The Dominican Republic has one of the largest and varied print media industry in Central America and the Caribbean. The number of magazines and the new ones that are created on a yearly basis, the amount of native books and the new ones being published, the quantity of newspapers which includes the Caribbean most read could be mind-boggling to outsiders. Santo Domingo is also a major center in the Caribbean for publishing houses. In this article we will explore a small part of the print media in the Dominican Republic.
The Size of the Dominican Print Media Sub-Sector
As recent as 2020, the estimated size for the print media sub-sector in the Dominican Republic (not separating print from digital, though print is still the lion share compared to digital) was US$302 million. The sales of books amounted to US$186 million and of newspapers/magazines to US$116 million. By 2024 book sales are expected to reach US$187 million and newspapers/magazines US$120 million. In terms of readership, it’s expected that by 2026 it will rise to 6.5 million readers of newspapers/magazines and 3.9 million readers of books.
For the sake of comparison, total Dominican readers of newspapers, magazines and books will be greater than the entire populations of the Lesser Antilles and greater than the entire population of Puerto Rico. This will surpass the entire populations of countries such as Panama, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Bahamas or Jamaica among others. These figures don’t include the revenues of the Dominican publishing houses.
Publishing Houses
Most publishing houses in the Dominican Republic are in the Greater Santo Domingo area. Quite a few are also found in the interior of the country. In addition to printing books and magazines, they also print other things such as voting ballots, notebooks and notebooks with a personalized cover, flyers, etc. Their customer base is everything from individuals, companies, the Dominican government, religious institutions, etc. Here is a very limited list of the publishing houses in Santo Domingo.
Editora Corripio is one of the better known and respected in the country. It’s one of the country’s largest publishing houses too.
Santillana is another major publisher in the Dominican Republic.
In recent years Letra Gráfica has gained much importance due to the various books they publish. Many of their books are of their own creation and others are reprints of older Dominican books. The place of the publishing house also functions as a bookstore of Letra Gráfica books only. Their books can also be found in all major bookstores in the Dominican Republic.
Editorial Actualidad is focused on printing books for public schools. They are based in Santo Domingo Este.
Editora Imprenta is in Santiago de los Caballeros.
Newspapers
The newspaper industry is the greatest it has ever been in the Dominican Republic. This is despite the industry is affected by modern technology and a declining readership of the physical newspapers. They have increased their online presence in an attempt in keeping and growing their customer base. The industry went through a model change upon the founding of Diario Libre. Until then, Dominican newspapers were for pay, but now an increasing number are free.
Some newspapers of the Dominican Republic.
The Listín Diario is the oldest newspaper in the Dominican Republic founded in 1889 and has the Caribbean’s largest circulation rate. It has national converage and it’s based in Santo Domingo. The Sunday edition includes a copy of Spain’s most important newspaper El País.
Diario Libre is the first free newspaper in the Dominican Republic and has become one of the country’s main newspapers. It’s based in Santo Domingo.
Since 1915 exist La Información in Santiago de los Caballeros.
The main newspaper of Puerto Plata.
One of the newspapers of the Bávaro-Punta Cana area.
El Dinero is the leading business newspaper in the Dominican Republic.
Magazines
The amount of magazines in the Dominican market is surprisingly large and varied. They cover many topics. Some have a cover price while others are free. New magazines are created on a yearly basis. Others are international and have a Dominican Republic specific magazine or the Dominican Republic is included with other Central American countries.
Somos Platinum is a Dominican magazine geared towards Dominican women.
One of the leading Dominican magazines on architecture and interior design is ARQUITEXTO. Most of the buildings shown are in the Dominican Republic.
Fuáquiti is a free magazine. It consits of cartoons of its own creation about several Dominican political and social issues.
Aldaba is the only Dominican magazine exclusively devoted to interior design.
Novus is a Dominican magazine focus on many topics. The cover of the issue shown is mostly about tourism in the Dominican Republic. The image is of the pool area of one of the resorts in the country.
Archivos de Arquitectura Antillana or AAA deals with architecture and interior design primarily in the Dominican Republic, but it also includes the Greater Caribbean such as Puerto Rico, Colombia, Trinidad & Tobago, Panama, even Florida in the United States and other countries. Despite it’s a Dominican magazine and most of its clients are in the country, it can also be acquired in Puerto Rico, the United States and in Spain. This magazine is in Spanish only, except in a handful of times when a special issue will be in Spanish and English. This magazine publishes four issues per year.
Amigo del Hogar is the most read Catholic magazine in the Dominican Republic.
The economy and business interests is also covered by several Dominican magazines with MERCADOS Y TENDENCIAS being one of the main ones. This magazine is baeed in Central America and circulate in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic.
Since 2012 exist ¡HOLA! República Dominicana covering the happenings among famous Dominicans and foreign people. This circulates in the Dominican Republic only.
Pandora is a Dominican magazine focused on a female clietele giving tips of how to make their lives better. This one is found in the Dominican Republic only.
For many years there was one Dominican magazine exclusively about vehicles. In 2017 came to the scene MECANICA Hot bringing the count to 2. This is the first magazine by Artime Dominicana and circulates im the Dominican Republic only.
Founded in 2020, Life Dominicana is a new Dominican magazine. This is the second magazine created by Airtime Dominicana based in Santo Domingo Este and is present in the Dominican Republic only.
A La Moda is what its name suggest, a Dominican magazine focused on fashion and the world of female models. Available in the Dominican Republic only.
Sala de Espera is a magazine present in various Latin American countries, but in each country it’s a different franchise. This magazine is free and found in the waiting rooms of medical offices, beauty salons, etc. In fact, Sala de Espera translate to “Waiting Room.” As expected, the Dominican version is found in the Dominican Republic only.
Santo Domingo Times is a variety magazine, though the one shown here was a special issue dedicated to design and architecture featuring 6 Dominican designers and architects including two women.
The USA-based Forbes magazine has an edition for Central America (El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama) plus the Dominican Republic. The magazine alao is present in the United States (Spanish language version) and in Puerto Rico. Not all issues are the same everywhere. For example, all of Central America (except Belize) plus the Dominican Republic get the same issue, but the Spanish version issue circulating in the United States and Puerto Rico is different.
The USA-based GQ magazine has a Latin America edition that is circulated in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Guatemala, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Unlike other magazines that are present throughout Latin America with different issues for several countries, GQ offers the same issue everywhere. It’s different from the English version.
The Spain-based Gentleman magazine has a special edition exclusively for the Dominican Republic. This magazine is also available in Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina in addition to Spain itself.
Books
The amount if books that are published in the Dominican Republic is astounding. Very easily this country has one of the most, if not the most books published in any given year in the Caribbean. The topics runnthe gamut from coffee table books to non-fiction, novels, historical events, the arts, etc. Unfortunately for much of the world, most Dominican books are available in the Dominican Republic only and they tend to be in Spanish only.
The following are only an extremely small sample of books.
“101 Razones por las que República Dominicana es grandiosa” was published by Santo Domingo Times snd covers the 101 things that are impressive of the Dominican Republic. From amazing natural settings to impressive historical sites, delicious Dominican plates and more. Plus, this book is in Spanish and in English.
Marcio Veloz Maggiolo was one of the greatests Dominican authors. “La Navidad: Memorias de un naufragio” is one of his last books and treats the sinking of the Santa María in 1492 off the northwest coast of Hispaniola. The novel focuses on the story between a Spaniard and an indigenous woman. It’s a fictional novel based on a historical fact that cleverly shows the collisions of two cultures.
“Itinerario histórico de la gastronomía dominicana” by Hugo Tolentino Dipp narrates the different origins that contributed to the current Dominican cuisine.
“Diccionario del español dominicano” is a dictionary of all the words used in Dominican Spanish.
A biography of Gregorio Luperón, the Dominican hero of the War of Restoration and one time president.
The Dominican economist Haivanjoe Ng Cortiñas in “Casi todo de la economía dominicana” explains most of the aspects of the current Dominican economy.
The most complete biography of Buenaventura Báez by José Báez Guerrero, many times president of the Dominican Republic during the second half of the XIX century.
Cristóbal Valdez in his “Historia crítica de la ciudad de Santo Domingo” covers the history of the city.
José Gabriel García is considered to be the father of Dominican history as his historical investigations culminated in the most extensive multiple volume book of Dominican history, starting in the arrival of the Spanish in 1492 until the early parts of the XX century. All his works are presented here in several volumes.
This very recent and large book by the ex-ambassador of Italy in the Dominican Republic Mr Andrea Canepari, covers the history and legacy of Italians in the Dominican Republic. In addition to Spanish, there are English and Italian versions too. The photo on the cover is of the inside of the cupola in the National Palace of the Dominican Republic, a splendid building from the 1940’s designed by Italian Guido D’Alessandro.
Dominican author Aída Cartagena Portalatín in “Culturas africanas: rebeldes con causa” exposes many aspects of African cultures and how they influenced the development of several cultures from Latin America.
A book of the opinions of Dominican Catholic priest from La Vega (well known throught the country) Rvdo. Rafael Delgado Suriel, mucho more popularly known as Padre Chelo.
Cuesta Libros: The largest Spanish-language bookstore in the Caribbean
The Dominican Republic has many bookstores in Santo Domingo and elsewhere in the country. Out of all these bookstores, Cuesta Libros is a notch above all of them. First, it’s the largest bookstore not just in the Dominican Republic, but the largest Spanish-language bookstore in the Caribbean. Its the only bookstore in the Dominican Republic that has more than one floor, so naturally the selection of Dominican and international books is the greatest. Second, it has whst is perhaps the most important forum for expositions and launching new books into the Dominican market by local and foreign authors. Many authors, Dominican and foreigners, dedicate the space to autographing their books owned by Dominican book readers. As of right now the store has two locations, one in Santo Domingo (images below) and another in Santiago de los Caballeros.
Entrace to Cuesta Libros in Santo Domingo. Originally, the store had the name Centro Cuesta del Libro and then Librería Cuesta and was known as that for many decades. As part of a recent image renovation a new name replaced the old: Cuesta Libros.
The bookstore consist of two floors with books published in the Dominican Republic and in other countries (those originally published in a language other than Spanish are translated and their Spanish version appears here). The second floor has two extra additions, a small café and a small room where Dominican and foreign authors launch their books and/or autograph their books.
The children section. Very important to instill the habit and love for books in very young Dominicans. They are the future of the Dominican book industry.
The café in the second floor. On the right is the entrance to the “Pedro Mir Forum” with an image of him, the national poet of the Dominican Republic. He was born on June 3, 2013 in San Pedro de Macorís to a Cuban father and Puerto Rican mother, and died on July 11, 2000 in Santo Domingo.
The “Pedro Mir Forum” is next to the café. It’s one of the main centers for expositions of new books in the Dominican Republic by Dominican authors and foreign ones.
An autographing session where the author has a quick chat with one of his Dominican fans.
Librería Mamey: An enchanted bookstore in a colonial setting in Santo Domingo
In the Colonial City of Santo Domingo is Mamey, a small bookstore that also offers a café, cosy places to sit, relax and read a good book, and other stuff. There is a decidely leftist leaning to the place that could be a turnoff for neutral or conservative people. They have been in business since 2016.
The façade of Mamey on Calle Las Mercedes in Santo Domingo.
One of the cozy areas of Mamey.
Books for sale and to peruse on site are stratigically placed in various areas of Mamey.
Educational events are held at Mamey too.
The art gallery at Mamey with new exhibitions of art by Dominicans and foreigners every few weeks.
Typical of all Spanish colonial houses in Santo Domingo, Mamey’s location also has an inner courtyard.
Librería San Pablo – Santo Domingo
The Catholic library with stores in many countries has its Dominican Republic store in Santo Domingo. Many religious artefacts and books can be purchased there.
Some of the books that can be acquired here.
Some of the books and religious artifacts available at Librería San Pablo – Santo Domingo
Biography of Pope John Paul,II. It should be noted that he visited Santo Domingo on three different occasions and, in fact, Santo Domingo was the first city in the Americas that he visited.
Sections Devoted to Books
In addition to bookstores, many Dominican hypermarkets and department stores have a small section where some books are for sale. This further increases the reach of books to the Dominican population.
Jumbo is a Dominican hypermarket chain and a small section in their stoes are devoted to books.
Feria del Libro Santo Domingo
Every year as an act of support and encouragement for reading, the Dominican government helds the “Feria del Libro” or books fair. Various publishing houses, bookstores, institutions and representations from other countries in the Americas and Europe take part in presenting many of their books to the general public and many are sold. Some pavillions are simple while others are quite elaborate. Attending the book fair is free, open to all and lasting for several days. While this is the largest book fair of the Dominican Republic, other book fairs are yearly celebrated in the interior of the country.
The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic had its own pavillion to learn more about the regulator of the Dominican economy.
Believe it or not, the Jehovah’s Witnesses had their own pavillion.
The Dominicans 