To help celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary, we're revisiting a study that was initially conducted in 2012, Canadians Reading Canadians, which you can read for free here. We wanted to see how Canadian book buyers’ perceptions and attitudes towards Canadian authors and subject matter had changed in the last five years.
We've compiled our results in the free study, Canadians Reading Canadians 2017, but while you're here, we have some highlights for you about consumer attitudes towards books by Canadian authors and about Canadian subjects.
Here's our infographic, but scroll down to read the information presented here and more:
How many Canadian book buyers read a book by a Canadian author in the past year?
According to our study, 44% of Canadian book buyers read a book by a Canadian author in the past year. That number is up significantly from our study in 2012, when only 24% of respondents said they had. When asked about reading books with a Canadian subject, 41% of book buyers said they had read at least one in the past year. This another significant increase when compared with 22% in 2012.
When it comes to gauging interest in reading Canadian books, 84% of book buyers said they were either very or somewhat interested in doing so. Again, that's up from 75% in 2012.
Where do Canadian book buyers get their books?
The majority of book buyers, 82%, purchased new books — 37% by readers of Canadian books — but receiving books as a gift (43%), borrowing from friends and family (43%), buying used books (42%), and borrowing from the library (41%) were all also popular ways to acquire books.
Who is the most famous Canadian author and what do you think of when you think of Canadian books?
When asked to name a Canadian author, 37% of book buyers named Margaret Atwood. That's (thankfully) higher than the number of book buyers who couldn't name a Canadian author at all, which decreased from 32% in 2012 to 20% in 2017.
When asked what they think of when they read or hear the words "Canadian books," book buyers had a range of answers about CanLit, both positive and negative. The word cloud above shows the most popular words: history, good, proud, culture, great, relatable, home, country, local, pride, and so on.
Canadians Reading Canadians 2017
Read more in the full and free report. Find out if those book buyers who said they're very interested in reading books by Canadian authors have actually done so in the last year. Find out how Canadian book buyers spend their free time, which social networks and loyalty programs they're a part of, and much more!
