Writers, students, educators, and publishing leaders gathered at Montemorelos University (UM) in Nuevo León for Mexico’s first Publishing Festival, a four-day event aimed at strengthening the creation and distribution of Adventist educational, spiritual, and health publications.

Held September 30 to October 3, the festival was organized by GEMA Editores in partnership with Mexico's five Seventh-day Adventist Unions and UM. The program featured training for aspiring authors, book and devotional launches, reading initiatives, activities centered on literature evangelism, and a special tribute to veteran author Félix Cortés.

For UM, the emphasis on literature evangelism is closely connected to student life. During winter and summer breaks, hundreds of students participate in campaigns across Mexico, distributing books and using their earnings to help finance their education.

Tomás Torres, vice president of the Inter-American Division (IAD) and the first president of GEMA Editores during its years as a publishing house, told participants that student literature evangelism made his own university education possible.

“If it had not been for student literature evangelism, I would not be here, because it was the only way I could pay for eight years as a boarding student,” Torres said.

Drawing from his experience, Torres described the journey behind every book, from the author and editorial team to the printer, publishing house, and literature evangelist before it finally reaches a reader.

Training future writers

The festival opened with a course for aspiring writers at UM’s School of Theology chapel. Sessions offered practical guidance on overcoming the difficulty of beginning a manuscript; developing arguments; conducting research; organizing ideas; and strengthening cohesion, coherence, and language.

César Sánchez, an editor and author who helped lead the training, emphasized research as essential to providing readers with relevant, accurate, and useful information. He also encouraged writers to adapt their language to the audience they hope to reach.

“The line of argument is a key part of a text,” Sánchez said. “It provides the foundation for the reasoning, while evidence offers useful and verifiable information that directly supports the main point.”

Participants also learned from authors connected with the university community, including Guadalupe Suzunaga, educator and coordinator of education programs and author of Voces silenciosas (Silent Voices); Javier Girarte, author of books for teachers, devotional materials, and children’s publications; and Cortés, a UM graduate whose works have been distributed in Mexico and abroad.

The educators and specialists at UM make it an ideal setting for identifying and mentoring prospective authors, said José Antonio Gil, vice president for sales and literature evangelism at GEMA Editores.

“We believe there can be a good seedbed here for potential authors of the books the church needs,” he said.

Gil said organizers hope to hold the festival annually at UM and eventually involve the other Adventist higher education institutions in Mexico.

Encouraging a culture of reading

Festival activities extended beyond UM's campus to the Soledad Acevedo de los Reyes Institute, where Girarte presented his children’s book De paseo con las hormigas (A Walk with the Ants).

The presentation was part of “Bienaventurado el que lee” ("Blessed is the One Who Reads"), an initiative of the Northern Mexican Union designed to encourage reading among students.

The festival introduced new publications and devotionals for 2027 and recognized UM employees who support students in literature evangelism.

Honoring a legacy in Adventist publishing

The festival paid special tribute to Cortés, an author and UM alum whose 15 books have reached readers across generations.

Cortés began participating in literature evangelism as a teenager and later served as a pastor, editor, administrator, and educator. The tribute highlighted his book, Un sitio en la cumbre (A Place at the Summit), which is about perseverance in the face of adversity among young people.

Isaías Espinoza, IAD Publishing Ministries director, reported that the book’s various editions, reprints, and translations total approximately 820,000 copies distributed throughout Inter-America, Africa, the Philippines, and other territories.

“This is the best-selling book of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Inter-American Division,” Espinoza said. “God bless this legacy that will transcend this generation and the generations to come.”

The tribute was presented by IAD, GEMA Editores, Mexico's five Unions, and UM.

“As a university, we want to say that we thank God, because He is the one who chooses and inspires people to write messages that are so important to us,” said José Luis Olmos, UM president, as he presented Cortés with a gift on behalf of the institution.

The program also introduced Más allá de la cumbre (Beyond the Summit), Cortés’ latest work, a collection of reflections on individuals who faced adversity and moved beyond their circumstances.

Publications and student literature evangelism

The festival’s final day included a historical overview of the role of publications in sharing the Christian faith, followed by a forum with Adventist institutional and publishing leaders on the development of GEMA Editores in Mexico, editorial production, and the current state of literature evangelism. The discussion also highlighted students from Mexico’s four Adventist universities who distribute publications during school breaks.

“Literature evangelism is a vibrant and growing movement,” said Jorman Méndez, who works in publishing in Mexico City. “Every year, hundreds of students go out during the summer and winter to share the gospel; while financing their university education, they are also developing leadership skills.”

Abdiel Juárez, director of GEMA Editores bookstores, described books as a means of opening doors to relationships with people.

“Students know that books do not have life on their own, but they can become a bridge to reach people and share a message of hope,” Juárez said.

Bringing print and digital together

As the festival concluded, GEMA Editores president Ignacio Navarro urged participants to integrate print publications with digital tools.

“It is not literature versus technology; it is literature plus technology,” Navarro said.

He emphasized that the festival’s impact would depend on what participants put into practice after returning to their churches, classrooms, and publishing ministries.

Organizers hope to expand future Publishing Festivals to include all Adventist universities in Mexico and develop the festival at UM into a national gathering focused on publishing and literature evangelism.

The original article was published on the Inter-American Division news site.