With offices in nine countries and a catalog that is constantly renewed thanks to its 61 imprints, Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial has consolidated itself as one of the main players in the cultural landscape in Spanish and Catalan. At the helm is Núria Cabutí, CEO of the group and vice-president of the Cercle d'Economia, who combines a delicate mix of business vision and literary sensibility.
Núria Cabutí receives us one day before her trip to Guadalajara (Mexico), where one of the most relevant events for the global and also Barcelona publishing sector begins. The Guadalajara International Book Fair is the most important publishing gathering in Ibero-America and an extraordinary cultural festival, and this year Barcelona participates with more than 60 personalities from the literary scene, with the privilege of being the guest city.
— Is the FIL Guadalajara like our Mobile World Congress?
— It is the most important fair in Latin America. And for us it is vital: at Penguin Random House we have companies in nine countries —seven of which are in Latin America— and that's why we have a lot of activity there. In fact, we always go: it's a fantastic place to meet the publishing world, both the sector and readers. In addition, they are very enriching days, with cultural activities, talks and concerts. This year we are going with 70 authors.
— And this year Barcelona is the guest city.
— Exactly, a magnificent occasion to explain our culture.
— What is the last book you have read?
— L'Odel de l'aigua, by Laia Vilaseca, which we have just published. Laia is one of the authors accompanying us to Guadalajara. She is a young author who is at a good professional moment and has written a very interesting novel, of action and suspense, set in Baix Llobregat with the context of the airport.
— When you decide to publish a book, what weight do intuition and financial analysis have?
— I am an economist and my training is very management-oriented, but in my childhood, I was very close to the creative world: my mother was a librarian, my grandfather a sculptor, my grandmother a painter... I believe the industry works well when it combines these two worlds: understanding the creative part and the author's needs, and at the same time maintaining financial rigor. Having a good cultural project and ensuring it is profitable. Our shareholders, Bertelsmann, also understand it this way. The group, with 190 years of history, was born as a publishing house and has this combination of creativity and profitability deeply rooted.
— What role does technology play in this binomial of creativity and profitability?
— Important, and increasingly so. We have tools, for example, to analytically assess the chances of a book's success. There is always an unpredictable component, but technology has sophisticated the editor's task and complements their intuition. It's no longer enough to have a gut feeling: you have to justify it with analytics, market trends, forecasts...
— How do 61 imprints coexist within the same company?
— With a very unified back office but with a lot of editorial differentiation. In recent years, we have grown both through our own imprints and acquisitions, but now our goal is to preserve the personality and DNA of each imprint, offering the creative space and the appropriate program for each one.
"Women continue to be the ones who read the most"
— What moment is the publishing industry experiencing?
— A very sweet moment. Reading habits are increasing in Spain, Latin America, and many European countries. And not only is reading growing, but also the book market. In Spain, last year it grew by 10% and this year almost 5%. And in Catalan, 5%.
— Do you have this evolution segmented?
— Yes. It is growing in all segments, but especially among young people aged 15 to 25. And women continue to be the ones who read the most. We also see a growing interest in comics, illustrated novels, and manga — it's a global phenomenon.
"Networks are not an enemy: they are a loudspeaker. They viralize books and boost their sales"
— It's surprising that young people are so drawn to it, being the most dependent on networks. Have they found refuge in reading?
— Not only in reading, but in the physical book, which represents 90% of our sales and is the format that grows the most. Sophisticated editions, such as collector's editions, also grow a lot. Young people say it and the figures confirm it: they want to read on paper to disconnect from screens.
— And how do they relate to literature through social media?
— Social media is generating large communities of readers. It allows us to reach very specific audiences, but above all, communities are born there, through Booktokers, which favor the fan phenomenon: readers want to know more about the author, connect with them, see them, talk to them. Social media is not an enemy: it is a loudspeaker. It viralizes books and boosts their sales.
— The demand for experiences is also growing: meeting the author, reading clubs…
— A lot. There is a resurgence of events and reading clubs; it's a global phenomenon. That's why we have created Penguin Reading Clubs, a platform with materials to help facilitators and offer guides and recommendations.
— Does artificial intelligence work for or against the sector?
— It brings advantages and challenges. But literature is human creativity: experiences, memories, childhood, traumas, travels, conversations, relationships, readings… All this shapes a perspective and creativity that a machine cannot reproduce. However, AI will also provide us with useful tools: simplify processes, automate tasks, analyze faster. We have to experiment and see where it makes sense to apply it. For example, we cannot take so many months to put a book on the street: we must shorten the time we dedicate to deciding print runs, reprints…
"Amazon has helped the publishing sector a lot because it has revolutionized it"
— But AI can already write books or do editorial screenings.
— That's true: there are already books made exclusively with AI that are sold online. And we are heading towards a context with many more contents, because it will be easy to generate them. Precisely for this reason, the role of the editor is more important than ever: selecting and curating content, working with the author, proposing the best cover, good positioning, the best communication…
— How do recent geopolitical movements affect book sales worldwide?
— Personally, I am concerned about the direction the world is taking and the forces that are imposing themselves. But from a business perspective, we constantly analyze the geopolitical context, and it is true that we are used to working in unstable environments, especially in Latin America, with political and economic instability and much inequality. And we are convinced that in times of uncertainty, culture is a refuge, both for knowledge and for escapism.
— Amazon revolutionized the sector. How do you coexist with it?
— It started in 1994 wanting to be the largest bookstore in the world and boosted online commerce, especially in our sector. And Amazon has really helped the publishing sector a lot because it has revolutionized it: it has forced the sector to acquire competencies and has made it easier for books to reach more readers, faster.
— Even so, it has not killed physical bookstores, as some predicted.
— Not at all. In fact, they coexist. The bookstore is the space to discover books and authors, to receive recommendations, to live a cultural experience. And in Catalonia, we have a good network of bookstores, with very well-developed programs and talks.
— In March, you opened the new logistics center in Cerdanyola. How have the first months been?
— It is a 42,000 m² center with the capacity to send 160,000 books a day. It has become a leading distribution center in Europe, with a lot of robotics. We inaugurated it in March and we are still in the process of learning and improving processes.
— What books cannot be missing under the Christmas tree?
— Many! But I'll try to tell you just a few: Susurro de fuego, by Javier Castillo (SUMA); El círculo de los días, by Ken Follett (Plaza & Janés); Los tres mundos, by Santiago Posteguillo (B); Unos cuantos sueños, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Random House); Contes per curar l'ànima, by Albert Espinosa (Rosa dels Vents); Crims amb Carles Porta – El lloc del crim (La Campana) and Sempiterno, by Joana Marcús (Montena). For the youngest: Escola de monstres, by Sally Rippin (Montena); Diario de Greg 20, by Jeff Kinney (Molino); El nou viatge del Petit Príncep, by Eloy Moreno (Salamandra Infantil & Juvenil); and El poder del lleó, by Miriam Tirado (B de Block).