The textbook is still the main bastion of the book industry in Spain, readers turn their backs on romance and erotic novels, and the electronic book continues its slow ascent, according to the latest report from the industry.

The emergence from the crisis by the publishing sector comes with a new order in sales: textbooks are king; the children and young adult books’ share of the market is growing nonstop; contemporary literature is their greatest ally; the noir genre is having a dark moment; and two genres that were previously very well received in cyberspace are struggling: the market for romances is still faltering, and the market for erotic novels is now flaccid. Oh, and the digital book continues its discreet ascent –it now represents 5 percent of the market.

This is the new map that charts the preferences of readers when it is time to buy a new book. A new order has emerged after the financial crisis, the constant changes of an industry pushed into ceaseless transformation by the digital era and the newest cultural and leisure habits brought about by cyberspace. The same argument is made in three consecutive years by an industry that is still recuperating slowly: last year the publishing sector boasted a 2.7 percent growth, hitting €2,317 million in revenues, according to a report by the Federación de Gremios de Editores de España (Federation of Publishers Guilds of Spain). Since 2008, when the industry hit record high sales, nothing has ever been quite the same. Their worst year was 2013, with €2,181 million in revenues.  

By Winston Manrique Sabogal

Read more here: WMagazín

Read here Federación de Gremios de Editores de España Press Release