Ana Maria Cabanellas on the Pleasures and Perils of Publishing in Argentina

Ana María Cabanellas began her career as a lawyer, after which she joined the family-owned publishing company Editorial Heliasta as a partner. In 1979, she became President of Editorial Claridad which specializes in legal dictionaries, as well as fiction, philosophy and history. In 2006, Ms Cabanellas founded UnaLuna, which publishes children’s books. 

Over the years she has been extremely active in industry associations. For example, she is currently Vice- president of CADRA (Centro de Administración de Derechos Reprográficos Asociación Civil), Argentina’s RRO, and Chair of the Latin American and Caribbean Committee of IFRRO. Previously, she served as President of the Cámara Argentina del Libro for seven years, was Secretary and then President of GIE from 1991-2004, and President of the International Publishers Association from 2004-2008.

She speaks frequently at publishing events around the world. In 2012, the Buenos Aires Book Fair named her one of the “50 most influential people in publishing in the Spanish Language.”

We met at her offices in BA to talk about her career, her vision, publishing in Argentina, copyright, peace, education and children's books, among many other things.