We need to work harder and customize our publishing offers in Latin America,’ says Barcelona-based independent publisher Luis Solano. Spain’s publishing market’s challenges, he says, include piracy and a need for new readership.

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

Economic Changes, Piracy, Education

“Since the economic recession hit in 2008, the Spanish book market has seen a steep decline,” according to Publishing Perspectives’ free white paper on The Markets: Global Publishing Summit.

“Book sales dropped from €3.185 billion ($3.611 billion) in 2008 to €2.181 billion ($2.473 billion) in 2013,” the white paper says. The good news is that 2014 saw an increase in sales, “up to €2.195 billion ($2.489 billion) over €2.181 billion in 2013…This upturn in the book market has given some publishers more confidence to branch out.”

It’s against this background that we’ve interviewed Luis Solano. The founding editor of Libros del Asteroide is also quoted in the white paper, and his publishing house is independent and based in Barcelona near the Sarrià Sant-Gervase district.

We’ve asked him to elaborate on the context in which he sees the Spanish market today.

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