More than 40 people participated in the first session of the lecture series "El mercado publishing house en tiempos del post covid", organized by the School of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Navarra and directed to the students of the Degrees in Literature and Creative Writing (LEC) and Philology Hispánica. Juan Casamayor, creator of publishing house "Páginas de Espuma", was the first speaker, with a talk entitled degree scroll "Ser positivo en edición" (Being positive in publishing). In his speech, he provided the students with some keys to the field of publishing and the figure of the publisher, as well as the structure of publishing houses in a changing world. 

Casamayor stated that "above all, a publisher must be a reader. It is inexcusable. If someone wants to approach the world publishing house, he must be a reader who welcomes with sensitivity the readings towards which his edition is directed". He also spoke of the training necessary for a publisher: "In my case, the Philology has given me a reading ability that I have been grateful for all my life, and although this training is useful, it is not enough". In this sense, he pointed out the value of the extracurricular training : "It is important to participate in spaces of conversation like this, to bring the reality publishing house closer to those who want to approach this world. The university students already leave with some notions, I did not enjoy that possibility". He also stressed the importance of doing internships, "especially if it is in an independent publishing house , where you learn a wide range of issues: from putting books in boxes, accompanying people to doing interviews, editing covers or correcting texts". In this sense, he affirmed that "in this profession one has to be installed in the gerund: one is always learning to be publisher, the readings and the times change. A publisher has to continually study the books of other publishers and get a global concept of the market, sniffing out the new literary spaces that are constantly changing".

Juan Casamayor at a moment during the session. On screen, with professors Pilar Saiz and Javier de Navascués.

Casamayor also spent some time talking about the three characteristics that, according to his criteria, every publisher should pursue: "Catalog, coherence publishing house and strong author policy". "The Catalog is the card of presentation of a publishing house. There has to be coherence in its configuration, it should not be changed even in bad times". Likewise, he assured that "independent publishers normally build a Catalog in the background, they do not destroy books that sell poorly, they make strategies to continue selling everything at the same time. This is the differential mark with respect to the big publishing groups: thousands are sold, but there are thousands of copies that are destroyed after a short term fashion". As for the author's policy, he said that a publisher "is also a businessman, psychologist, friend, doctor. It is good to break the barrier of professionalism and friendship with authors." "It is also fundamental the meeting with the manuscript: to the extent that the publisher proposes, suggests and is passionate about that text, the better life the book will have. We publishers are obliged to illuminate the creation that is not visible," he added.

Juan Casamayor is graduate in Philology Hispánica by the School of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Zaragoza, where he made his doctorate in Spanish literature of the eighteenth century. In 1999 he founded, together with Encarnación Molina, "Páginas de Espuma", an independent imprint that has become the publishing house of reference letter in the short story genre at Spanish. She teaches at the Master's Degree de Edición de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, the Master's Degree Online en Crítica y Comunicación Cultural, organized by El Cultural and the Universidad de Alcalá, and the Master's Degree de Narrativa de la Escuela de Escritores de Madrid.