This weekend, the American Library Association’s annual meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, congregated over 180 notable Latino authors for the 16th annual International Latino Book Awards (ILBA). This year the submissions increased dramatically, more that 1,800, a 41 percent increase over last year.

“The bottom line is that books targeting Latinos are a growing segment because of the rapid growth of the market and the current gaps in relevant topics being presented,” said Kirk Whisler, who founded the non-profit Latino Literacy Now (LLN) with actor and activist Edward James Olmos. LLN produces the awards ceremony,” reports NBC News. “2014 has been an amazing year for Latino books, said Whisler, which is a reflection of how solid the market is. Latinos in the USA will purchase over $500 million in books in both English and Spanish.”

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