
push to digital sales in Spain.
The sustainability of public library services is
of course critical, however the economic and
financial future of publishing houses is also
essential, which is why it is vital to design acquisition models that are “win-win” for both sides.
Publishers and libraries in the digital age are
doomed to collaborate, in the good sense of the
word, since they will need each other more than
ever. As more and more bookstores are unfortunately disappearing from our towns and cities,
the library is becoming one of the few remaining
cultural spaces in many municipalities where
readers can discover and interact with all kinds
of new books, authors, and other likeminded
readers. Despite budget limitations in recent
years, libraries across Spain have managed to
keep their 16 million users pretty well satisfied30.
Libraries are currently acquiring ebooks via the
three most common licensing models in library
lending: non-concurrent, concurrent and perpetual. This is a reasonable system for acquisitions to get
started, but it is certainly not the future. The future
will inexorably lead to libraries becoming one of the
key channels in the publishing sector, opening up a
wide range of new licensing models. Over the next
few months, we will see the implementation of new
formulas of library lending to address users’ different needs. Models such as open access, subscriptions, crowdfunding services, and user generated
content like self-publishing, as well as peer-to-peer,
etc., are carving out niches in the administration of
library content and services and are trends that will
see gradual growth to cover the needs of users and
libraries’ own unfinished transition.
There is no one perfect model, but rather various
alternatives to be analysed with a view to establishing their suitability. In this context of transformation, new models are appearing that enable
collaboration, co-payment, inter-library lending,
mixed models, etc., all seeking to activate digital
demand. In order to achieve a gradual increase in
the demand for ebooks in libraries, this demand
should not be limited by applying a standardized
licensing model.
MEXICO
Mexico is the fourteenth largest country in the
world (about 2 million square kilometers) and
the eleventh most populated (around 118 million
inhabitants). Apart from Spanish, 67 indigenous
languages are spoken there. Mexico is the tenth
largest exporter in the world, with sustained
growth over the last few years. The country’s economic activity depends greatly on trade with the
U.S., which consumes over 85 of Mexican exports
and employs almost 10% of its population. The
flow of remittances by international migrant
workers constitutes the second most important
source of income in the country after oil.
This is undoubtedly one of the countries with
the biggest disparities in all of Latin America.
Despite low rates of reading, it ranks second in
book production in Latin America, behind Brazil.
With a population of 122 million people, mainly
young (50% are under 35 years of age), 73% are
non-readers and only 2.9 books are read per
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inhabitant per year. Despite these figures, 7% of
Mexicans already report reading ebooks, quite an
interesting data point.
A good place to start is by looking at the data,
characteristics, and profiles pertaining to Internet
users in Mexico31:
ʞʞ Internet penetration in Mexico increased
by 13% in 2013 with higher growth levels
in comparison with the previous year. The
number of Internet users grew from 45.1
million to 51.2 million.
ʞʞ The average duration of Internet usage was
5 hours and 36 minutes, 26 minutes more
than in 2012.
ʞʞ Internet access mainly occurred in the
home, followed by the workplace. High
usage of public and private Wi-Fi networks
was also observed.
ʞʞ The most popular Internet activities were
the use of e-mail and social networks, overtaking search for information.
ʞʞ 84% of Internet users have downloaded
an app.
ʞʞ Search engines are the most widely used
sources to find information, followed by
social networks.
ʞʞ The main device used to connect to the
Internet continues to be the computer,
Market
though now 5 out of 10 users connect via
their smart phone.
ʞʞ 8 in 10 children with parents who are
Internet users also use the Internet, mainly
at school and for entertainment purposes.
The average age at which children become
Internet users is 10.
ʞʞ Penetration of social networks among
Internet users is sustained, 9 out of 10
access a social network.
ʞʞ The most popular social network in Mexico
continues to be Facebook, followed by
YouTube, Twitter and Google+.
According to preliminary statistics provided by
the National Chamber of the Book Industry in
Mexico32, the number of copies produced from
year to year is consistently high:
ʞʞ 2008: 385 million copies
ʞʞ 2009: 321 million copies
ʞʞ 2010: 345 million copies
ʞʞ 2011: 293 million copies
ʞʞ 2012: 330 million copies
However, these figures require qualification. In
2012, 57% of copies produced were published by
the public sector (government), leaving only 43%
in the hands of private publishers.
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Government
67%
62%
63%
55%
57%
57%
Private
33%
38%
37%
45%
43%
43%
Total
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
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Furthermore, of the 142.8 million copies published by the private publishing industry, 44.5
million (31%) correspond to production intended
for government school programs.
ʞʞ Print: 10,406,647,613 million pesos (about
$768 million), a 3.2% increase in comparison with 2011.
ʞʞ eBooks: 16,638,238 million pesos (around
$1.2 million), an increase of 59.3% over 2011.
The private publishing sector published 23,948
titles in 2012, 10.8% fewer than in 2011. Of those,
2,739, or 11.4% of production, were published in
digital format, 60% more than in 2011.
eBooks are as yet less than 1% of total sales, but
this reveals the enormous development and
growth they could have in the next few years.
The title production numbers for the private publishing sector are as follows:
One trend worth noting is the drop in percentage of imports. The increase in books produced
by the private industry in combination with
commissions for educational books by public
institutions have caused the share of imports
to drop. It declined from 20% in 2006 to 8% in
2012, the same year that sales of imported books
increased 7%.
ʞʞ 2008: 20,242 titles
ʞʞ 2009: 18,618 titles
ʞʞ 2010: 25,348 titles
ʞʞ 2011: 26,836 titles
Sales of imported books have been decreasing
since 2006.
ʞʞ 2012: 23,948 titles
Sales volume for 2012 may be broken down as
follows:
Sales Channels
The table below shows sales by channel in thousands of copies:
2012
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Sales to government
60,347
46,619
48,140
44,142
46,496
49,512
59,349
39.2
Bookstores
42,045
42,084
41,705
40,468
39,999
40,345
39,408
26.0
Sales to schools
11,681
13,789
9,822
9,722
12,476
13,512
17,974
11.9
Export
16,085
14,991
14,894
11,545
15,466
14,951
13,428
8.9
Grocery and department
stores
13,731
12,747
11,013
11,926
10,611
8,393
9,549
6.3
Kiosks
2,431
1,825
2,240
1,908
3,870
4,494
4,311
2.8
Book fairs
2,539
991
1,094
1,131
1,170
1,032
1,413
0.9
Sales to private companies
2,254
3,710
2,972
3,152
2,426
3,761
907
0.6
Direct sales via credit
1,946
1,658
1,378
1,329
1,226
1,181
148
0.1
Other
7,544
8,715
5,431
3,680
4,867
5,158
4,930
3.3
160,603
147,129
138,689
129,003
138,607
142,339
151,417
100
Total
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26
According to these figures, the government was
the principal sales channel with an increase of
20% from 2011 to 2012, followed at a distance by
bookstores, which experienced a 2% drop in sales
in the same period.
20000
18000
Other
16000
Philosphy and
Psychology
14000
12000
Science, Technology
and Professional
10000
K-12 Education
8000
Turning to external trade, exports remained
stable with a slight downward trend within
modest export figures. In 2012 the number of
copies exported dropped by 10.2% although sales
increased by 4.2%, evidently due to an increase in
average price.
Digital production figures showed growth in the
number of titles of 60% from 2011 to 2012, from
1,709 to 2.739 titles. Scientific and professional
(48.9%) were the biggest categories, with fiction
(307 titles) accounting for only 11.2%.
The most popular subjects for ebooks produced
in 2012 (2,739) were as follows:
ʞʞ Fiction, Children’s, and Young Adult: 307
titles.
ʞʞ K-12 Education: 653 titles.
ʞʞ Science and Technology: 1,342 titles.
ʞʞ Philosophy and Psychology: 262 titles.
6000
Fiction, Children's and
Young Adult
4000
In thousands of pesos
2000
0
2011
2012
According to some sources, there were about
60,000 monthly downloads, which would come
to 720,000 per year. At an average price of 135
pesos, total ebook sales would equal 97 million
pesos, a number that would include sales of
ebooks from outside of Mexico sold through
online platforms.
Lastly, it is worth remarking on the enormous
potential for the development of ebooks in
Mexico. Many international publishers who
publish in Spanish indicated that sales in Mexico
constituted 40% to 65% of their total ebook sales
in Latin America. Mexico is therefore of prime
importance in any strategy designed to break
into the Latin American market. Although it is a
country with many disparities, there is no question it is a top priority for the content industry.
The Role of Bookstores
ʞʞ Other: 175 titles.
Sales of digital books amounted to 16.6 million
pesos in 2012, a 59.3% increase with respect
to 2011, which saw 10.4 million pesos in sales.
Science and technology books represented 90%
of total sales.
The data around digital publication and sales
that have begun to be released for 2013 show an
increase of 17% in sales, reaching 19.5 million
pesos. Total sales for the private publishing
industry in 2013 increased to 10.889 billion pesos,
meaning the ebook share is still quite low.
The National Chamber of the Book Industry
in Mexico publishes a Statistical Report on
Bookstores on a periodical basis. The report
describes the main characteristics of bookstores
in Mexico, such as the type of establishment,
location, size, and catalogue. The most interesting points in the latest report, issued in 2012, may
be summarized as follows:
ʞʞ Of the 1,198 points of sale surveyed,
40.9% were main stores and the rest were
branches.
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a. Cristal, with over 40 branches throughout Mexico.
b. Porrúa, with over 30 branches.
c. FCE (Fondo de Cultura Económica), the
most important Mexican publishing
house also has more than 22 bookshops.
d. Ghandi, with 25 branches.
continuous growth in volume of production
since 2000, a year during which 1,390 titles were
published, reaching 6,491 titles in 2013. This indicates a highly dynamic publishing industry and a
significant rise – slow but consistent – in the rates
of reading in a country where these are still fairly
low (35%) with respect to other Latin American
countries. According to the Peruvian Book
Chamber33, production figures are as follows
ʞʞ 2009: 5,328 titles
e. Casa del Libro, 10 branches.
f. Sanborns, a restaurant chain with
attached stores, with almost 380 points
of sale throughout the country, sells a
wide range of Mexican and foreign periodicals, with a book selection focused
on bestsellers.
ʞʞ 30% of points of sale are located in the
Mexico City. The state of Jalisco ranks
second in number of bookstores, accounting for 6.8%.
ʞʞ 3% of bookstores occupy less than 50
square meters, and 21% occupy between
50 to 100 square meters.
ʞʞ About 32% of bookstores are 10 to 20 years
old and 31% have been in business for up to
10 years.
ʞʞ 55% of the bookstores offer a general trade
catalogue, whereas 29% offer a specialized
catalogue.
ʞʞ 80% of bookstores sell imported editions.
PERU
With 30 million inhabitants, business opportunities in the publishing sector are very promising.
The Peruvian publishing market has experienced
ʞʞ 2010: 6,031 titles
ʞʞ 2011: 5,476 titles
ʞʞ 2012: 5,957 titles
ʞʞ 2013: 6,491 titles
Book sales (counting only the formal economy)
reached a market volume of 1,194 million soles in
2011 (around €325 million). 51.2% of those were
books published in Peru (671 million soles) and
43.8% were imports (522 million soles).
Peru’s trade balance is tilted toward imports
when it comes to publishing, with an average
growth rate of 3.8% per year based on the
increase from $59.4 million in 2008 to $66.5
million in 2011. Exports decreased during the
same period, from $38.6 million to $29.2 million,
dropping at a rate of 8.9% per year. This equals a
trade deficit of $37.2 million.
Here are a few more numbers that help to define
the Peruvian book market:
ʞʞ Only 23% of the population purchases
books.
ʞʞ 49% buy books in bookstores.
ʞʞ 32% visit public libraries.
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According to CERLALC, digital production
accounted for 2% in 2011, which, bearing in
mind the total number of books produced,
represents 107 titles, though this figure bears
reconsideration in view of the massive production by certain university publishers of titles in
PDF format. Based on conversations with various
consultants, the volume of digital production in
2013 (essentially PDF) is likely to be around 6% of
production, i.e. around 390 titles.
The potential for digital sales in Peru is of particular interest considering the number of online
users, about 4.8 million, 65.1% of whom are
under 35 years of age, and who spend 21.5 hours a
month online. Looking at use of social networks,
38.8% have a Facebook account, 8% have Twitter
accounts and 20.5% use Youtube.
The last few years have seen the creation of a
number of online bookstores such as Kiputeka.com,
Librosperuanos.com and Perubookstore.com, which
aim to meet the needs of Peruvian ebook readers.
PORTUGAL
Like Spain, Portugal and its population (almost
11,000,000 inhabitants), have endured a deep
and intense economic crisis over the last 5 years
which has had a significant effect on all cultural
industries, including the book sector.
According to statistics related to online users in
Portugal34:
ʞʞ 57% of the population uses the Internet.
ʞʞ 72.9% uses the Internet on a daily basis.
ʞʞ 38.5% uses the Internet via mobile devices.
ʞʞ 94.1% of people from 15 to 24 years of age,
85.8% of people from 25 to 34, and 71.6% of
people 35 to 44 use the Internet.
ʞʞ Facebook is the most widely used social
network with 98% of users, followed by
Google + at 13,7%, Hi5 at 10,4%, Twitter at
9%, and LinkedIn at 7.5%.
The main conclusion in all reports is that the percentage of people using the Internet continues
to rise, and younger people are especially heavy
users.
In embarking on a concise analysis of the book
market in Portugal, the main source of information, apart from the ISBN Agency, is the
encyclopedic and well documented study entitled Comercio livreiro em Portugal: Estado da arte
na segunda década do século XXI (Book Business in
Portugal: State of the Art in the Second Decade of the
XXIst Century), published by APEL35 in 2014.
An initial diagnosis of the situation revealed a
certain decline in the number publishers and
bookshops, and a decrease in sales, mainly due
to the intensity of the economic crisis the country
has had to navigate during the last few years. In
2012, the number of publishers was estimated
at 442, a similar number to that of 2008. The
market is highly concentrated, with two big
groups – Grupo Leya (with 17 imprints) and Porto
Editora (15 imprints) – controlling almost 40% of
the market share, meaning a number of small,
independent companies share the market with
the major publishers.
Sales figures revealed an ongoing decline, with a
market measuring €356 million in 2012, similar
to 2007 levels, having fallen from €404 million in
2008. This is clear evidence that the market has
shrunk significantly, thus raising certain questions and challenges36.
Against a backdrop of small publishers shutting
down and a decline in the number of books being
published, there is a simultaneous increase in the
phenomenon of self-publishing or single title
publishing (by authors or institutions) and of
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print on demand. 855 books were self-published
in 2007, whereas 3,692 were self-published in
2013, a spectacular increase.
For companies whose primary business is selling
books at retail (bookstores and bookselling
chains), the negative trend is clear. Following
certain positive fluctuations in 2007 and 2008,
there has been an ongoing decline, and in 2012
the number of companies reached its lowest point,
falling to 562 bookstores, 132 fewer than in 2004.
The decrease in sales through these sales channels was also significant, dropping from €145
million in 2009 to €126 million in 2012.
Portugal still maintains a healthy bookselling
ecosystem, with many bookstore chains having
numerous points of sale – Almedina (10 stores),
Bulhosa (10 stores), Bertrand (53 stores), Leya (6
stores), FNAC (17 stores), CE Livrarias (117 stores).
However, the entrance of Amazon, Google and
Apple into the market may significantly alter
the landscape of book sales, for both print and
ebooks, within a short period of time. In order to
maintain a healthy stability in the market share
of bookstores, the importance of fairs and big box
stores cannot be ignored.
The Digital Market in Portugal
Below is an estimate of digital production figures
for the last few years:
Year
Digital Books
2008
86
2009
225
2010
378
2011
638
2012
2,372
2013
3,325
This chart reflects the decisive commitment by
publishers to the digital format, evidenced by the
520% increase in production between 2011 and
2013. According to different sources, estimates of
the ebook share of the market place it at under
2% of total sales. On a related note, e-reader and
tablet sales took off in 2011, when more than
300,000 thousand devices were sold in Portugal.
Apple holds the highest market share in tablets
with 80%. Another important point to consider
in relation to the digital migration in publishing
is that around 36% of periodicals are simultaneously published in print and digital formats.
In order to evaluate the potential of the digital
book market in Portugal, it is also essential
to note the gradual improvement in rates of
reading, particularly in digital formats, thanks
mainly to the National Reading Plan 2006-2016,
currently being implemented37. The simultaneous expansion and improvement of the library
network (reaching 1,500 libraries according to
OCLC) and its acquisition policies, by both government and locally administrated libraries, has
also been an important factor towards building a
dynamic and balanced digital market38.
The book market in Portugal is thus an interesting one, due to its size and cultural importance.
Portuguese is a global language spoken by a 250
million people worldwide, and Portugal is the key
to the development of this market, as confirmed
by the internationalization of its publishing
companies. Portugal’s evolution towards becoming a digital market is therefore worth watching
closely and with great interest.
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4. CONCLUSIONS
The development of the publishing sector in Latin
America has varied greatly from one country to
another. Countries with consolidated industries
such as Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia
represent almost 80% of the books published in
the region, co-existing with others, such as Chile,
Peru and Ecuador, where the publishing industry
has only just begun to take shape. The remaining
countries, particularly in Central America, are
making efforts to advance in this arena. The state
plays a very important role in generating demand
in almost every Latin American country, although
the private publishing industry is the essential
driving force behind the cultural diversity of
books in the region.
The emergence of digital culture, which has had
an impact on both the industry and readers,
even while rates of development vary from place
to place, still offers a broad range of business
opportunities for the book industry all over Latin
America. In this context of change, there are three
uniting factors indicating that the development
of the digital market will become a reality in the
majority of Latin American countries.
The first is the increase in the number of ebooks
registered with ISBN agencies. The percentage
of books registered in electronic format between
2003 and 2011 grew from 7% to 15%, meaning
ebooks have effectively doubled as a share of
total registered books. The flip side of this is that
the share of print books during the same period
dropped from 94% to 87%. “Of the total number
of titles registered in digital format in 2011,
90.4% were concentrated in Brazil, Colombia,
Argentina and Mexico” (CERLALC, 2012).
The second factor is the growing importance
of digital reading. The “Latinobarómetro”, an
annual public opinion survey conducted in Latin
America since 1995, has added the following
question to its survey: “Do you read books, newspapers, magazines and blogs directly online?”
Answers to this question suggest that in some
countries in the region, digital reading is, in
fact, growing in importance. In Colombia and
Uruguay about 19% of respondents indicated
that they read directly on the Internet, followed
by 16% in Argentina, 13% in Chile and Mexico,
and 11% in Brazil and Peru. In the remaining
countries in the region, fewer than 10% reported
reading directly online. In Spain, 6.5% of people
read books in digital format and 4.1% report
reading books directly online.
The third factor is the relevance of the Internet
as a sales and distribution channel for ebooks.
Although figures relating to the purchase
or download of books via the Internet in
the “Latinobrómetro” revealed a market in
its beginning stages – under 10% in every
country – this offers a glimpse of a promising
area for development.
However, the publishing industry’s main
obstacle to consolidating strong domestic
digital markets are the low rates of reading
across the continent39. According to the
“Latinobarómetro”40, 51.5% of people do not
read books. The yearly average across all of
Latin America of 3.5 books read per person
must improve, and it is in fact improving. These
figures should be of concern not only to the publishing industry but to the governments, who
need to support vigorous programs in support
of culture and reading. To this end, support for
the development of a powerful digital library
infrastructure is essential, particularly given
the broad segments of the population of lower
socioeconomic status, in order to avoid an even
larger social gap in the new digital age.
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The main opportunities and challenges faced by
Latin America in the next five years can be summarized as follows:
ʞʞ The impact of digitization on the book
industry been strong and has begun, as in
other cultural industries, with production,
substantially altering the value chain. The
next step will be to increase digital sales
and distribution of content by Spanish and
Latin American publishers throughout the
entire continent and in the main bookstores and libraries throughout the world.
ʞʞ Digital technology offers enormous
opportunities for all creative and cultural
industries in the region. The rampant
development of the Internet in the region
implies that anytime, anywhere access to
cultural consumption and to all kinds of
educational and entertainment content
has caused a paradigm alteration in
the ways, means, and habits we have
for accessing books. In other words, it is
essential to create new ways of discovering books, as well as new sales channels,
beyond traditional bookstores.
ʞʞ The consolidation of national publishing
markets in the principal Latin American
countries will arise from a firm commitment to digital publishing (the birth of new
digital publishers with different business
models, development of transnational
distribution platforms, etc.).
ʞʞ Book professionals will become increasingly aware of the importance of price
as a variable in incentivizing cultural
demand and consumption. This does not
mean current fixed price policies should
be eliminated, only that they should be
complemented with more dynamic pricing
policies.
ʞʞ Governmental powers will continue to
have an important role in promoting
content creation and demand. All the data
indicates that there is a direct relationship
between reading and levels of social and
economic development. The emergence
of the digital era offers governments and
publishers a new opportunity to increase
the number of readers in the region.
ʞʞ Libraries and digital library lending will be
key tools for achieving this increase in the
number of readers because they provide
free access to books.
ʞʞ Brick and mortar bookstores continue
to represent the main sales channel for
books in Latin America despite the marked
inequality of bookselling infrastructure
between countries and the high concentration in urban areas. While in Spain indirect
distribution generates 60% of sales for
publishers, in Latin America it represents
only 25%. For the present, bookstores
continue to be the main sales channel for
books. Commitment by bookstores to new
technologies will be the key to ensuring a
role for themselves in the digital age.
As Rüdiger Wischenbart said in his report
“Global Trends in Publishing” 41, the emerging
markets will probably be the ones to show
us how the global ecosystem of books will
evolve. It is highly unlikely that the powers
that be in India and Indonesia will set a goal of
establishing a dense network of bookstores in
every town; nor will a rise in rates of reading in
Beijing, Sao Paulo or Guadalajara (or among the
growing Hispanic population of the US) wait
for the development of distribution centres for
print books, or for tax regimes that facilitate
imports and exports, or for book reviews in the
printed press as a means of encouraging reading
and purchasing books.
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32
It will be much easier for those public officials to
leap-frog directly from a situation of poor physical infrastructure, in which accessing books is so
hard and costly, to a digital future in which smart
phones and tablets become doors to online
knowledge, thereby filling the gap more rapidly
and easily.
Taking a global perspective on books, publishing,
and reading means recognizing that the future of
the industry will be different from the past. The
new digital world offers us many opportunities
to mend some of the shortcomings of the past,
when access to books – and through them to
knowledge and entertainment – was characterized by an appallingly wide “digital divide”.
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33
5. ABOUT BOOKWIRE, CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Founded in Germany in 2009, Bookwire is an
eBook aggregator specialising in marketing
digital content in all existing and emerging sales
channels worldwide. In 2011 Bookwire became
the first certified European supplier for the Apple
iBooks Store.
This report was compiled by Manuel Gil and
Javier Celaya.
Bookwire offers a full service package of delivery,
reporting, quality management, shop marketing
and conversion. The company works with over
800 publishing houses from 30 countries for
which it provides the world’s largest network of
eBook and audiobook shops.
Design and layout was conducted by Emiliano
Molina (Cuadratín).
Bookwire has offices in Germany, Brazil,
Colombia, México, Peru, Spain and Russia.
Contact details: http://www.bookwire.de/en/
Margarita Guerrero
Head of Account Management
Spain & Latin America
Bookwire Spain S.L.
+34 650 96 40 12 | [email protected]
English version has been translated by Annabelle
Pratt-McKiernan and afterwards, edited and
proofread by Emily Williams.
We would be remiss not to express our gratitude
to the Book Chambers, ISBN Agencies and the
Book and Publishing Associations of LATAM
for all of the publishing reports on each of their
markets that they have made available to analysts and consultants on their websites. We particularly wish to thank CERLALC, without whose
research and sources of information we would
not have been able to draw up this report. We
also feel deeply indebted to the numerous book
professionals in Latin America who have shared
with us their figures and data. We would like to
extend our sincerest thanks to all of them.
This report is published free of charge under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Non CommercialNo Derivatives license, which allows users to copy
and distribute its content via any means, provided that its authors and Bookwire are credited and
that it is not used for commercial purposes and is
not modified in any way.
Bookwire
The Spanish and Portuguese Digital Markets Report
34
Notes
1. CERLALC (Centro Regional para el Fomento del
Libro en América Latina y el Caribe, an intergovernmental organization based in Bogotá,
Colombia that promotes reading, publishing and
copyright in the Latin American region). Libro en
Cifras nº 5
http://cerlalc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/­
5.0-Libro-en-cifras-1er-semestre-2014.pdf
2. http://www.dosdoce.com/articulo/estudios/3924/
nuevos-modelos-de-negocio-en-la-era-digital/
3. National Survey on Cultural Consumption.
SinCA (Sistema de Información Cultural de la
Argentina). Argentina, 2013.
http://sinca.cultura.gob.ar/sic/publicaciones/libros/EECC.pdf
4. 2013 Annual Statistics Report on Book Production
in Argentina. Cámara del Libro de Argentina,
2013.
http://www.camaradellibro.com.ar/index.php/
panorama-editorial/estadisticas
5. Mercado Editorial de Argentina y Ciudad de
Buenos Aires. Informe 2013. Observatorio de
Industrias Creativas.
http://www.buenosaires.gob.ar/sites/gcaba/files/
mercado_editorial.pdf
9. http://www.snel.org.br/dados-do-setor/producao-e-vendas-do-setor-editorial-brasileiro/
http://publishnews.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/­aevolucao-do-mercado-editorial-de-2004-a-2013/
10. http://www.clustergrafico.com/files/EL%20
MERCADO%20DELIBROS%20EN%20BRASIL.pdf
11. http://cerlalc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/­
5.0-Libro-en-cifras-1er-semestre-2014.pdf
12. http://www.clustergrafico.com/files/EL%20
MERCADO%20DELIBROS%20EN%20BRASIL.pdf
13. http://www.bibliotecanacional.gov.co/content/%C2%BFqu%C3%A9-es-la-red-nacional-de-bibliotecas-p%C3%BAblicas
14. http://www.eltiempo.com/entretenimiento/musica-y-libros/bibliotecas-publicas-en-colombia/14944835
15. Book Statistics in Colombia, 2013 Report, Colombian
Book Chamber, Bogotá.
16. NATIONAL SURVEY ON CULTURAL PARTICIPA­
TION AND CONSUMPTION 2012 http://www.cultura.gob.cl/enpcc2012/
17. CULTURE AND FREE TIME ANNUAL REPORT.
NATIONAL STATISTICS INSTITUTE OF CHILE. 2013.
http://www.ine.cl/canales/menu/publicaciones/
calendario_de_publicaciones/pdf/cultura_tiempo_libre_informe_2013.pdf
6. http://www.el-libro.org.ar/
7. http://sinca.cultura.gob.ar/sic/mapa/
18. STATISTICS REPORT 2013. ISGN AGENCY. BOOK
CHAMBER OF CHILE. 2013.
8. CERLALC. LIBRO EN CFRAS nº 5
http://cerlalc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/­
5.0-Libro-en-cifras-1er-semestre-2014.pdf
http://camaradellibro.cl/wp-content/files_mf/informeisbn08092014final.pdf
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19. CERLALC. LIBRO EN CIFRAS Nº 5.
26. SPANISH PUBLISHING PANORAMA. MECYD. 2014.
http://cerlalc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/­
5.0­-Libro-en-cifras-1er-semestre-2014.pdf
http://www.mecd.gob.es/cultura-mecd/are a s - c u l t u r a / l i b r o / m c / p e e / c o n te n e d o r a /
presentacion.html;jsessionid=B24E9D2C668EA951008B589E2602F3F1
20. ICEX. Report: The Book Market in Ecuador.
http://www.icex.es/icex/es/navegacion-principal/
todos-nuestros-servicios/informacion-de-mercados/paises/navegacion-principal/el-mercado/estudios-informes/4615900.html?idPais=EC
27. https://antinomiaslibro.wordpress.com/2015/­
01/­19/descargas-2014/
28. http://www.dosdoce.com/articulo/opinion/3883/
matrimonio-de-conveniencia-digital/
21. Ecuadorian Book Chamber http://www.celibro.
org.ec/frontEnd/main.php
29. http://www.liburuklik.euskadi.net/prestamo-digital
22. Leo magazine, 10th edition, sept-oct 2013 El libro
en cifras (Book figures), by Luis Heredia Sandoval,
page 17).
30. http://www.dosdoce.com/articulo/opinion/3913/
descubriendo-nuevos-modelos-de-prestamo-digital-en-bibliotecas/
http://www.celibro.org.ec/frontEnd/main.php?idSeccion=103
31. Report on the Habits of internet Users in Mexico
2014
23. ACCENTURE-AMETIC REPORT. WE ARE DIGITAL.
2014.
http://es.slideshare.net/EdgardGarza/estudio-hbitos-del-internauta-mexicano-2014
http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollection­
Documents/Local_Spain/PDF/Accenture-DigitalConsumer-Survey-2014.pdf
32. http://caniem.org/Graficas/actividad-editorial-del-sector-de-libros/ Report: Indi­cators for the
Private Publishing Sector in México 2012. CANIEM.
24. ANNUAL REPORT, THE NETWORK SOCIETY. 2013.
ONTSI. 2014.
33. http://cpl.org.pe/
34. INTERNET PROFILE, PORTUGAL
http://www.ontsi.red.es/ontsi/es/estudios-informes?cat=34
25. E-ESPAÑA 2014. ANNUAL REPORT ON THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
IN SPAIN. ORANGE FOUNDATION. 2014.
http://fundacionorange.es/fundacionorange/
analisisprospectiva.html
http://www.obercom.pt/client/?newsId=548&fileName=internet_portugal_2014.pdf
35. Comercio livreiro em Portugal: Estado da arte na segunda década do século XXI. José Soares Neves (coord.) Rui Beja & Jorge Alves dos Santos & Jorge
Augusto dos Santos. APEL. 2014. (Book Business
in Portugal: State of the Art in the Second Decade
of the XXIst Century)
http://apel.pt/gest_cnt_upload/editor/File/
COMERCIO_LIVREIRO_APEL__SET2014_SEC.pdf
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36. http://apel.pt/gest_cnt_upload/editor/File/
COMERCIO_LIVREIRO_APEL__SET2014_SEC.pdf
39. https://antinomiaslibro.wordpress.com/2014/­
10/­27/sobre-indices-de-lectura/
37. READING IN PORTUGAL
40. http://www.latinobarometro.org/lat.jsp
http://www.planonacionaldeleitura.gov.pt/PNL­
Estudos/uploads/ficheiros/leitura-portugal.pdf
41. h t t p : / / w w w.b u c h m e s s e.d e / e n / b u s i n e s s club/01636/?etcc_med=Mailing&etcc_cmp=Business0Club0eBlast&etcc_par=ES0
38. LIBRARY STATISTICS
http://www.oac.pt/pdfs/EstatisticasCulturais­
MC2010.pdf
http://oclc.org/es-americalatina/global-library-statistics.html
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