8 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ MARCH 8, 2021
News
Matchmaking for Publishers and Distributors
Several organizations in Spain have launched the Publishing
Distribution Platform (PDP), a website intended to help
match publishers and distributors. The project is run by the
Madrid-based International Publishing Distribution
Association (IPDA), in collaboration with Federación de
Asociaciones Nacionales de Distribuidores de Ediciones.
PDP aims to help foster
greater collaboration among
the international publishing
community and offers two
online databases: one for publishers to search for distribu-
tors for their books in foreign countries, and one for dis-
tributors to search for clients overseas. The website is in
English so as to appeal to the widest possible audience. At
present, the databases currently have only a handful of list-
ings but will build up over time, and the IPDA is encouraging
publishers and distributors to add their information.
IPDA has become more active in recent years and has run
several high-profile events in Europe focused on distribution,
including Readmagine, an annual conference about the future
of books in Madrid, and the International PublishingInternational News and Notes
Distribution Forum during the Frankfurt Book Fair.Argentina’s Newest Publishing House
Publishing industry veteran Trini Vegara has launched Trini
Vegara Ediciones, a publishing house focusing on genre
fiction. Vegara was the longtime force
behind Vegara & Riba Editoras, a leading
publisher in Latin America, but sold her
shares several years ago. Prior to
launching Trini Vegara Ediciones, Vegara
had been running publishing courses in
Buenos Aires.
Initially, Trini Vegara Ediciones will
have two imprints: Motus, focused on
thrillers, and Gamon, focused on fantasy books. The press
will offer titles by Spanish-language writers as well as trans-
lations. Among the first being published this spring are
several by Americans, including Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
and Line of Sight by James Queally.
In a recent interview published by Buenos Aires–based
literary consultancy Proyecto451, Vegara reflected on the
current state of the industry and noted that with much of theToward the end of the publication process, another pow-
erful connection showed itself. This time, it was between
author, book, and publicist.
“The first time we all Zoomed together to talk about the
book, no more than, like, two seconds into it, I just started
sobbing,” said Alexandra Primiani, publicity manager at
Avid Reader. “I couldn’t get through thanking Patricia for
what this book was because I was crying so much. I saw my
parents in Mauro, in Elena,” the parents at the center of the
novel’s separated protagonist family—and not just because
her father’s name is also Mauro, she recalled.
“My family comes from Venezuela, and they came to this
country in a very similar way,” Primiani said. “Reading Infi-
nite Country and seeing my own family in it—and not just
the family but the internal conversations, the back-and-
forth that I’ve seen in my family when they talk about immi-
gration—hit me in a way that no other book has. That was
my first introduction to Patricia: crying, turning red.”
It was a moving moment for Engel, too, and one that
reassured her that her book was in good hands at Avid
Reader. “I could not ask for more than Alex, somebody who
felt personally touched and moved by the book, and who feltconnected to it—and who, in turn, feels so connected to me,”
she said. “I feel like we’ve become good friends, and this
has just made the process so much more wonderful and
meaningful. It’s very special.”
Engel believes that her novel will resonate not just with
those who share the experiences of immigration and sepa-
ration her characters endure but with all who have lived
through a time of quarantine, finding themselves in forced
isolation from loved ones. “I put all my heart, my soul, and
my blood and my bones into this book, into the writing pro-
cess,” she said. “It is an expression of everything that has
been meaningful to me in my life, my communities, the
concerns of some people that I love most. And I think it also
speaks to where we’re at now, especially in this time of
Covid-19, where families are separated indefinitely because
of quarantine and pandemic. They may be starting to get a
small sense of what it’s like to be separated by borders, and
immigration laws, and paperwork that keeps you from being
able to be reunited with the people that you love most.”
Engel added, “We’re in year two of this. Imagine being at this
for 10, or 15, as is the case of the family in Infinite Country.”
—John MaherTrini Vegara