Toronto, ON – March 30, 2023 – New insights into the Canadian print book market released by BookNet Canada
The top-selling English language print book in Canada last year was Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us, according to new research released by BookNet Canada. Sales of Hoover’s books drove a 55% increase in the Romance category when compared with 2021, with five of her titles topping the list.
The Comics & Graphic Novels category had large gains in market share for the second year in a row and sales of books in the Travel category also rose when compared with 2021.
In the Poetry category, Canadian poet rupi kaur continues to top the charts, four of her titles appeared seven time across the top 10 hardcover and top 10 paperback lists.
For the fifth year running, two out of every five print books sold in 2022 in both the English- and French-language markets in Canada were categorized as either Juvenile or Young Adult (YA). (Top-level highlight data for the French-language market are provided by the Société de gestion de la Banque de titres de langue française (BTLF).) In the English-language market, sales of YA books continue to make up a larger percentage of this share: from 3.5% in 2020 to 4.8% in 2021 to 5.2% in 2022.
The top-selling Canadian-authored book in 2022 was Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. A Dav Pilkey book took the top spot in the Juvenile category for the third year in a row, this year it was Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose. Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear took the top Non-Fiction spot for the second year in a row. The Young Adult book that sold the most in 2022 was A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson. The top-selling title from a Canadian-owned publisher was Firefly Book’s classic Love You Forever by Robert Munsch and Sheila McGraw.
The Canadian Book Market 2022 is your definitive guide to sales of English-language print books in Canada last year. BookNet Canada's tentpole publication reports on sales value, sales volume, and number of ISBNs with sales in 2022, as tracked by BNC SalesData, the national sales tracking service for the print English-language trade market in Canada. The report is a comprehensive guide to more than 50 subject categories, complete with year-over-year comparative data, market share for Canadian-owned publishers, the top selling titles, price-point analysis, performance by publication date, and top-level data on consumer buying habits, including format distribution.
A sample of the report is available at booknetcanada.ca/canadian-book-market, along with links to purchase. You can also take a look at some highlights on the BookNet Canada blog including total volume and value sold for the year. Coming up in 2023, BookNet Canada will be releasing reports on how Canadians spend their leisure and reading time, a survey of Canadian book buyers, as well as other research projects.
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BookNet Canada is a non-profit organization that develops technology, standards, and education to serve the Canadian book industry. Founded in 2002 to address systemic challenges in the industry, BookNet Canada supports publishing companies, booksellers, wholesalers, distributors, sales agents, and libraries across the country.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for this project. / Nous reconnaissons l’appui financier du gouvernement du Canada par l’entremise du Fonds du livre du Canada (FLC) pour ce projet.
Media Contact:
Ainsley Sparkes
Marketing & Communications Manager
BookNet Canada
asparkes@booknetcanada.ca
(416) 362-5057 x 2310
