The Offreds books

The Offreds books have more than 350.000 copies marketed to date. This attests to its editorial success. José Ángel Gómez Iglesias (Pontevedra, 1984) is a Spanish writer whose literary career is relatively recent. It became known through social networks (Twitter, mainly) until it reached an impressive commercial diffusion.

Signature under the pseudonym "Offreds", which arose by chance during a game of letters with his brother. His humility is reflected in his writings, characterized by a very direct poetic prose, loaded with feelings. Likewise, his playful style in combination with a simple structure has made it easy for many readers to identify with his books.

A writer emerged in digital media

On his website, Defreds explains - with the simplicity that characterizes him - how he started his literary career. In this regard, it expresses:

“A night quite full of solitude and with a lot of rain was the first time I wrote a sentence about something that was happening to me at that time. On twitter. I guess that's where it all started. People read me, more and more. People who felt identified with me.

“I could not believe that someone read my thoughts with enthusiasm. Almost accidentally. Almost without looking for it. Offreds, the extension of José. My books have arrived. You cannot imagine the illusion it makes, entering a bookstore and seeing a book of yours on a shelf, right there. And people buying it with a smile. That cannot be paid for with money. Not to explain in words… ”.

Authors “born” in social networks, are they a phenomenon or a trend?

In the case of Offreds, it encompasses both definitions. The launch and spectacular commercial success of his first book Almost accidentallyhas been an editorial phenomenon due to its genesis on Twitter. Apart — of course — from the impressive sales numbers. At the same time, Offreds is a trend in today's literary world. Well, he is part of a growing group of authors who use digital media to make themselves known.

Therefore, they are writers who do not depend on publishing houses, or on any type of intermediaries at the time of launching their first works. It represents a modality where the marketing strategy (if it exists designed as such) includes an important audiovisual component. In this regard, several indexed publications in different countries can be consulted on the internet that confirm this behavior.

Among these investigations, the following stand out:

• Literary writing in social networks. Author: Milagros Lagneaux (2017); Spain.
• Instagram poetry: How social media is revitalizing an ancient art form. Author: Jessica Myers (2019); USA.
• The Paths of the Italian Young Poets. A Social Network Analysis of the Contemporary Poetic Field. Authors: Sabrina Pedrini and Cristiano Felaco (2020); Italy.

Figures and data on the best known books of Defreds

• Almost accidentally. Launch, 2015. Editorial Mueve tu Lengua. 23 editions; more than 180.000 copies sold.
• When you open the parachute, Editorial Move your Language. 12 editions; more than 95.000 copies sold.
• 1775 Streets, 2017. Editorial Mueve tu Lengua. 3 editions; more than 55.000 copies sold.
• Stories of a hypochondriac castaway, 2017. Editorial Espasa. 11 editions; more than 60.000 copies sold.
• With a cassette and a bic pen, 2018. Editorial Espasa. 2 editions; more than 35.000 copies sold.
• Everlasting, 2018. Editorial Espasa; 2 editions; more than 40.000 copies sold.

Additionally, during 2019 the launches of Remember password e Unconditional, well received by the public and critics in general.

Structure of the Offreds books

All Offreds books open with a foreword by another author. The development consists of prose whose themes can be connected to each other or, on the contrary, in stories presented in a sequence without apparent relation. According to the portal of the Virtual Library FANDOM (2020), the argument of some of his poems is the continuation of a previous publication.

In this sense, one can consider "Amores a Distancia 2" from 1775 Streets as a second part of "Amores a Distancia" by Almost accidentally. Finally, Offreds reserves a series of micro-stories or phrases for the closing of its books. Generally, its epilogues are made by other writers and / or contain their thanks.

Synthesis and analysis of some of his works

Almost accidentally (2015)

In this compilation of prose there is no protagonist, neither a beginning or a conclusion nor a connecting thread. In its debut publication, Offreds engages its audience through a series of stories that readers can easily relate to. Almost accidentally reflects the author's sympathies for his friends, familiar places, sadness, disappointment, heartbreak ...

Also included in this book are some poems of very realistic, almost explicit sexuality, plus an original interpretation of a universal tale. It's about the poem Versioned tales, where Offreds shows his particular vision of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, the wolf or the Three Little Pigs. Phrases:

"I am one of those people who set the alarm clock 5 minutes earlier, of those who read paper books on the train and are happy."

"Everything that makes you dream, that turns your Tuesday morning into Saturday afternoon."

1775 Streets (2017)

1775 is the number of streets in Vigo, the city where the author grew up. The prose in this book is a summary of thoughts related to this locality. In each rúa, a feeling; in every corner, an experience. 1775 Streets It is one of the texts where Defreds is more humble and genuine, through lines written with an open heart.

This is a work whose spectrum of criticism has been very favorable due to the particular vision of its creator. In most literary reviews they express their amazement for a poetry so devoid of ornaments as charged with emotions: sadness, fears, longings ... Offreds captures its readers from authenticity; "What I want to say is surely only understood by me." Segment:

“Sometimes a song of four minutes and twenty-seven seconds can give you more than one person. And people who by looking at you make you feel like the best concert of your life ”.

Stories of a hypochondriac castaway (2017)

It is the first publication by José Ángel Gómez Iglesias launched under the Editorial Espasa seal. In this book, readers immerse themselves in a recurring situation in the author's predecessor titles: a gentle walk through his thoughts. However, Offreds shows in Stories of a hypochondriac castaway how his prose has evolved in parallel with his own personality.

To tell the truth, it seems impossible to conceive the lyrics of Offreds without emulating circumstances of their own reality. (both the author and the public). In addition, with this work the writer managed to captivate an audience that is generally very elusive with the poetic genre: youth and adolescents. Likewise, the fantastic photographs of David Olivas and Cynthia Perie represent the perfect complement to a text that speaks a lot about love. Passage:

“Mom says you're giving her a bit of a fuss with so much dizziness. You must already have a lot of desire to stick your head out and party out into the world ”.

With a cassette and a bic pen (2018)

Offreds manages to "not repeat itself" (compared to its previous titles) without losing an iota of authenticity or its magnetic poetic style. It means enormous merit, because With a cassette and a bic pen, was the author's fifth book released in less than three years. On this occasion, the writer addresses the issue of the passage of unfailing time and incombustible love, despite the bitterness and the almanac.

In the same way, the chapters of this book are allegorical of the evolution of musical formats: Vinyl, LP, Cassette, CD, Mp3 and Spotify. In some prose, Offreds pays tribute to interpreters such as Diana Quer, Pablo Ráez or Gabriel Cruz. In others, he passionately describes the indispensable quality of music in the soundtrack of feelings: love, pain, illusion, disappointment, joy ... Fragment:

"I love enjoying my time alone, getting to know myself better, enjoying the silence, a movie, that song that sounds different when no one is home."

Everlasting (2019)

It is the book with the most autobiographical features within the self-conclusive saga published by Offreds, so far. In fact, its six chapters offer the following sequence: Born, Grow, Smile, Cry, Live, Dream and Die. As always, the author does not stop addressing sensitive topics of general interest that produce an immediate hook in the reader. Among those: the bullying, self-improvement, unconditional love or abuse.

Fragment:

«They don't know about all that damage. Of the tears that fall, when the night also falls.

They don't know the anguish of the walk from home to class.

The breastplate does not always hold.