Publishers Weekly - 02.09.2019

Department|BOOKS IN SPANISH

by consumers outside the U.S. and increased sales channels

available in different parts of the world have given all publishers

the opportunity to reach a greater number of consumers in

international markets. Demand has not decreased in the U.S.,

but it is increasing much faster outside the U.S.

Regardless of the market, the leading sales channel for Spanish-

language audio is subscription-based online services that sell

directly to consumers—such as Audible, Kobo, Storytel, and

Scribd. These were the most important sales channel in 2018 for

two-thirds of American publishers, the study found. The

E

arlier this year, PW spoke

with Javier Celaya, founder

of Dosdoce.com and archi-

tect of the study “Profile of

the Spanish Audiobook

Market,” which primarily focused on

titles published in Latin America and

Spain. We reconnected with Celaya to

discuss his new study, “Evolution of the

Spanish Audiobook Market in the USA,”

which was published in late August.

Celaya’s findings in his new study are

based on results from 15 out of the 20

publishers of audiobooks in Spanish in

the U.S., and includes information from

independent publishers about both

children’s and adult books.

U.S. publishers produced close to

150 audiobook titles in Spanish in

2018 and plan to produce another 250

titles in 2019, the study found. The

number of titles produced by American

publishers does not include the output

from Audible Studios, which has been

publishing an average of 40–45 new

Spanish audiobooks per month in

2019. Even with the Audible output,
      U.S. audio production of Spanish titles
      is only a fraction of the Spanish-
      language audiobooks available in the
      U.S. The main source for audiobooks in
      Spanish continues to be imports from
      Spain and Latin America. In the U.S.
      there are 6,500 audiobooks in Spanish,
      and that number is expected to reach
      7,000 by the end of this year. “This increase in total output
      clearly demonstrates the interest of Spanish publishers to
      export these audiobooks to the different countries of Latin
      America,” Celaya points out, “as well as to the U.S. Hispanic
      market.” By the end of 2019, Celaya estimates that the number
      of Spanish-language audiobooks worldwide will hit 10,000,
      with overall sales between $8 million and $9 million.
      Although the U.S. used to be the largest buyer of audiobooks
      in Spanish, Spain now claims that title, followed by Mexico, the
      U.S., and the rest of Latin America. Greater access to technology

Charting the Changes

Two new surveys show how the Spanish-language audiobook

market is maturing

Trends in Spanish-Language

Audiobooks

24 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

Leylha Ahuile

SOURCE:

“EVOLUTION

OF

THE

SPANISH

AUDIOBOOK

MARKET

IN

THE

USA”

REPORT.