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Selling Canadian Books in Colombia: Publishers

By Gabrielle Etcheverry Date: May 01, 2023

This year marks the Bogota International Book Fair’s (FILBo) 35th anniversary. FILBo is the most significant and longstanding cultural event in Colombia and is the second largest book fair in Spanish-speaking Latin America. To celebrate FILBo’s anniversary and give readers a glimpse into the opportunities available in Colombia’s vibrant book market, today we share another excerpt of our market guide, Selling Canadian Books in Colombia: A Guide for Canadian Publishers.

Published in 2022, the guide was written by experts at the Regional Centre for Book Promotion in Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLALC), a think-tank established through a joint initiative between UNESCO and the Colombian Government that provides advice to the governments of its LAC member states on literacy, libraries, copyright laws, and the book publishing sector.

Publishing in Colombia is concentrated in the capital city, Bogotá. Medellín holds a robust publishing industry network, and the number of publishers in cities such as Barranquilla and Cali is growing. Although university publishing is also concentrated in the main cities of the country, it has a larger presence than trade publishing in different regions.

The commercial publishing market in Colombia is composed of a diverse array of publishers of various origins and sizes. Through their catalogues, they cover a broad range of areas, subjects, and topics. Large foreign publishing groups coexist with national publishers of different sizes. Colombia’s independent publishing scene in particular is currently flourishing as evidenced by the growing number of presses and their innovative, award-winning titles.

Read on for information about Colombian publishers or download the guide to read in full.

Trade Publishers: According to the 2017 report, El libro y la lectura en Colombia, “trade book publishers constitute the segment that has continuously gained share in the past five years, together with those of science-tech-professional books.” With trade publishers, it is important to distinguish between local branches of large foreign publishing groups and national publishing companies. Two large foreign publishing groups have been established in Colombia through their local branches for decades: Grupo Planeta from Spain and Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial belonging to the German conglomerate Bertelsmann SE & Co. Both firms have a catalogue that covers a large variety of general interest topics.

Children’s and Young Adult Publishers: The children’s and young adult segment of the publishing market is rich in publishers and authors. Various publishers operate in this segment including brands that belong to large foreign groups, educational book publishers, trade publishers, and small independent publishers.

University Presses: University publishing in Colombia includes publishers from various regions of the country and generates abundant, rich, diverse, high-quality productions in many fields, including social sciences, law, humanities, sciences, medicine, business management, economy, architecture, and more. Its high-quality production, reach, and impact demonstrate the health of this segment.

University publishers are natural outlets for works stemming from the institution’s research. Some university publishers also issue titles from literary genres such as narrative, poetry, and drama.

The Colombian Association of University Publishers (ASEUC) is the organization in charge of assembling university presses. The ASEUC’s function is to “affiliate and represent Colombian university presses, as well as to foster production and distribution of university books in their printed and digital formats.” Currently, over 65 university presses are associated with ASEUC.

ASEUC plays an important role in the professional training of those who work in university publishing and in creating and promoting spaces of reflection and dialogue. Besides being affiliated with the Colombian Book Chamber, ASEUC is a member of the Association of University Publishers from Latin America and the Caribbean (EULAC). To disseminate Colombian University publishing production, ASEUC issues a journal, Unilibros de Colombia, which circulates in printed and digital formats.

Religious Publishers: Since Colombia is a mostly Catholic country and the number of followers of different Christian religions has been growing for several years, religious books have a large potential market. Parishes, schools, and universities from religious communities are an important market opportunity for religious books, which tends to be exploited in the context of evangelization and religious education.

Twenty percent of bookstores in the country “are establishments specialized in religious book sales.” This includes three out of the six bookstore chains in the country with ten or more points of sale.

Browse the list of selected publishers from the guide:

Want to learn more about the Colombian book market? Our next post will cover rights sales and book fairs in this growing market. You can also check out the recording of our recent Mentoring Program webinar on Colombia led by expert consultant Luis Fernando Páez and our 2020 webinar on the Colombian book market hosted by Sandra Pullido, former director of the Bogota International Book Fair.