BookNet Canada

In this month’s episode, we hear from Daniella Levy-Pinto, Manager at the National Network for Equitable Library Service, and Sarah Smith-Eivemark, Associate Director of Retail Marketing and Partnerships at Penguin Random House Canada about the latest collaboration project between their organizations and its impact on accessibility. Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/...

In this month’s podcast episode, we take a look at the data on book formats, the people behind the data, and what it means to be a good reader. Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/11/28/podcast-book-formats-and-what-it-means-to-be-a-good-reader Further reading and listening: -Is BookTok sucking the joy out of reading?: https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/...

In this episode we look at two upcoming reasons to get your metadata in order (whether you’re a data sender or a data user): I Read Canadian Day and the holiday season. Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/10/31/podcast-the-power-and-importance-of-metadata Further reading and listening: - I Read Canadian: https://ireadcanadian.com/day/ - Canadian Leisure & Reading Study...

Listen to this month’s episode where we hear from Max Arambulo, Bookseller & Manager at TYPE Books Junction, about how they run the bookstore with inclusivity and equity in mind, create safe spaces for their staff and customers, and build community. Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/9/26/podcast-running-a-bookstore-with-inclusivity-and-equity-in-mind Further reading...

This month we talked to Christen Thomas and David Stinson from CNIB Beyond Print about accessible audiobooks, braille, and more. Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/6/27/podcast-making-books-accessible-for-everyone Further reading and listening: -CNIB Beyond Print: https://cnib-beyondprint.ca/ -Centre for Equitable Library Access: https://celalibrary.ca/ -CNIB braille...

Authors of the short book Reading Bestsellers: Recommendation Culture and the Multimodal Reader, Danielle Fuller and DeNel Rehberg Sedo, join us for this month’s episode to talk about their research into the relationship readers have with bestsellers and what they found from their qualitative work with a group of international Gen Z readers. Link to the transcript: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blo...

Book industry leaders EJ Hurst from New Society and Jen Knoch from ECW Press talk about their work and progress in making their operations greener. Brian O’Leary from the Book Industry Study Group shares insight into the mission of the Green Book Alliance, the resources they have made available, and what they’re hoping to accomplish in the near future. Link to the transcript: www.booknetcanada.ca/...

It's clear that romance titles are seeing an increase in sales in the Canadian market. In this month’s podcast, we look beyond the numbers and discuss why we're seeing this trend. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/3/28/podcast-the-resurgence-of-romance-books) Further reading/listening: - Romance book sales in the Canadian market: A love story: https://www.booknetcan...

This month we chatted with Taste Canada’s Karen Baxter about the work she and Taste Canada are doing to promote Canadian books and the business case for identifying Canadian authors in your metadata. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/2/28/podcast-talking-canadian-contributors-with-taste-canada) Further reading/listening: - Canadian contributor content on the BookNet...

Wondering how events have changed for independent booksellers now that we’re three years into the pandemic? We sat down with John Toews, the Event Coordinator at McNally Robinson Booksellers in Winnipeg to chat about the positive side of hosting virtual and hybrid events, how they measure success, the challenges that came with pivoting to virtual, and so much more. (Find the transcript here: https...

The BookNet staff recaps 2022 in terms of book sales and library circulation in the Canadian book market, popular BookNet blog series, and some other 2022 book related highlights. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/12/20/podcast-another-year-in-the-books-2022-highlights) Further reading/listening: - Tech Forum to-go series:https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog?tag=tech%2...

In this month’s episode, we again pull back the curtain for a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to be a BookNet staff member. CataList Project Coordinator Vivian Luu, Project Manager and Retailer Liaison Tim Middleton, and Senior Software Engineer Tom Gerrard join this episode to tell us what they do, their favourite part of the job, and what they do when they're not working. (Find the tran...

In September, eBOUND Canada launched the Accessible Publishing Learning Network, an online resource library and community hub designed to empower publishers in Canada to create high-quality content that is accessible to all readers. We invited accessibility expert, Laura Brady, to tell us all about it in this podcast episode. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/10/25/...

This month, we interviewed Serah-Marie McMahon, a graphic novel editor at Annick Press. We talked about editing, comics and graphic novels, accessibility, and everything in between. Is the rise of comics and graphic novels just a trend? Find out what we think in this episode. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/9/27/podcast-behind-the-scenes-of-childrens-graphic-novel...

This month, we’re talking all about movies and TV shows. Specifically the ones based on books. Our newest research report, out today, Must-Watch, Must-Read: Book-to-Screen Adaptations in the Canadian Book Market 2022 gives you all the information we’ve been asked for and that you’ve been looking for about the impact that TV and movie adaptations have had on book sales and library circulation! (Fin...

Looking for a quick roundup of our most recent research? Look no further. In this podcast episode we’ll share a list of quick takeaways from our most recent studies including our Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2021, The Canadian Book Market 2021, and the Canadian Book Consumer Study 2021. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/5/30/podcast-booknet-research-roundup-what...

Just how many books are written by Canadian authors, anyway? In this episode we take look at why identifying Canadian contributors in book metadata matters for the industry — the work it involves, the impact it has across the supply chain, and how we can measure that change. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/4/26/podcast-why-identifying-canadian-contributors-still-m...

In this podcast episode we’re bringing you a small taste of a Tech Forum presentation given by Jennifer Chen and Nikoo Sarraf from McGill University’s .txtlab. They took a deep dive into the differences between queer fanfiction and mainstream published works and shared some insights about what publishing can learn from their work. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/3...

What does BookNet Canada know about independent bookstores? A lot. In this podcast episode, BookNet Canada’s Marketing Associates Nataly Alarcón and Aline Zara share highlights from the study The State of Independent Bookselling in Canada 2020, talk about what the last five years of independent bookselling have looked like in Canada in terms of book sales and the pandemic, and share a clip from a...

January 4 was World Braille Day and to celebrate we sat down to talk with Kerry Kijewski and Marcia Yale, two of the five authors of the study Improving Braille Availability in Canadian Public Libraries to learn more about the study and what the book industry can do to improve braille accessibility in Canada. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/1/24/podcast-improving-...

The BookNet staff recaps 2021 in terms of book sales in the Canadian market, BookNet staff reading habits, and all the other book news fit to share. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2021/12/21/podcast-2021-in-the-rear-view-window) Further reading/listening: - See this as a webinar on YouTube: https://youtu.be/j5Ef4vImS2o - Subject spotlight blog series: https://www.book...

We sat down with Kiley Turner, 49th Shelf’s Managing Editor, to have a conversation about the work she and her colleagues do to promote Canadian books, the role metadata plays in discoverability and marketing, the ways publishing and non-publishing people can use 49th Shelf, and much more. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2021/11/29/podcast-promoting-canadian-books-an-i...

A conversation with Fazeela Jiwa from Fernwood Publishing about sensitivity readers — what that term means, the shortcomings of using them, Fernwood’s approach, and what the future might have in store for sensitivity reading. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2021/10/26/podcast-beyond-sensitivity-readers) Further reading: - Fernwood Publishing: https://fernwoodpublishing...

In this month’s episode, we give you a behind the scenes look at life as a BookNet staff member, aka a BookNetter. Join us for a chat with Project Manager Monique Mongeon, Product Coordinator Hannah Johnston, and Software Developers Ben Farrall and Madeleine Griggs to learn a bit about themselves and all about their work with us at BookNet Canada. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcana...

In this month's podcast episode we’re talking about social media and its influence on bookselling, what the popularity of these online communities built around books mean for the industry, how backlist titles are having second chances thanks to TikTok, and more. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2021/7/27/podcast-beyond-booktok-when-social-media-and-publishing-collide) F...