We’re back with more data from the Canadian Book Consumer survey, in anticipation of the Canadian Book Consumer Study 2023, out this spring. Last time, we discovered the book buying habits of Canadians in 2023. Today, we’re taking a look at another important group of Canadian book consumers — Canadian book borrowers. Before we get to the data, some background information on the Canadian Book Consumer survey: Active since 2012, it's our annual survey of Canadians and Canadian book consumers. In it, we survey Canadians quarterly about their book buying, borrowing, and other book-related behaviou ..read more

BookNet’s BiblioShare is a quality-controlled data aggregation and distribution system that collects and disseminates bibliographic data using ONIX. BiblioShare makes it easier to find, market, and sell books in Canada. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a browser extension was built with publishers, distributors, and store operators in mind? An extension that would recognize ISBNs on your browser screen and with one click lead you to the bibliographic information in BiblioShare?  Well good news! There is an extension for that. It’s called Bibli-O-Matic and it’s free! Available on Chrome an ..read more

In this new instalment of our 5 questions with series, we interview Stacy Batchelor and Kristin Olsen, the owners of Fable Book Parlour. Located in Revelstoke, B.C., Fable is dedicated to carrying a wide and diverse selection of carefully curated new & used books, gifts, vinyl records, and music accessories. 1. Which author would you most like to have for an event in your store (living or dead)? Tough question! We can't pick just one.… Since there are two of us, we reckon a top three is in order: Jane Austen, Douglas Adams, or Louisa May Alcott. Can you imagine the discussions we could ha ..read more

Publishers, it’s that time again, the time we ask you to help us with our big picture research of the Canadian book industry. You may remember contributing to a survey similar to this two years ago that let us create The State of Publishing in Canada 2021. That report helped us take a snapshot of the industry amidst the upheaval of the pandemic. And now, with a bit of distance and time, we can take stock again to see how Canadian publishing has changed in those two years. This survey’s results have always been critical to helping all of us understand the health of the industry and the macro-le ..read more

The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) has published the 2023 update to its book publishing subject codes, often referred to as BISAC Subject Headings. This update post is a big one, so here’s a TL;DR for those who want to know the quick links: new 2023 BISAC subject codes are available here BookNet’s systems are updated with the new codes several of the new codes were driven by the Canadian market’s need for codes relating to Indigeneity: read on to find out how we did it and here is the complete list of changes BISAC doesn’t do it all: this blog post shares what to remember re: contributor ..read more

The Canadian Book Market 2023, is out now! It’s your definitive guide to understanding the Canadian book market, making business decisions, identifying trends, opportunities for growth, and more. In this year's edition you’ll find: Top-level consumer data from BookNet’s Canadian Book Consumer survey panel, including insights about book buying, discoverability, purchasing behaviour, and more. French Canadian trade book market sales data from the Société de gestion de la Banque de titres de langue française (BTLF). A section featuring insights into the sales of books by Canadian contributo ..read more

In this month’s podcast episode, cybersecurity expert Francis Syms joins us to discuss the evolving landscape of digital security. In our conversation, we explore key insights and best practices to safeguard digital assets against cyber threats. (Scroll down for the transcript.) Want to make sure you never miss an episode of the podcast? You can subscribe for free on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, TuneIn, or SoundCloud. Further Reading/Listening Francis Syms, Cybersecurity, Technology and AI Expert Canadian Centre for Cyber Security PBS' Cybersecurity Lab The Perso ..read more

Welcome back to Subject Spotlight, your go-to source for quarterly data-driven insights into the performance of particular subjects in the Canadian book market. Previously, we looked at the sales and library circulation of Fiction / Feminist books. In this instalment, we shine the spotlight on Non-Fiction / Nature titles. How did these titles perform during the fourth quarter of 2023? We find out with the help of our SalesData and LibraryData services. Buying Non-Fiction / Nature Compared to 2022, the overall sales of Non-Fiction / Nature titles were down 8% over the entire fourth quarter. Loo ..read more

The results from the Canadian Book Consumer survey are here, along with new data about Canadian book consumers — how did Canadians get books in 2023? The full Canadian Book Consumer Study 2023 will be released later this spring, but in this three-part blog series we’re giving you a preview of the biggest trends. Active since 2012, the Canadian Book Consumer survey is our annual survey of Canadians and Canadian book consumers. In it, we survey Canadians quarterly about their book buying, borrowing, and other book-related behaviours. In 2023, we surveyed a total of 4,270 Canadians — 48% of whom ..read more

Loan Stars is the readers’ advisory tool that allows libraries across Canada to indicate popular upcoming titles. Using LibraryData, the library data aggregation service, the forthcoming titles with the most orders become Loan Stars top picks! The March Loan Stars Canadian Adult top 10 list features ten books that have at least one author, illustrator, translator, or editor (in the case of an edited collection of material) who is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada. You can see each book and find out a bit more about them in the list below, or you can download our poster if yo ..read more