Back in July, novelist Jeff Rivera (right) wrote an article for mediabistro.com on what book editors really want. After that, he connected with GalleyCat's Andy Heidel, who heard Jeff's enthusiasm about the growing ranks of Hispanic publishing industry professionals and invited him to share his thoughts with our readers.

There's a quiet movement in the publishing world that hasn't had a lot of fanfare, but very well could shape the landscape of the publishing in the near future.

It began almost ten years ago when the U.S. Census reported that the Hispanic population was the fastest growing minority group in the United States. Yes, the Hispanic community had always been there, but beyond a handful of densely populated urban centers, few Americans realized just how great the population had become.

Corporations began salivating over what those in the Spanish language community had known all along: The Hispanic community is not only one of the largest groups in the country, but has emerged as one of the most influential buying powers in the nation.

Soda companies, car companies, the music industry—all jumped on the bandwagon, and it didn't take long before the book publishing industry joined the ranks of corporations seeking to tap into the lucrative Hispanic market.

That is when the movement began almost by accident, like the seed that breaks through a sidewalk and emerges as a flower no matter how many times it is stepped on.

Early pioneers such as Marcela Landres (formerly of Simon & Schuster) and Rene Alegria (HarperCollins/Rayo) began to take the lead in not only promoting stories that Hispanic readers could relate to, but providing a hand up to other Hispanics who wanted to break into the publishing industry𔃀an industry which has in the past seemed to be designed to keep others out, where you could look but not touch unless you knew the right people.

Positions in the publishing industry were often designed for those who came out of the best of the best Ivy League schools, which were not, for much of their history, known for their diversity. The publishing industry in turn ended up hiring people who could afford to live in New York City on the low salaries of its entry-level positions. It wasn't until a handful of Hispanics and others made it their mission to open doors for others that this began to change.

More Hispanic mavericks emerged, such as Michael Mejias (Writers House), Raymond Garcia (Celebra), Selina McLemore (Grand Central) and Andie Avila (Berkley). Literary agents like Caren Johnson and editors like Sulay Hernandez (Touchstone Fireside) have gone out of their way to find new Hispanic voices in the literary community... and have made it their mission to open more doors. Toni Plummer (St. Martin's), Milena Alberti (Random House), Alex Colon (Kimani), David Patterson (Holt), Adriana Dominguez (formerly of Harper Children's), and Johanna Castillo (Atria) have broken through by sheer determination and talent, and the list goes on and on. These are the cream of the crop: People who know where they are going but have not forgotten where they came from.

In doing research for this article, I sent emails to find out just how many Hispanics were working in the industry. Expecting a small handful, I was overwhelmed not only by the support of people for this article, but by the number of literally hundreds of Hispanic working actively in the book industry—many more than those mentioned here. From administrative to graphic design to editorial and marketing, I soon found that Hispanics were making headway with a mission to be the best of the best and to open new doors for that little Hispanic girl in South Central or that Cuban boy in Miami or that Mexican American housewife in Chicago—so they too could one day be an author or editor or illustrator. All these people, who continue to break down walls and pre-existing barriers, are true heroes.