Random House Launches New Spanish Division

New Random House Spanish to handle sales and distribution for Spanish-language books at Random House.

By Carmen Ospina -- Críticas, 5/15/2006

After a decade of ventures into Spanish-language publishing, including the up-and-coming Vintage Español and a program of imports from branches in Spain and Latin America, Random House USA will officially launch its Spanish-language books division, Random House Spanish (RHS), at BookExpo America this May 17–21.

Business development director Erik Riesenberg hopes to give the division a new identity with the RHS brand. “We want to be identified with the supply aspect of the business,” says Riesenberg. “We will be talking to all vendors at BEA and have the new logo and branding at our booth and in our catalogs. We also plan to launch a website in the course of this year that will link to the company’s Spanish-language imprints.”

Though Random House has had an imports program since 2003, the RHS brand is new. RHS imports and distributes between 150 and 175 Spanish books from Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, and Argentina, and has a backlist of nearly 900 titles. The division also takes care of the Spanish-language titles published by the various Random House USA imprints, led by Knopf, Doubleday, and Ballantine. The ten titles these imprints published in 2005 will likely double this year and include the Bantam and Random House Publishing Group imprints.

RHS is also in charge of promotion and sales. Riesenberg works closely with the Hispanic media, including the major newspapers and magazines and local publications, to increase the amount of coverage for its titles. “We’ve found success in a grassroots approach by targeting newspapers and newsletters with smaller circulation in both the major and secondary Hispanic markets,” says Riesenberg. “The readers of these papers are very loyal and share positive buzz about new books with family, friends, and neighbors.”

RHS also reaches out to public and school libraries, and to special markets, including non-traditional store chains like drugstores and supermarkets. Riesenberg has found that these stores prefer books by well-known authors and on hot topics. Two of his best-selling titles are Claves ocultas del Código Da Vinci (Hidden Keys in The Da Vinci Code, RHS, 2005), an international phenomenon, and the self-help memoir Triunfa y sé feliz (Triumph and Be Happy) by Univision journalist Myrka Dellanos.

“One trend we are spearheading is the supply of mass market books,” says Riesenberg. “We feel that many readers have been looking for more mass market variety and we are actively importing more titles in this format.” In late April, RHS launched a comprehensive library of some 30 titles by Gabriel García Márquez in a variety of paperback formats, including mass market, ranging in price from $8.95 to $15.95. Cien años de soledad (100 Years of Solitude) is available from the Barcelona-based Mondadori imprint in larger trade paperback for $19.95 and in smaller trade paperback for $11.95.

As for what awaits RHS, Riesenberg points to English-language publishing. The goal is to have the individual imprints in Spain and Latin America translate their most important authors into English and have RHS distribute and promote the books in the United States and Canada. “This will afford traditionally Spanish-language authors the opportunity to expand their voice into the mainstream U.S. market,” says Riesenberg, adding that the program will launch at the beginning of next year.