Ediciones B

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Ediciones B is a Spanish publisher that emerged in the year 1986, just when Grupo Zeta purchased Editorial Bruguera, the precursor, and renamed it as Ediciones B, which is how we know the publisher currently. Madrid and Barcelona hold the publisher's main headquarters in Spain, but you can also find one of them in Buenos Aires, Bogota, Caracas, Mexico City, Montevideo, Quito and Santiago, so Ediciones B's expansion throughout North and South America is noticeable. Several B's books are published in Spanish and in Catalan.

From the very beginning, Ediciones B has been focused on the publication of famous magazines, like TBO, that included stories of well-known fictional characters, like Mortadelo and Filemon or SuperLopez, not to mention the naughty twins Zipi and Zape and Capitán Trueno. Later, B was able to publish comics and other stories which belonged to foreign countries, as well as some of them in which content adult could be found.

In the late 90s, Ediciones B launched some magazines aimed at children and teenagers. Nonetheless, with the passing of time the publisher changed its mind and books of several different genres were published, joining the previous comics and short stories.

After having belonged to Grupo Zeta for two decades, this sold Ediciones B to Penguin Random House at the beginning of April 2017 for € 40 million. Grupo Zeta president's Antonio Asensio and Markus Dohle, Penguin Random House's CEO, made the official announcement.

Genres

At present, Ediciones B holds several literary genres. These are the most significant:

  • Childish & Youth
  • Comic & Graphical novel
  • Essay (including History)
  • Guides (Touristic ones mainly)
  • Historical novel
  • Narrative
  • Poetry
  • Romantic
  • Self-help
  • Science-fiction & Fantasy
  • Thrillers & Whodunnits

Also, you can find therapeutic books through painting and other which are practical as well, as those which can make you learn about tasty recipes, show you optical illusions or even teach you about improving your and your babies health, just to mention a few examples.

Collections

Ediciones B tends to group its plays in different collections with contrastive nuances among them. The list and a brief description are provided below.

25 aniversario (25th anniversary): A selection of varied and successful books which were republished as a way to make a tribute to B after its 25th anniversary.

Amor y Aventura ("Love and Adventure"): Intrigue and sensuality meet to please female readers with lots of romantic novels.

B de blok (B as in "Blok): The most significant collection of both childish and youth literature. (See also "La escritura desatada", "Corazón joven", "Sin límites" and "¿Dónde está Wally?")

B de Bolsillo (B in pocket format): A selection of books about many different topics which have previously been published.

B de books (B as in "books"): It started as an exclusive section of digital books, but this varied selection is physical as well.

Biblioteca Grandes Viajeros (Great Travellers Library): A selection of books that make you take a trip to different parts of the world so that you can learn about their culture.

BN (B Novels): Stories that take place between the 19th and the first half of the 20th  embedded in a political context. Books full of significant events in the world and in people.

Boulevard: Mundane life with surprises is what you find here.

Bruguera: A compilation of commercial fiction focused on the new reading generation's likes.

Campaña Romántica Lujo (Luxurious Romantic Campaign): Romantic novels that every February 14-lover will like. The books have a hard cover.

Cómic: The most remarkable comic heroes with their crazy stories: Mortadelo and Filemon, The Simpsons, SuperLópez, etc. (See also "Magos del Humor", "Mortadelo y Filemón" and "Olé Mortadelo").

Cristina y sus amigas (Christina and her friends): A section of books where a girl called Christine and her teen friends share their lives in a boarding school.

Crónica actual (Current chronicle): Essays about certain topics which are trendy at present. (See also "No ficción").

Divulgación DK (DK Divulgation): Containing only one book, you will find a ultimate graphical version of Spiderman and his adventures.

En busca de... (In search of...): Lots of illustrated books where certain characters must be located and with several activities. Aimed at 5-year old children mainly.

Fábula Vergara (Vergara Fable): Stories with positive and motivating messages where animals intervene.

Grandes novelas ("Great novels"): Here you can find thrilling and troubled stories that have taken place in the twentieth century.

Histórica ("Historical"): Being made up of historical novels, this section lets you know about the most influential characters of the world history and of very different epochs.

Ilustrados adultos (Illustrated for adults): Books containing contents as sex, cooking and personal beauty.

La Trama ("The scheme"): Thrillers and mystery novels are the whole part of this collection. Lots of unclear and weird cases wait for a solution.

Leer no cuesta nada (Reading costs nothing): A selection of old best-sellers which are sold very cheaply.

Librinos (Little books): Books which are much smaller and practical than a those of the pocket format.

Los Guardianes de Ga'Hoole (Ga' Hoole's guards): Surrounded by fantasy, this section holds the Ga'Hoole saga books which are available nowadays.

Metrópolis: Both urban atmosphere and pop culture meet under this original collection.

Millenium: Inspirational and revealing stories that help to grow up internally to restless readers.

Nova: B's most famous collection of science-fiction, which groups titles of the present and the past.

Novela Vergara (Vergara Novel): Aimed at the female audience, this collection holds different stories of love, friendship, family and varied human feelings.

Seda (Silk): Passion, mystery and a fight to have success in life are combined in the books of this section.

Sexybooks: Erotic, imaginative and entertaining stories which can be read by both men and women.

Sin Fronteras: A compilation of touristic guides including plans of well-known neighbourhoods of several big cities round the world. 

Top digital: Digital best-sellers which were published physically later.

Vivir mejor (Living better): Self-help books that will try to help you to be successful in life and to take care of those you love.

Volúmenes singulares: ("Outstanding volumes"): Both 3D and illustrated books meet under this collection so as to parents and children have the chance to share a reading session.

Zeta tapa dura: (Zeta hardcover): A limited selection of books which have stood out among the readers and that have a hard cover.

Literary events

Ediciones B takes part in some literary events, where they collaborate with prizes for the most successful writers.

Historical novel award "Ciudad de Úbeda": After organizing this contest together with other entities, Ediciones B publishes the winning historical novel. The contest is called yearly.

"La Trama" award: Having emerged in the year 2014, this Ediciones B's contest looks for new talent among the promises of thrillers and whodunnits once a year. The first winner was Laura Balagué with her Las pequeñas mentiras (lit. The little lies).

Boolino awards: They emerged in 2015 and, in this case, they are focused on finding the best illustrated, youth and childish book among writers. Ediciones B awards the winner of the latter with the publication under "B de Blok". The first winning book was Entre todas las estrellas (Lit. Among all the stars), by Cristina Alfonso Ibáñez. Participating is possible yearly.

Also, Ediciones B is usually present in some book fairs, as those of the International Day of the Book and others being held in big cities, such as Madrid or Barcelona, to provide the readers with the most exciting novelties and encourage the habit of reading.

Draws via the internet

Nowadays, Ediciones B launches two contests weekly so as to their readers can interact and try to get a physical book. They are "Los martes nos vemos en B" ("we see at B on Tuesdays") and "Viernes con B" ("On Fridays with B"; in Spanish, this is a pun. Friday is written "Viernes". The grapheme <v> sounds exactly as <b> in Spanish, so the publisher means that "that day would be * "Biernes" as a contest has been organized by the publisher).

Los martes nos vemos en B: It consists of uploading a pic of a book cover together with a question. Answering it will make you participate automatically in the draw of the book that has been shown. Sharing the publication can give you extra possibilities of getting success. All this is carried out via Facebook.

Viernes con B: You must retweet a message B has published with a book to become a participant. After the weekend, a person having retweeted the already mentioned message can win the book that has been tweeted that Friday.

References

Official web of Ediciones B (in Spanish) www.edicionesb.com

PRH's purchase http://www.elmundo.es/cultura/2017/04/06/58e6747be5fdeaed618b456f.html