[From America Reads Spanish]
During the event, organized by America Reads Spanish, the
panelists talked about trends, the effect of ebooks and the surge in
self-publishing. Also, about the different niches, such as educational and the
religious market, and what is needed to continue to develop fiction written in
the U.S. within that market. The moderator, Miami-based award-winning novelist
Anjanette Delgado talked to ARS about the roundtable and her upcoming projects.
Anjanette Delgado, author of The Heartbreak Pill, began her
career as a journalist, working for outlets such as NBC, CNN, Univisión and
Telemundo, covering presidential coups, elections, Olympics, the 9/11 terrorist
attacks, both Iraq wars, which she executive produced, and winning an Emmy for
her human-interest series “Madres en la lejanía,” about the plight of Latino
mothers who leave their own children behind and come to the United States to
work as undocumented nannies. Recently, she moderated a roundtable session
about the Spanish-language book market in the United States, as part of this
year's Miami International BookFair.
Hello Anja, and congratulations on the successful roundtable
about the Spanish-language book market in the United States. What were the
principal themes addressed?
Thank you for yet another forum in which to discuss such an
important topic for all book lovers. The question should be, what didn't we
discuss during the round table? and the answer would be nothing because we
talked about absolutely everything. We talked about the numbers of the
business, the trends, the effect of e-books and and surge in self-publishing,
the different niches, such as educational and the religious market, but most
importantly, we talked about what is needed to continue to develop, not just
the market, but especially the place of fiction written in the U.S., within
that market.
What were the main conclusions drawn from the roundtable?
That the bookstore is the place of power. If we don't buy
books written in Spanish, we'll have nobody to blame when important books are
not available in our market and it is our job to make the public conscious of
this, to give them reasons to be excited about reading in Spanish and keeping
the language alive in their children.
Also that the people who know the business-my wonderful
panelists-are hopeful. They are not afraid of ebooks or the digital age, they embrace
them, because the reality is that we need everyone if we are going to do this.
Every reader, every format, every place, brick and mortar AND virtual, to make
this work.
What publishing project are you working on at the moment?
In addition to my new novel coming out in 2014, I've just
been notified that I've been selected to interview Isabel Allende for the
series "In Conversation" this coming February. I adore her books so
you can imagine how excited I am. I'm also exploring new things such as Lyric Essays
and poetry to enrich my work.
When will your latest book The Clairvoyant of Calle Ocho be
published?
In Spanish, it's slated for August 2014 from Santillana USA,
and in English in September 2014 from Kensington Books. And, a secret: it's
just been optioned for film by De Oro Media, the production company behind the
Jenni Rivera reality shows and concerts.
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