For Immediate Release
Contact: Tina Jordan
Ph: 212-255-0200 x263
AAP, Borders, Las Comadres Announce Launch of First National Latino Book Club
2008/2009 Club Picks are Announced
May 7, 2008, New York, NY: Las Comadres, the national Latina organization, in cooperation with the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and Borders® has announced the launch of Las Comadres and Friends National Latino Book Club at select Borders stores in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Texas and Utah. Membership will be open to anyone interested in reading English-language works written by Latina or Latino authors.
Best-selling author Esmeralda Santiago will serve as the official spokesperson for the book club. Expressing her pleasure at being part of the new initiative, Ms. Santiago said: “The book club will provide an opportunity for Latinas nationwide as well as for book lovers across the country to experience the pleasures of books and reading. I am honored to share with them a forum that supports the high quality of literature by and for the Latino community.”
Las Comadres Para Las Americas, the book club’s parent organization, fosters communication on a variety of topics through its community-building, networking web site www.lascomadres.org, boasting a membership of 10,000 in sixty cities nationwide. The book club has grown out of a series of highly successful monthly teleconferences hosted by the Las Comadres network, with each teleconference featuring one book club-selected author. The first Las Comadres live event was held at the Borders’ Columbus Circle location in New York in March 2007. The initial launch of the Las Comadres and Friends National Latino Book Club will be limited to 15 cities, but future plans call for expanding the book club to all sixty cities where Las Comadres’ members are located.
Nora de Hoyos Comstock, President and CEO of Las Comadres, says “Las Comadres is the only on-line and face-to-face national Latina community building/networking group. We are dedicated to supporting our community, and books are one of the most beloved topics that our comadres enjoy sharing. We’re certain to have a lot of support from comadres all over the country for this launch.”
Johanna Castillo, national organizer of the book club and a Comadres board member says, “We are launching the book club to promote the work of Latino authors to every book lover, to bring our community to bookstores, and to support our writers.”
The titles for the book club, which include everything from memoir to fiction to children’s literature, were selected by a committee of Las Comadres members as well as Borders’ Hispanic interest buyer. The 2008 selections are:
June-A Handbook to Luck by Cristina Garcia (Vintage)
July-The King’s Gold by Yxta Maya Murray (HarperCollins)
August-Mexican Enough by Stephanie Elizondo Griest (Washington Square Press)
September-More Than This by Margo Candela (Fireside)
October-The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Riverhead)
November-The Gifted Gabaldon Sisters by Lorraine Lopez (Grand Central)
December-And Their Dogs Came With Them by Helena Maria Viramontes (Washington Square Press).
Borders will host book clubs in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Texas and Utah with participating authors. Ernesto Martinez, Spanish book buyer for Borders Group, Inc., adds “We are pleased to support Las Comadres’ book clubs as it aligns perfectly with our mission to be the headquarters for knowledge and entertainment, and provides the opportunity to reach our many valued readers in the Hispanic community.
Customers can visit www.BordersStores.com for details on stores participating in the Las Comadres book club in their neighborhoods.
About Las Comadres
Las Comadres is a nationwide grassroots-based group of Latinas that was launched informally in April 2000 in Austin, Texas, and has now grown to a national network that includes sixty U.S. cities. Its 10,000 strong membership keeps Latinas connected via email networks, teleconferences, and monthly potluck events in individual cities. More information on Las Comadres can be found at www.lascomadres.org. For more information on how to submit titles for the Las Comadres National Book Club, please contact Tina Jordan at tjordan@publishers.org or 212-255-0200, ex. 263.
About AAP
AAP is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. The Association’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the association’s highest priorities.
About Borders, Inc.
Borders is a subsidiary of Borders Group, Inc., a $3.8 billion global retailer of books, music, movies, periodicals and gift and stationery items with over 30,000 employees and more than 1,100 stores worldwide primarily operating under the Borders® and Waldenbooks® brand names. Currently, there are over 500 Borders superstores in the U.S. that carry up to 200,000 titles. Customers enjoy a comfortable shopping experience, as well as a host of in-store events and community-centered activities when they visit their local Borders stores. For more information, visit www.bordersgroupinc.com.
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