Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Busco una editorial que publique autoras mexicanas. - I am looking for a publishing house that publishes Mexican women authors.

Busco una editorial que publique autoras mexicanas.
= I’m looking for some publisher (don’t know which one) that does publish Mexican women authors.

If you already knew a specific publisher and were describing it, you’d use the indicative:

Conozco una editorial que publica autoras mexicanas.
= I know a publisher that publishes Mexican women authors. (It exists and is identified.)

So: buscar + something not yet found → subjunctive in the clause that describes that thing.

What exactly does una editorial mean here? Is it a person (an editor) or a company?

Una editorial in this sentence means a publishing house / publishing company, not a person.

una editorial (feminine noun) → the company that publishes books.
un editor / una editora (person) → an editor (the professional who edits texts).

So Busco una editorial… = “I’m looking for a publisher (company)…”, not “I’m looking for an editor.”

Why is there no por or para after busco? In English we say “I’m looking for a publisher…”

In Spanish, buscar already includes the idea of “for”, so you don’t add a preposition:

✅ Busco una editorial. = I’m looking for a publisher.
❌ Busco por una editorial. (incorrect in standard Spanish in this sense)
❌ Busco para una editorial. (would mean something else, like “I search/work for a publisher” in some contexts)

So: buscar + direct object, no preposition.

Why is it busco (simple present) and not estoy buscando (“I am looking for”)?

In Spanish, the simple present (busco) is often used where English uses the present continuous:

Busco una editorial…
= “I’m looking for a publisher…”

Both are possible:

Busco una editorial… → very normal, neutral.
Estoy buscando una editorial… → emphasizes the ongoing process right now.

In everyday speech in Spain, Busco una editorial… is perfectly natural for the English “I’m looking for a publisher”.

Does autoras mexicanas mean specifically female Mexican authors? Could it be generic like “Mexican authors” (any gender)?

Autoras mexicanas refers specifically to female Mexican authors:

autor → male author, or generic author (traditionally masculine generic)
autora → female author
autores mexicanos → (traditionally) “Mexican authors” in general, default masculine
autoras mexicanas → “Mexican women authors” (only women)

So this sentence is explicitly about women authors from Mexico, not authors in general.

Why is the adjective after the noun: autoras mexicanas, and not mexicanas autoras?

In Spanish, the normal order is noun + adjective:

autoras mexicanas = Mexican authors (natural order)
mexicanas autoras is grammatically possible but unusual and sounds marked/poetic.

Putting the adjective before the noun can give a special emphasis or literary tone. In ordinary speech in Spain, you would say autoras mexicanas almost all the time.

Could I say Busco una editorial que publique escritoras mexicanas instead of autoras mexicanas?

Yes, but there is a nuance:

autora / autor focuses on the role of author (published creator of a work).
escritora / escritor is writer, more general (anyone who writes, not necessarily published).

In practice, in this context they may overlap:

Busco una editorial que publique autoras mexicanas.
→ Slight focus on them as authors of published works.
Busco una editorial que publique escritoras mexicanas.
→ Slightly broader: women writers from Mexico.

Both would be understood; autoras mexicanas sounds very natural if you mean authors with works to publish.

Why is it autoras mexicanas and not autoras mexicanos or autores mexicanas?

Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun:

autoras → feminine plural
mexicanas must also be feminine plural: autoras mexicanas.

Incorrect combinations:

❌ autoras mexicanos → noun feminine plural + adjective masculine plural (mismatch)
❌ autores mexicanas → noun masculine plural + adjective feminine plural (mismatch)

So: autoras mexicanas is correct: both are feminine, both are plural.

Why don’t we use the personal a: why is it que publique autoras mexicanas and not que publique a autoras mexicanas?

The personal a is used mainly with:

people as direct objects (and some pets)
when they are specific / individual.

Examples:

Busco a María. = I’m looking for María.
Conozco a una autora mexicana. = I know a (specific) Mexican woman author.

In this sentence, autoras mexicanas are:

a non‑specific group (any Mexican women authors),
seen more as a category, not as known individuals.

So normally you don’t use the personal a here:

✅ que publique autoras mexicanas (generic category)
If you had specific people in mind and wanted to emphasize them as persons, you might see a, but the neutral, standard phrasing is without it.

Can I say Busco una editorial para publicar autoras mexicanas? What’s the difference from que publique autoras mexicanas?

You can say it, but it changes the nuance.

Busco una editorial que publique autoras mexicanas.
- Describes a type of publisher: one that (as part of its activity) publishes Mexican women authors.
- Suggests the publisher already has that policy or catalogue.
Busco una editorial para publicar autoras mexicanas.
- Focuses more on your purpose: the reason you want a publisher is to publish Mexican women authors.
- Says less about what the publisher already does.

Both are grammatical; the original emphasizes a publisher whose existing practice is to publish Mexican women authors.

How would the sentence change if I were telling a story in the past?

In past narration, you normally shift both verbs to the past, keeping the subjunctive in the relative clause:

Buscaba una editorial que publicara autoras mexicanas.
= I was looking for a publisher that would publish Mexican women authors.

Here:

buscaba → imperfect of buscar
publicara → imperfect subjunctive of publicar

The reason for publicara is the same as for publique: the publisher is not yet found / not known to exist, so the relative clause needs the subjunctive, just in a past form.