The edition of books in Catalan is concentrated in three groups

The purchase of the Periscopi publishing house by Grup 62 (integrated since 2013 to the Planeta group) marks a trend towards concentration and redraws the Catalan editorial map, with the result that one in three titles has become the publication's main conglomerate in the sector. In recent years, the editorial groups have been very good, of record, finally, with a market that seems to have not stopped growing by surprise, as some times recalled the editorial director of Grup 62, Emili Rosales, who talked about a growth of around 5%. But this bonanza is not equal to the entire sector, in a diverse system that is also articulated by three large groups and a group of independents that has just lost one of its six leaders in the country from Periscopi to Grup 62.

After some years in which its rivals are concentrated – Penguin Random House has articulated a powerful group with La Magrana, La Campana and Rosa dels Vents, while Abacus Futur reunites the segells of Enciclopèdia, Ara Llibres and Navona –, Grup 62 will incorporate the Valencian group Bromera and for the independent publisher in català led by Aniol Rafel.

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Nowadays, Raig Verd shows the public that it is going through a bad time, with a turnover that had fallen by 30% and left its project “in a delicate position”, with the aim of announcing the release of its youth segment Indòmita. The new editor, Laura Huerga, appreciates the good news that the SOS website has had, because “it is difficult to explain and say that you are not there, but it is a complicated situation, and the editorial concentration is not good news for bibliodiversity.” For her, Periscopi's "is a symbolic and structural loss" for the independent publishers, now that "if they believe that it is the best for them I am happy", and I assure that I maintain the hope that it has not changed in the new editorial line, as has happened with Arcàdia, which is sad that in 2022 it will be absorbed by Suma Llibres –avui Abacus Futur– “it will continue in the mateixa manner of fer.”

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Among the reasons for the situation, Huerga pointed out that “the lack of recent publications makes it difficult for readers to reach our publications and those of many other publishers like us”, and also changes in the behavior of the social media, which although at the beginning allow direct contact with them Readers, in recent times you have noticed that this was not the case and the algorithms prioritized “more insubstantial contingency”.

Says the mateix Sergio Pérez, co-editor of Mai Més, specialized in fantasy and which shares with Raig Verd shares the editorial Duna, oriented to great titles of the fantasy genre and which has tingut more good behavior, “without the precarietat, but the shadow of the fragility is always there, because the small editorials tirem d'optimisme i ens movem al voltant del precipici”.

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Eugènia Broggi, from L'Altra Editorial, also acknowledged that "there is a complication, in which we have billed many menys. This is bad, but we will be there, so the little ones assume that something can be painful." Broggi also acknowledges that in general it is a more book-friendly Venguin, “the sector has declined, and the number of examples sold per each book is much lower,” a fact that he attributes “to the over-publication of large groups,” and he estimates that titles that have apparently worked are “fa un parell d'anys hauria venut double or triple.” “The independent edition is sustainable, and it faces the truth that we are more vulnerable, we also have more waist to take the path, because our goal is to discover authors and trends, and finally to be prepared so that the greats in today's world.”

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"It's not bad, but it's not always on a fragile line. This Sant Jordi, for example, has been a little better than the previous one, but that's not going to be good," explains Rosa Rey, editor of Angle, who also believes that books are losing visibility, especially among large groups. Because their commercial teams have more margin to offer decomptes than they are more attractive to their books and they give more presence. Now, the rise of titles brings the discovery of the life of the book: the novel is lighter. According to Rei, “the independent editors have to find a way to ensure visibility, and there is also a lack of more institutional support” because “the feeling is always to start from zero: a book and it can be started again, but when the next thing comes is to start again.”

Ricard Planas, editor of Males Herbes, who focus on mateix any more than Periscopi and Raig Verd, remembers that for independent publishers “things have always been difficult, especially if they live”. The publisher is going to have a crisis for three years, but “this is why we have artillery, so that we are not in the middle of war,” he assures, but understands that “there are two ways to create a publishing house: find a nyxol, which is what we have done, or publish books that compete with the greats.” grups, it is not our family.” “These movements are cyclical, there is a concentration and then an independent boom, and later the concentration returns”, but it is also clear that this model “has very self-exploitation and precariousness”.

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"We lived a moment of change, and I didn't believe that the pendulum had arrived facing the other side," assures Laura Baena, from Editions of 1984. "If one thing we have is the experience of quarantin anys, I have foreseen the concentration, and I believe that it won't be any longer." But now they know that "after a moment there is something that is not so important, and in the end it always feels like water because the boat doesn't move: it doesn't work but there are moments of everything, and we overcome the situation, above all thanks to a small team with very flexible vessels." His band, Jordi Puig, from Comanegra, also believed that the concentration of the sector faced has not ended, since no candidate has been identified and has been erased from the crosses. “It's a great moment for the visibility of the book in Catalan, if it is compared to just a few times,” he says, and assures that they are “fent un any bo, on the line of l'any passat.” They are calm: “I am going to make the decision not to fly, I believe that I should prioritize working on the books that I am going to use, and this is within the limits that we are going to mark”, to the point that I recognize the “difficulty in arriving at certain types of books, because the general sales are palint, they are not a great happiness". Per Puig, the sector “has to find the cap of the melic and veure quina projecció te el libre, who is our espai de joc”.