by Christine D. Johnson

FaithWords, the Christian division of Hachette Book Group, has entered into a publishing partnership with Casa Creación—the Spanish-language imprint of Charisma House, Charisma Media's book division—to broaden the reach of its authors. Hachette will handle the U.S. Spanish market, while Casa's focus will be on the rest of the Spanish-speaking world.

In talks since July's International Christian Retail Show in Orlando, Fla., the two publishers signed an agreement this month to work together. FaithWords will select key books for Casa to translate and promote, an arrangement that should aid FaithWords in reaching the "grass-roots" readers in the international Spanish market, said Tessie DeVore, executive vice president at Charisma Media.

"We are thrilled about this new partnership with Casa Creación, which will help us more effectively reach a growing Spanish-language audience," said Rolf Zettersten, Hachette's senior vice president and publisher.

A key element of the partnership is in the "strategic thinking of which titles should be released and when," DeVore said.

"This is critical in a very positive way for the Joyce Meyer brand, the Joel Osteen brand, John C. Maxwell and a few others because this is going to help expand the already huge platform they have among Spanish-speaking people," she added. "This partnership will help to solidify them in the Spanish market and make sure their message reaches every corner."

Luis Fernandez, consultant to Casa Creación, also sees the agreement as "a strategic partnership for Casa in the opportunity that it has right at this moment to take this product into Latin America and into Puerto Rico."

Under the agreement, titles that will release in January include Yo declaro (I Declare) and Lecturas diarias tomadas de Cada día es Viernes (Daily Readings From Every Day A Friday) by Osteen; and Las 15 leyes indispensables del crecimiento (The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth) by Maxwell. In April, Meyer's Making Good Habits, Breaking Bad Habits is expected to release in Spanish.

Casa Creación's best-selling books include the Spanish editions of Choo Thomas' Heaven Is So Real!, Osteen's Your Best Life Now and Jonathan Cahn's The Harbinger.

Note: This story has been updated since its original posting.