Caribe-Betania Expands Spanish Program

With a new vp on board, the evangelical publisher ventures into the business books market.

By Gabriella Salas -- Críticas, 8/1/2005

Just eight months after taking the job of vice-president and publisher of Caribe-Betania Editores, an imprint of Thomas Nelson Inc., Larry Downs is expanding the evangelical house’s Spanish program. Downs, who worked at Caribe-Betania’s competitor, Editorial Unilit, for 10 years, the last 18 months as president, is heading the launch of a new non-religious imprint and an audiobook line. He gave Críticas a sneak peak into the initiatives, mainly aimed at capturing a new kind of reader. “We want to bring good books to readers, great authors to dreamers, and have an impact in the person, the family, and the community.” Downs told Críticas. “We believe that it will take us expanding to new markets to reach this goal.”

Dubbed Líder Latino (Latino Leader), the new imprint diverges from Caribe-Betania’s evangelical focus by targeting first- and second-generation Hispanic businessmen and women. Líder’s objective is to provide businesspeople the proper tools and motivation to succeed in today’s competitive market. The imprint’s catalog includes books on teamwork, self-improvement, sales, and finances, some of them by best-selling business gurus John Maxwell and Todd Duncan. A Spanish-language internet portal, www.liderlatino.com, provides complementary articles, video clips, and other educational materials for Latino leaders.

“This is the time to move ahead,” says Downs about going non-religious. “Publishers have been talking about the number of Hispanics in the U.S. market, but are just now waking up to the sales opportunities. With a more focused publishing imprint, we believe that we can have a deeper penetration and help our retailers succeed.”

Downs is also venturing into the audiobook market. “This medium is an opportunity to introduce a potential new group of non-readers to great authors and themes, and also to give readers an opportunity to sample authors in the midst of a busy schedule.” With the first title, John Maxwell’s Las 21 leyes irrefutables del liderazgo (The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership) in stores this October, Caribe-Betania will publish a maximum of five audiobooks during the next year. Titles will be promoted through liderlatino.com and through “blasts to the retailers and some consumers,” says Downs.

But for Downs, the only way to ensure the success of his initiatives is to secure that the Líder’s products are visible at major retail channels like Barnes & Noble and Borders. “We are working with B&N.com to fulfill the liderlatino.com web orders,” Downs explains. He is also negotiating with the B&N stores and with Borders, to create Spanish-language Business sections so that Líder’s titles don’t get lost in the small, and sometimes hard to find “Libros en Español” sections of some branches. “We want to use liderlatino.com to help B&N and Borders by driving customers to their stores. Without Spanish Business sections, we are barely scratching the surface [of the U.S. Hispanic market],” Downs explains. “We need to be more aggressive on all fronts.”