Contents

year holiday sales, and a substantial rise in the presence ofboth ereading devices and tablet computers, Spain startedin the second half of 2011 on a similar trajectory to that ofGermany or France.Articles in the general media commented on the advanceof ebooks in Spain in terms of “gigantic leaps,” with Amazon’smarket entry seen as “triggering the avalanche” (Elcultural, November 25, 2011).In May 2011, Kobo launched a Spanish platform, and GoogleEditions is also now available to readers in Spain.2012 has seen several initiatives by publishing and econtentorganizations to improve the infrastructure of thepublishing industry, including a sales-tracking service(DILVE) as well as a joint effort with other econtent distributorsto fight piracy (read more here).The report “La digitalización del libro en España,” releasedin November 2009, argued that “the digitization of bookswill be one of the most strategic decisions that publisherswill have to make in the next years,” yet the report alsonotes that paper and electronic will coexist in the future(“The emergence of ebooks in Spain,” Emerald Group PublishingLTD, 2010). Almost half of the publishers polled forthis study expected that even in 2020 print would still betheir main source of income. Another report, by the Federaciónde Gremios de Editores in collaboration with theFundación Germán Sánchez Ruiperez and published in February2010, polled 254 publishers, of whom 80% planned“actions in the digital area during the period of 2009 to2011,” including parts of their backlist, with 19% expectingto have their full catalog of titles digitized by the end of2011. According to that report, small publishers showed—at least for the moment— a higher predisposition todigitizing their backlists than the market leaders; even by2011, the large groups have implemented considerableefforts in that respect as well, offering growing digital catalogsof their titles.In 2009, an effort to digitize major works took place in bothSpanish and Latin American literature under the headlineof “Palabras Mayores”; the first selections are commerciallyavailable in both Mobipocket and EPUB (with DRM) at theplatform Leer.The first emergence of an ebook market can be dated to2010, with the launch of the dedicated B2B (business-tobusiness)ebook distribution platform Libranda. The ventureis the initiative of a consortium of the three largestpublishing groups —Planeta, Santillana, and RandomHouse/Mondadori_— with 15 publishers initially contributingtitles and eight online stores serving the consumers. By2012, _Roca Editorial, Grup62, and Grupo SM, as well as GrupoWolters Kluwer have joined the group of owners of Libranda.The platform distributes titles in the EPUB formatwith Adobe DRM protection. By the end of 2012, Librandahad signed up 128 publishers, representing more than halfof the Spanish book market, plus distribution agreementswith over 100 retailers in Spain and an “indirect distributionagreement” with Barnes & Noble in the US. By September2011, Libranda’s catalog contained 5,133 titles andwas expected to expand to 10,000 titles by the end of 2011.Distribution and specialized venturesA number of both global and local platforms are offeringebooks to the consumer. Estimates for this report regardApple as the market leader with a share of ca. 40%, followedby the localized Kindle store of Amazon at 30%.The strongest local brand is clearly Casa del Libro, with itsdedicated ebook section offering a current catalog ofaround 50,000 titles (commercial and others combined)and an estimated market share in ebooks of 15% (downfrom initially around 45%). Through its Tagus library, Casadel Libro has started a broad offer of ebooks without DRMprotection.The Spanish branch of French retailer Fnac as well as ElCorte Inglés, Europe’s largest general retailer, whose onlineofferings include a media section with books and music,own each another estimated 5% of the Spanish market.A perhaps totally new page in bringing ebooks to Spanishconsumers has been opened in September 2013, with Nubico,proposing a combined ebook subscription with theparticipation at a digital reading community at a flat rateof €8.99 per month. The platform is co-owned by Planeta’sCirculo de Lectores and the market leader in mobile communication,Telefonica.However, Nubico is not the first subscription service forebooks in Spain, as the model has been pioniered by24Symbols with a current collection of 15,000 titles.Libranda, the leading ebook distributor with an estimatedmarket share in B2B of 70%, is controlled by a consortiumof seven leading publishers. As of June 2011, Librandastarted operations in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, andChile. Plans exist to include English titles in the Librandacatalog.Publidisa offers a wider set of services, as an aggregatorand distributor as well as print on demand service provider38 The Global eBook Report