According to data collected from our upcoming Canadian Book Consumer Study 2022, Self-Help titles made up 17% of Non-Fiction subjects purchased by Canadian book buyers in 2022. It was also one of the three most popular non-fiction subjects for indie book buyers in the first half of 2022 making up 14% of all Non-Fiction purchases.
How have Self-Help titles been performing in the Canadian market so far this year? In this instalment of our Subject spotlight series, we share insights into the sales and library circulation of Self-Help titles in the first quarter of 2023, with the help of our SalesData and LibraryData services.
Buying Self-Help
Compared to 2022, the overall sales of Self-Help titles were down 29% over the entire first quarter. Looking at the graph below, sales of Self-Help titles trended down in February and then increased in March for both 2023 and 2022. From January to March 2023, sales of Self-Help titles decreased by 43%. Sales of Self-Help titles decreased by 13% in the first quarter of 2022.
These are the BISAC subcategories with the highest year-over-year increase in sales:
Self-help / Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) — up 164%;
Self-help / Gender & Sexuality — up 23%; and
Self-help / Communication & Social Skills — up 8%.
From January to March 2023, the most purchased Self-Help subcategories were:
Self-help / Personal Growth — 49% of all Self-Help sales;
Self-help / Motivational & Inspirational — 8% of all Self-Help sales; and
Self-help / Creativity — 6% of all Self-Help sales.
Borrowing Self-Help
The library circulation of Self-Help titles during the first quarter of 2023 tells a different story. From January to March 2023, library loans and renewals of Self-Help titles were up 74% and 81% respectively from 2022.
In the entire first quarter of 2023, loans increased by 21%. Renewals for Self-Help titles from January to March 2023 increased by 43%. In the first quarter of 2022, loans increased by 21% from January to March and renewals increased by 39%.
Which Self-Help BISAC subcategories were the most popular in Canadian libraries? From January to March 2023, these subcategories saw the greatest increases in library circulation compared to 2022:
Self-help / Gender & Sexuality — loans up 121% and renewals up 192%;
Self-help / Compulsive Behavior — loans up 149% and renewals up 176%; and
Self-help / Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) — loans up 165% and renewals up 105%.
During the first quarter of 2023, the most circulated Self-Help subcategories were:
Self-help / Personal Growth — 39% of all Self-Help loans and 41% of all Self-Help renewals;
Self-help / Motivational & Inspirational — 14% of all Self-Help loans and 14% of all Self-Help renewals; and
Self-help / Self-Management — 10% of all Self-Help loans and 7% of all Self-Help renewals.
Reading Self-Help
Here are the top selling and top borrowed Self-Help titles from the first quarter of 2023.
Top borrowed
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson
Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
The Mountain Is You by Brianna Wiest
Top selling
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest
The Mountain Is You by Brianna Wiest
Feeling Seen by Jody Carrington 🍁
Until next time!
Stay tuned for future instalments of this series or sign up to our eNews for more digestible data on the Canadian book market.
What did BookNet read in 2024? We’re sharing some tidbits of data about our team’s reading habits this year.