You know us, we love data. We love it so much that we ask a panel of Canadians and, more specifically, Canadian book buyers a series of questions four times a year! We learn a lot.
Sometimes what we learn surprises and intrigues us. For example, the percentage of Canadian book buyers who belong to a book club or reading group jumped from 7% in 2018 to 14% in 2019. This sudden increase in book club membership drew our attention and made us want to know more about the enigma that is book clubs. How do members find each other? What do they read? Where do they get their books? How do they hear about the books they suggest to their clubs?
We took this one stat from our quarterly consumer data panel and expanded on it to create a survey just for book club members across Canada so we could find answers to these and other questions.
Here are some things we learned.
Book club members:
63% of members are women
55% are between 25 and 44
64% join to talk about books
69% belong to just one club
There is so much more to learn from the full report:
how book club members find out about their book clubs
how often they meet
whether they use supplementary materials for their meetings
when they make their book club picks
how they choose their book club picks
where they get their books
their format and genre preferences
and more!
Take a look for yourself in this short sample and then purchase the entire thing at booknetcanada.ca/reading-together. If you're a SalesData subscriber, you can find a complimentary copy in the SDA Research Portal.
Highlights from The State of Publishing in Canada 2023.