Welcome back to Subject spotlight, the blog series where we give you quarterly data-driven insights into a specific corner of the Canadian book market.
In our previous post, we shared sales and library circulation data for the Non-Fiction / Foreign Language Study BISAC subject. This time, we’ll be focusing on the performance of the Fiction / Indigenous subject during the first quarter of 2024, with the help of our SalesData and LibraryData services.
It's important to note that the BISAC list is reviewed annually, resulting in additions, changes, or removals of BISAC codes. The 2023 review, for example, introduced 19 new codes under the Fiction / Indigenous subject. As a result, future posts focusing on Fiction / Indigenous titles may look different compared to this post as there will be a prime opportunity for more granularity. If you’re interested in learning more about the latest updates to BISAC, we highly recommend watching this presentation or reading this blog post.
Every June, people in Canada celebrate National Indigenous History Month and recognize National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21. According to our recent Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2023, 16% of Canadian readers read books by or about Black, Indigenous, and people of colour, a 6% increase compared to 2019. For these readers, celebrating Indigenous Peoples and their literary work might be a year-round activity.
Now that we’ve set the stage, let’s take a look at the data!
Buying Fiction / Indigenous
As seen in the graph below, the sales of Indigenous books have seen some noteworthy shifts during the first quarter of 2023 and 2024, with year-over-year sales increasing 107% in January, 352% in February, and 131% in March.
In 2023, there was a 48% decrease from January to February, but sales went back up by 79% from February to March. Overall sales decreased by 7% over the first quarter of 2023.
In 2024, from January to February sales increased by 13%, and then from February to March sales decreased by 9%. Overall sales increased by 4% over the first quarter of 2024.
Borrowing Fiction / Indigenous
Year-over-year loans of Fiction / Indigenous titles increased by 35% in January, 89% in February, and 45% in March. Overall loans increased by 17% and 26% during the first quarter of 2023 and 2024 respectively.
Year-over-year renewals increased by 10% in January, 64% in February, and 6% in March. Overall renewals increased by 28% and 23% during the first quarter of 2023 and 2024 respectively.
Reading Fiction / Indigenous
Here are the top selling and top borrowed Fiction / Indigenous titles from the first quarter of 2024.
Top borrowed
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good 🍁
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters 🍁
The Circle by katherena vermette 🍁
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
There There by Tommy Orange
Top selling
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Cold by Drew Hayden Taylor 🍁
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott 🍁
The Circle by katherena vermette 🍁
Stay tuned for future instalments of this series or sign up to our eNews for more digestible data on the Canadian book market.
Until next time!
EDItEUR’s Application Note: ONIX products in multiple markets, part two.