With the recent launch of the Celebra publishing imprint, Raymond Garcia hopes to tap into the emergent Hispanic book-buying market.

Having worked for three years as associate publisher of Rayo, the Latino imprint at HarperCollins Publishers, and now as publisher of Celebra, Garcia is confident and at ease discussing the growing Hispanic reading audience and the types of books that are likely to capture its attention.

Celebra is described as the first imprint to exclusively publish “mainstream” Hispanic personalities for mainstream audiences. The name itself, Celebra, has a literal definition in Spanish to mean to praise, honor and celebrate — all byproducts of fame. The publishers wanted a Spanish-language name that was easy to pronounce in English and one that would take on its own definition, characterizing the imprint.

Journalist Geraldo Rivera’s His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S. (February 2008, $24.95), an impassioned examination of the increasing Hispanic population in the nation and the controversial attitudes toward illegal immigration, is the debut book from the new publisher. His Panic holds the No. 33 spot on The New York Times best-seller list dated March 23 — this coming Sunday.

“The goal of Celebra is to mirror the composition of today’s media by publishing premier Hispanic personalities who are leaders across all channels such as entertainment, business, health, politics and sports,” says Garcia.

He argues that it is absolutely essential to have an imprint like Celebra within the publishing industry.

“With almost 45 million Hispanics in the U.S. that makeup almost $1 trillion in buying power, there is not an industry that could afford to ignore this booming market,” says Garcia. “The Hispanic retail book market is a billion-dollar industry and growing.”

In March 2002, The New York Times reported that only a few of the major publishing houses had an established Latino imprint, and one, Random House, had an imprint for children’s books. “Nearly every major publishing house has tried its Latino imprint, and nearly all largely failed because not enough marketing money was spent,” the article said.