2023-09-22 09:24:02
The journalist and editor celebrates on Tuesday the tenth anniversary of his publishing house, Doce Robles, a project that by maintaining the Aragonese essence has won the hearts of readers. He celebrates it with an award and an expected project in the making.
Doce Robles reaches the decade, did you imagine it when you founded it, do you remember it?
I remember more or less; Jacob Gragera proposed to me to write a book about the centenary of the La Peña reservoir, and I was already thinking about creating a publishing house, it was an attractive project. In September, at the presentation, 400 people gathered, although it was in 2014 when we already released 5 or 6 books, which is the pace we continue to maintain. In the presentation I remember that Agustín Ubieto, who was our godfather, warned of the danger of launching a publishing house focused on the History of Aragon. But then you realize that people want to read about his past.
Have there been more joys than sorrows in this decade?
In 10 years there is everything, regular and very good moments. It is clear that it is a sector in crisis, those in the union tell us that the era of the 80s and 90s has already passed. But I have never complained, there are sectors that have had it worse. And even though I, out of romanticism, principles or laziness, continue editing on paper, I am not interested in digital books. You always read that the paper book is going to end, but that’s nonsense. I still think that books and the press must be read on paper.
How does one make a space in such a populated sector with a topic as specific as the history of Aragoneven if they publish other topics?
It’s a risk. From the beginning it was clear that we could not make an editorial of thesis, of thoughtful essays, we had to approach history in an entertaining and didactic way, with a popular spirit. After all, if you don’t make some money, the publisher doesn’t exist. In 2016 we launched the collection The History of Aragón in a novel, and the truth is that it was a great outing, we are known much better and it is a pride to see that people are interested in knowing episodes from the history of Aragon. But be careful, the essay, if you get it right, is also read a lot, for example La Corona de Aragón (Manipulation, myth and history) is still one of the best sellers, and El Canfranc (History of a legendary train) as well.
Asking him about a favorite book, I guess it will be choosing between mom and dad…
Yes, because it doesn’t matter to me whether they sell more or less, I am proud of everyone; There are some that have sold little and of which I have a very good opinion. And in general I have very good memories of the preparation of all of them, because it is a long process, it takes a few months in which the author ends up becoming a friend.
Do you get angry when something you value doesn’t sell well?
In the end you get used to it, you have to accept it, but just because a book is not read a lot does not mean that it is not very important for someone’s life.
They celebrate the anniversary on Tuesday with the presentation of their first literary prize, will there be any other surprises?
Yes, we celebrated with the award, which obviously I can’t announce yet. But we will also announce the publication of the book Más Birras, del barrio a la legend, by Jorge Martínez, which is highly anticipated, like the film about Mauricio Aznar. Although the official presentation will be on October 4 at the DPZ. Preparing it I realized how much people loved Más Birras.
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