Ten success stories of independent Catalan publishing houses

BarcelonaJosep Ramoneda, president of Grup 62, recently assured That, of every ten books sold in Catalan, three belong to one of the group's fifteen imprints, including Columna, Proa, and Empúries. A few days later, Periscopi, one of the independent publishing houses with the greatest impact on readers in the last decade, made public that he was now part of Group 62"In the face of the inclemency of the publishing industry, having the support of a large group gives you peace of mind," said its editor, Aniol Rafel. The news has sent shockwaves through the Catalan book world, although it's worth remembering that in the last decade some independent publishers—apart from Periscopio—have had impressive successes or have been able to build catalogs of great cultural importance. We've selected ten.

A year and a half after publishing the first of the six installments of Blackwater, by Michael McDowell, Blackie Books has reached the spectacular figure of one million copies sold for the entire series, of which "almost 150,000 are in Catalan," according to Jan Martí, the editor. Blackwater has managed to seduce both demanding readers and TikTokers narrating the vicissitudes of a family from a small town in Alabama who take in a stranger who will change their lives due, in part, to her monstrosity. "It is one of those books that cross the barrier of regular reader and they reach people who don't have the habit of reading regularly and who reconnect with the pleasure of reading," adds Martí. McDowell, a cult author who died in 1999 without tasting the success his novels have today, will return to Catalan bookstores this fall with Daughter of Revenge, where a girl chases a murderer with paranormal powers in the late 19th century.

Since 2014, L'Otra can boast of having discovered the narrative talent ofAlicia Kopf, Xavier Mas Craviotto and Irene Solà –all three through the Documenta award–, to consolidate the work of Toni Sala and Pep Puig and to bet on "quality international voices for a wide audience", as explained by its editor, Eugenia Broggi, among which the following stand out: Lucia Berlin, Vivian Gornick and Nora Ephron. The author who has sold the most so far is the Irish Maggie O'Farrell: after publishing it This must be the place In 2017, they were gaining readers with each new book, until it arrived Hamnet in 2021 and exceeded all forecasts. "Only from Hamnet We've sold 25,000 copies, but we've published seven of O'Farrell's books," says Broggi. "Success like this shows that an independent publisher can compete with the big players at all levels, contrary to what they would have us believe." Scenarios, with which Toni Sala closes the trilogy that he inaugurated The boys, the publisher's first title. It also features Yiyun Li, with an unusual take on grief (In nature things just grow), and by Frode Grytten, with a tribute to the small life based on a story of farewell and reunion (The day Nils Vik died).

Among the many recent successes of Angle, which is part of 9 Grup Editorial –which also includes Cossetania and Eumo–, there has been the skill of offering the novels ofOtessa Moshfegh, Percival Everett and Julian Barnes, the good nose to bet on new values such as Alba Dalmau, Mònica Batet and Albert Pijuan –who has just received the Crexells Award with The Great Replacement– and the merit of having published Annie Ernaux Three years before she won the Nobel Prize in Literature. "Publishing Ernaux was a very personal, I'd even say very emotional, commitment because I had started reading it years ago and it had left a deep mark on me," explained her editor, Rosa Rey, shortly after the announcement of the world's most prestigious literary award.The years They have published seven more Ernaux books and announce that they will be published in the fall. Shame, as well as new releases from Bel Olid, Leïla Slimani and Sheila Heti.

In less than four years, La Segunda Periferia has become one of the most daring and valuable new independent publishing houses on the Catalan scene thanks to a triple focus: Catalan authors (Leticia Asenjo, Damián Bardera, Anna Pazos...) and translations (Etgar Keret, Bette Howland, Yelena Kost).I really like Stefan Zweig's non-fiction books and I saw that this book was available in Catalan. –says Miquel Adam, the editor–. I started by Marie Antoinette, a biography of almost 600 pages. I thought it would be a longseller, which would be sold little by little but well, and surprisingly the book behaved like a best-seller from the second month in bookstores." From Marie AntoinetteThe Second Periphery has sold more than 6,500 copies. "It was a huge economic and moral joy," says Adam. This spring, the publisher published Zweig's work. Castellio vs. Calvin and is preparing a third title, Mary StuartOne of the most ambitious and unique novels to be published this fall is Mexican Railways, by Gian Marco Griffi. "It's one of those books that, in principle, goes against the laws of the market, but that an independent publisher can afford to do, because it's also worth publishing for pleasure," says Adam.

The first books by Males Herbes They arrived in the fall of 2012, like those from Periscopio. "Independent publishers have been making pain very visible for a while, perhaps excessively so, and to break that pessimism, I think it's worth remembering that from a small publishing house like ours, we've managed to consolidate the voices of Elisenda Solsona, Ferran Garcia, and Roser Cabré-Verdiell," says Ricard Planas, who founded 'e' ee' publicas, success comes sooner or later. It's not a question of romanticism; the good sales prove it." The latest novels by the three authors mentioned support this assertion. In thirteen years of publishing, Males Herbes has also championed fantasy and science fiction icons such as Philip K. Dick, Kurt Vonnegut, Evgeni Zamiatin, and Karel Capek. This fall, it will publish new works by Elisabet Riera, Daniel Genís y Mas, Mara Faye Lethem, Theodore Sturgeon, and James M. Barrie.

One of the most unique publishing projects on the Catalan scene is that of the centenary BarcinoFounded in 1924 by Josep Maria de Casacuberta, it has been managed since 1970 by the Carulla family, although "it has always maintained its independence," recalls its current editor, Oriol MagrinyàIn just over five years, Magrinyà and his team – made up of three other people – have rethought the publishing house without losing its essence and have boosted the collection Essentials. "It has allowed us to show openly and shamelessly that we do not renounce the dynamics of the market by betting on the classics," he admits. "It is a proposal to rethink, complete and expand the canon of Catalan literature, which ranges from indisputable novels such as Private life from Sagarra and The stab, by Marian Vayreda, to bet on authors such as Carme Karr and Dolors Monserdà, from whom we have managed to get The manufacturer became our third Essential best-selling". The collection began with Throwing the White at the end of 2021 and twelve volumes have been published so far: "We take into account the balance between literary genres, we try to publish as many men as women and we have a vision of Països Catalans." They have just published Poetic anthology by Teodoro Llorente, "the Valencian Verdaguer", and they finish a volume on the Mallorcan Maria Antònia Salvà.

In 2017, Maria Bohigas received two short novels in the generic email from Club Editor. "I was intrigued by the accompanying message," she recalls. "It got me to start reading the first novel right away. It was a very special voice, truly original and fertile. It wasn't like anything I'd read before." The author was Eva Baltasar. The books, Permagel and Boulder. "We publish Permagel In early 2018, Eva was not a public figure, but the novel got off to a good start, and by Sant Jordi it was already selling quite well. When she was awarded the Llibreter Prize, the only one we have for a work written in Catalan, the impact grew even more. The nearly 30,000 copies sold of the novel will soon be matched by Boulder (2020), which now has over 25,000 copies. Of the author's next two novels, Mammoth (2022) and Sunset and fascination (2024), more than 15,000 copies have been sold. Boulder was a finalist for the Booker Prize." If all goes well, Club Editor will publish Eva Baltasar's new book next year.

When Adesiara published its first books in 2007, editor Jordi Raventós didn't fail to believe they would last a year. "They were wrong. We're about to reach our 250th title, without having changed much from our initial approach: to publish classics, literary masterpieces of all time that never go out of style," he explains. Among the feats that Adesiara has achieved has sold almost 3,000 copies Poem of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest surviving literary works, dating back some 4,000 years. "We've also sold very well Whore Conversations, by Lucian of Samosata, and As is, of Paul Valéry", adds the editor, known for undertaking risky projects that often, against all odds, end up being profitable. "One of the first crazy projects we published was Archaic Greek wisdom –he recalls–. The book is in its third edition and we've sold over 2,500 copies." The latest temerity has been to gather all of Hans Christian Andersen's tales in two volumes"The investment has been very large, but in just a few months we have sold close to a thousand copies," says Raventós. Adesiara will soon publish the first Catalan translation of the work. Finnegans Wake by Joyce and the 2,000 pages of Life of Samuel Johnson, written by James Boswell.

"Success is being able to make things possible that didn't seem possible to you: in our case, we've managed to create an identity for ourselves, eschewing any niche idea. We're one of the most eclectic publishing houses in the sector," says Jordi Puig. editorial director of ComanegraAmong the dozens of titles in its catalogue, the series on the Catalan fantasy imagination stands out, with titles such as The Great Book of Catalan Witches (2023), The red box (2019) –which included the discovery of more than 5,000 photographs taken by Antoni Campañà during the Civil War– and the novel The First Emperor and Queen Luna, of Jordi Cussà, the first of the author's six books available in the catalogue. "One of the things that has excited me the most on a personal level has been getting Julià de Jòdar wrote again", comments Puig. First they arrived The Vulnerable (2018) and later The walled-up house (2024). "It won't be the last new Jòdar release we publish," he says. Among the publisher's most ambitious future projects There are the four volumes of Joseph and his brothers, by Thomas Mann, a work hitherto unpublished in Catalan.

"LaBreu editors make a living from other things because they don't have to worry about publishing muscle, but we don't owe anyone a penny," says Ester Andorrà, which LaBreu founded with Marc Romera in 2004. Next year they will celebrate the twentieth anniversary of one of the publishing house's most emblematic collections, Alabatre, where they have published almost 150 books of poems by authors such as Josep Pedrals, Susanna Rafart, Katherine Mansfield and Francesc Garriga. "The four books of Paul Celan They have gone very well for us and it is a project that would have been difficult for anyone else to publish – Andorrà recalls –. Its translator, Arnau Pons, received the National Prize for translation of Breath Crystal (2015)". The editor points out that LaBreu also publishes fiction and that it is in this genre that they have had "more commercial fortune", with books such as The unrepentant, by Cristina Garcia Molina, and the various novels they have published by Sergei Dovlátov. "When we talk about success, we always look at the economy, but we are more satisfied with selling 600 copies of See and know, by Paul Klee, than selling 3,000 of a self-help manual," says the editor. This fall, LaBreu will release Take up your cross, the new collection of poems by Antonia Vicens, and the novel What Maisie knew, of Henry JamesThe complete poetry of Feliu Formosa.