BookNet Canada

This month we’re talking about Thema and exploring how you can use this international book classification for describing diverse books. Join BookNet Canada’s Marketing Associate Aline Zara, with appearances by EDItEUR’s Chris Saynor and BookNet Canada’s Bibliographic Manager Tom Richardson, alongside a worked example of Tanya Boteju’s book Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens, just in time to wrap up Pr...

Last month we shared highlights from Tech Forum 2021. This month we’re sharing one thought-provoking panel in particular. The idea for this panel was inspired by an essay from Annahid Dashtgard a renowned author, changemaker, and co-founder of Anima Leadership, a boutique consulting company specializing in issues of diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism. This essay, called Foreign Object in the Ho...

In this month’s podcast episode, we’re bringing you some highlights from some of our fantastic sessions. This year’s programming had a mix of topics that ranged from crisis management, the impact of the pandemic on booksellers and publishers, bibliographic standards, diversity, equity and inclusion, and much more. The recordings from the sessions we’ll be talking about today are available on our Y...

The newly formed Canadian Independent Booksellers Association (CIBA) is hitting the ground running. In this podcast episode, we sat down to talk to Doug Minett, the Executive Director, to learn how it came about, what initiatives they’re tackling in their first year, what they see for the future post-COVID, and what they’ll need to do to be successful. (Find the transcript here: https://www.bookne...

Join BookNet Product Coordinator Hannah Johnston and Marketing Associate Nataly Alarcón as they share sales data for print books about anti-racism and social justice in 2020, a brief overview of the efforts related to equity, diversity, and inclusion made in the Canadian book industry, as well as a number of resources available to you — from research reports to Tech Forum presentations — that touc...

A look at book sales and reader behaviour in the Canadian market in 2020. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2021/1/26/podcast-a-look-at-the-canadian-book-market-in-2020) Show notes: eNews sign up: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/newsletter-sign-up#enews BookNet blog: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/ Niche subject explorations on the BookNet blog: Signs & Spells: Astrology...

This month’s episode is tailored to booksellers. In it, we go over some key things you should think about before facing the peak of the holiday bookselling season, as well as a series of tools, products, and resources from BookNet and other organizations that can help you take your business to the next level now or beyond the gifting season. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/...

It's Canadian library month, so LibraryData team members, Hannah Johnston and Monique Mongeon share some data about Canadian library circulation stats, genre trends, and more. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2020/10/27/podcast-canadian-library-month) Further reading/listening LibraryData: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/librarydata Loan Stars: https://www.loanstars.ca/ Bo...

In this episode, BookNet Marketing & Communications Manager, Ainsley Sparkes, shares insights about the status of the publishing industry in Canada. What impact has COVID-19 had on readers' habits? Have book buying behaviours changed? What subjects are selling the most? All these answers and more in this edition of the BookNet Canada podcast. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca...

It would be fair say that we’re fascinated by audiobooks and learning about their production, distribution, and everything else involved in the process. Last month we interviewed Jamie Dupras and Jeff Guillot from Deyan Audio in Los Angeles, but for this month’s podcast episode, we brought the conversation to Canada. Ann Jansen, Director of Audiobook Production at Penguin Random House Canada, and...

For last month’s podcast episode we had planned to include bits of an interview BookNet Canada Research Associate Shimona Hirchberg had with Jamie Dupras and Jeff Guillot from Deyan Audio but the conversation was so rich we decided to share the full interview in this month’s episode. Among other things, they talked about -the nitty-gritty of audiobook production and distribution; -audiobooks in la...

Our biennial study on audiobook use among Canadians is here! Join BookNet Canada Research Associate Shimona Hirchberg and President & CEO Noah Genner as they go over how Canadian audiobook listeners discover, use, and feel about audiobooks, including what they like to listen to, when they like to listen, and how they obtain their audiobook content. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcan...

Isadora Cal goes over how in Brazil, a country with so many adversities in all areas, accessible publishing is being tackled. She shares how Bookwire Brazil is taking part on it, being in the position of an aggregator, and what further options they’re currently exploring. Accessible publishing is a social issue, but one that will be profitable for companies and for the market as a whole. (Find the...

The results for our annual Canadian Leisure and Reading survey are in! BookNet Canada President & CEO Noah Genner and Research Associate Shimona Hirchberg will tell you all about them in this month's podcast episode. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2020/4/27/podcast-canadian-leisure-amp-reading-study-2020) Links: - BookNet Canada's research: https://www.booknetcanada.c...

What better time than the present to start a podcast? Learn how to get started and create the best podcast possible with tips from BookNet Canada’s Marketing Manager and Tech Forum speaker, Zalina Alvi in this podcast sharing her Tech Forum presentation, Podcasting for beginners. (Find the transcript here: Find a transcript to the episode at https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2020/3/31/podcast-podc...

Cynthia Pong, feminist career strategist, founder of Embrace Change, and Tech Forum 2020 speaker, joins us this month to talk about the publishing industry’s vertical segregation problem, why stats on diversity haven’t been shifting much, and how we can balance addressing systemic issues with helping individuals to empower themselves. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/20...

With the recent release of new BISAC subject codes for 2019, host Elizabeth Barker goes over the changes, what they mean for Indigenous books in Canada, and asks publishers Theytus Books, Second Story Press, and Kegedonce to share their thoughts. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2020/1/27/podcast-new-bisac-codes-for-indigenous-books) Episode links: - BISG press release...

In this episode, we talk to BookNet President and CEO, Noah Genner, about the decade in review. What were the biggest trends in publishing? What were the biggest changes to the supply chain? And what happened at BookNet Canada? We're also bringing you highlights from our top five most popular episodes. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2019/12/16/podcast-a-look-back-at-t...

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) has been used for decades in other industries, like in car manufacturing and for commercial use as anti-theft systems. And while the technology could have applications in the book supply chain, it has never been put into practice. This month's host, Elizabeth Barker, and BookNet Canada Bibliographic Manager Tom Richardson discuss RFID's potential for tracking...

For this month's podcast, we're talking with Simon Collinson, a former ebook developer, a small press publisher, and Content Sales Analyst at Rakuten Kobo, about an issue important to the health of the publishing industry, and especially important for those new to the industry: unpaid internships. We find out how he got involved in the #PayInterns campaign, why companies don't pay interns, some su...

For the third and final episode in our summer series on innovative bookselling (see the first episode and the second episode at the links), we talk with bookstores who are findings ways to go beyond their core mandate of selling books. BookNet Canada Research Associate Shimona Hirchberg will also give an overview of the average indie bookseller in Canada. From school competitions to singles nights...

For the second episode in our summer series on innovative bookselling, we talk with Canadian booksellers who are dedicating space and time to supporting the writers in their communities, whether they're in grade school or working on their latest book. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2019/8/26/podcast-innovative-bookselling-part-2-writers-are-friends-not-food) Find out...

For our three-part summer series, we're talking with booksellers across Canada who are proving that there's more than one way to sell a book. In part 1, we dive into some examples of outside-the-box partnerships where three brick-and-mortar bookstores work with a publisher, a podcast, and even another bookstore to reach new readers and sell more books. (Find the transcript here: https://www.bookne...

We're pleased to introduce BookNet Canada's latest project: LibraryData. While LibraryData is currently in beta only for select libraries who are providing their circulation and hold data, we're happy to share all the possibilities, realities, and general joy this new industry tool will bring. In this episode, we're also sharing some highlights from our study on library use and book buying in Cana...

In this episode, BookNet Canada Research Associate Shimona Hirchberg shares some highlights from our new Demand for Diversity: A Survey of Canadian Readers study, alongside related clips from our recent Tech Forum 2019 conference that add some more context to the conversation on diversity in the Canadian book industry. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2019/5/28/podcast-...