When a fellow university student first tried to tell Beatriz Buono about Jesus, she told him, “Get lost and take your fairy tales with you!” Books played a huge role in her faith journey. After coming to Christ, Beatriz went on to manage a Christian bookshop, then an award-winning publishing house alongside her daughter and granddaughter. This is the story of her journey.
My father was a communist. He insisted that I read Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. By the time I was thirteen, his work with trade unions had made him unemployable. Fortunately, he was enterprising. He and I sold school textbooks door to door.
When I was eighteen, I left home to study chemistry at the University of La Plata. In La Plata, I joined the Peronist Youth movement. The top student in my cohort, Hugo, became a Christian. When he tried to tell me about Jesus, I said, “Get lost and take your fairy tales with you!”
During my second year at university, my boyfriend, Jorge, left me. I was heartbroken and depressed. My friend, Roberto, suggested that we check out Hugo’s God. We went to a church. I was left in no doubt that I was a sinner and helpless without Jesus.
Growing in Christ through books
When I told my fellow students that I was a Christian, they laughed. “But you are a scientist! What about evolution?”
I needed a book. I went to the only Christian bookshop in La Plata. It had been started by a local church and was run by Olinka, a Norwegian missionary. She sold me a copy of El Origen del Hombre (“The Origin of Man”) by Argentine theologian, Miguel Zandrino. I sold this and other titles published by Certeza—the literature ministry of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students in Latin America (CIEE)—at book stalls on university campuses. Olinka discipled me, gave me a job and after two years put me in charge of the bookshop.
Managing a bookshop
In 1981, John Harrower and Jim Nyquist visited my bookshop. John was the General Secretary of the Argentine Federation of Evangelical Students (ABUA). Jim was the Director of InterVarsity Press in the USA and Literature Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES). After inspecting my accounts, they asked me to manage the Certeza bookshop in Buenos Aires. Certeza CIEE had gone bankrupt; a team from ABUA and I were given 3 years to make it profitable.
My father smiled when I told him I was going to abandon chemistry and sell books. “If working with books gives you joy, go for it!”
“Keep as many balls in the air as possible, so that if one falls, the others remain aloft,” John had advised me. Thanks to this wise strategy, the Certeza Argentina bookshops, publisher, importer and distributor flourished.
Publishing and profitability
We published locally written Bible study guides, pastoral tools and books for adolescents and youth. Together with other CIEE literature ministries we also published Spanish translations of the IVP New Bible Dictionary and Bible commentaries by John Stott under the Certeza Unida imprint.
When the Argentine peso was dollarized in 1991, our importing and wholesale business boomed and subsidized our publishing. Together with a network of Latin American publishers (LetraViva), we established a distribution and dispatch center in Miami.
The collapse of our currency in 2001 made imported books expensive but our own books more competitively priced. Finally, publishing occupied, in financial terms, the status it had always occupied in our vision. While my daughter, Daniela Ortiz, was responsible for sales, Certeza achieved its greatest market penetration. My daughter grew up selling books—just like I had.
Starting again
In 2015, 100% annual inflation and sudden restrictions on buying and selling foreign currency made importing and exporting books impossible. Argentina’s new labor laws made it costly to restructure. Our operations went from a staff of twenty to just two.
With the help of my granddaughter, Flor Ortiz, I started again. We now print books on demand in each country to reduce expenses and capital outlay. I negotiate with authors, editors and designers. Flor manages our online bookshop, delivery logistics and social media. She harnesses apps, online platforms and AI so that we can achieve more with less effort. Flor is 22 years old; the same age I was when I started managing the bookshop in La Plata.
Thriving on global links
Good things happen when we say “yes” to God. When we trust and obey our Lord Jesus, we do not act alone.
I have been equipped and encouraged by mentors, received training opportunities and connected with Christian literature ministries around the world. I have always been able to count on talented and enthusiastic members of the Certeza Argentina team such as Silvia Rodríguez, Adriana Powell, Michael Collie and Ayelén Horwitz—all of whom are also LittWorld alumni.
Times change but our vision to bring all of life under the lordship of Jesus Christ does not. Nothing can stop the advance of the kingdom of God.
The globalization of publishing makes the MAI community more valuable than ever. I thank God for you.
Beatriz Buono is Director of Certeza Argentina, the publishing arm of the Argentine University Bible Association (ABUA), whose vision is to communicate the lordship of Jesus over all of life through biblically-based, interactive and life-transforming books. Beatriz is passionate about integrating faith with academic and entrepreneurial ventures. She helps emerging Latin American authors publish their first book and supports them in continuing their journey as writers. This story was originally published in a magazine for LittWorld 2024, where Certeza Argentina was awarded the 2024 Robert B. Reekie Global Publisher Award.
Related stories and resources
- Certeza Argentina wins the 2024 Robert B. Reekie Global Publisher Award
- ¿Qué tipo de manuscritos buscan las editoriales cristianas de América Latina? – a webinar featuring panelists Victor Arroyo (Perú), David Adams (Colombia), Sally Isáis (México) and Beatriz Buono (Argentina)