Selection of co-publishing projects for publications with Barcelona City Council

You can now check out the projects submitted to the January 2024 call which the Barcelona City Council Publications Board assessed favourably at its meeting on 8 April. A new project submission period will open on February 2025.

A total of 14 proposals were received from 13 publishers between 8 and 29 January. Barcelona City Council Publications Board has favourably assessed 6 projects from 6 publishers.

Barcelona City Council’s Directorate for Publishing Services is responsible for creating, publishing and marketing publication products under the Plan approved by Barcelona City Council’s Editions and Publications Board. It performs this work through its own creations, with other municipal services, and in co-edition with the private publishing sector.

Co-editions with the private publishing sector are established to contribute towards a better use, dissemination and promotion of publications. In addition, they are also used for establishing a framework of collaboration with the publishing sector and providing it with support.

To ensure the transparency and objectivity of the selection system of the various co-edition publishing projects, the Directorate for Publishing Services will be carrying out a six-monthly selection process (in January and July, respectively).

Proposals will have to take Barcelona and its residents as their reference and fall within the framework of the ten collections approved by Editions and Publications Board itself on 7 April 2021 (check the formats of the books that make up each of the collections). If they are not part of any of these collections, the collection from the publishing house the edition is proposed in will have to be stated.

• Gent de Barcelona (Barcelona People). Barcelona residents or individuals closely connected to the city, including high-profile figures and everyday people alike.

• Barcelona Ecologia (Barcelona Ecology). Every aspect relating to urban environment, sustainability, urban nature and the climate-change emergency.

• Barcelona, Present i Futur (Barcelona Present and Future). Tackling the economic, scientific, digital and social aspects, both historical and contemporary, that explain the city model and its metropolitan area, as well as the future perspective they describe.

• Barcelona, Arquitectura i Urbanisme (Barcelona Architecture and Urban Planning). To show the city’s urban planning lines and model and prioritise citizen knowledge of the unique projects and characters involved in the city’s architecture and urban planning.

• Barcelona, Ciutat i Barris (Barcelona City and Neighbourhoods). The history, memories and culture of the city and its neighbourhoods. Dissemination of the past and present of the network of associations and social organisations and movements that have left their mark on the city and its neighbourhoods.

• Barcelona Literària (Literary Barcelona). Barcelona’s links to its literary heritage and the city’s literary representation.

• Barcelona en Vinyetes (Barcelona in Comic Drawings). Introducing the graphic novel genre and comics to tell the history and stories of the city and its residents.

• Barcelona Beceroles (Barcelona Alphabet Books). Bringing the city to very young readers through publications that are attractive both graphically and narratively.

• Darrere la Càmera (Behind the Camera). Books with old and new photographs of the city. To appreciate the city’s transformation and its tradition of photographers.

• Arts a la Ciutat (Arts in the City). Museum and Art Centre catalogues and editions.

The project assessments will take account of the parity criterion to obtain a balanced presence of women and men among the authors, as recommended by Barcelona City Council’s Editions and Publications Board.

The Barcelona City Council Editions and Publications Board is the body responsible for the final evaluation, which is communicated on this same page four months after the project submission period concludes. The joint publishing contract between the publishing company and Barcelona City Council is then prepared and formalised. This process takes between six and eight months.

Should you have any queries, please write to us at barcelonallibres@bcn.cat

Submitting a proposal

Answers to the most frequently asked questions in previous calls on submitting a proposal.

The proposals do not necessarily need to be finished works. Duly explained and justified projects may be submitted. A sample chapter from proposals with a finished chapter will be assessed.
Should some information in the form need to be amended, you will need to submit the completed form again with the changes made and send an email to barcelonallibres@bcn.cat to notify that you have sent the form again.
The proposal form can be submitted in Catalan, Spanish or English. The website offers these three options.
As for the language of the publication submitted as a proposal, article 14 of the Barcelona City Council regulations on use of the Catalan language indicates the following: ‘Books, magazines and, in general, all posters, minor works and other publications published by Barcelona City Council, as well as messages issued through the media and institutional advertising, must normally be in Catalan, except for those specifically aimed at international promotion and tourism use, which can be in the language of the target audience’. Should you wish to publish in another language, the reasons for this must be justified.
Yes. The percentage covered by the City Council cannot exceed 50% of the budget submitted.
Yes, as long as this is indicated in the budget and subtracted from the planned costs of the publication.
No, only publishers may submit proposals.
No. The co-publishing proposal must be unpublished, and the author must sign a document declaring that the idea is original.
You can send any query you may have to the email address barcelonallibres@bcn.cat.

Resolution of the call

Answers to the most frequently asked questions in previous calls on the resolution of the call.

The Barcelona City Council Publications Board evaluates the proposals’ viability and their compatibility with municipal interests. Once this evaluation is carried out, the most suitable projects will be announced.
The publishers will sign a private contract with the City Council to regulate all necessary aspects.
No changes can be made. However, if the proposal is approved, a process then begins to confirm all aspects of it. Some modifications to what was submitted initially in the form may therefore be made, in order to make the proposal viable.
By mutual agreement, the publisher and Barcelona City Council will be responsible for the promotion, advertising and marketing strategy and tasks necessary to publicise the publication. Decisions regarding which activities are necessary or appropriate must be made jointly by the two parties.
The publisher will be responsible for commercial distribution nationally and internationally. The publisher agrees to provide Barcelona City Council with the agreed number of copies for institutional gifts and for sale in the Barcelona City Council book shop and other institutional book shops, stands at fairs and exhibitions, and through the municipal website www.barcelona.cat/barcelonallibres.
Both Barcelona City Council’s publishing entity and the co-publisher will monitor sales.
Yes, if the Publications Board decides to do so.
Within four months, once the project submission period ends. Then, the co-publishing contract between the publisher and Barcelona City Council will be prepared and formalised, which takes between six and eight months.
The proposals’ maximum validity period, from the Board’s approval to the finalisation of the book and its distribution in book shops, is four years.

Barcelona Llibres