Research & Analysis

Coast to Coast: How Book-Buying Habits Differ by Region

Canadian book buyers across the country have a lot in common. We buy more print books than ebooks, we almost always pay full price, and we’re most likely to discover our books online, though we prefer to buy them in-store.

But some interesting discrepancies do arise in our latest consumer study, Coast to Coast: Book-Buyers Across Canada, among book buyers from Western Canada, the Prairies, Central Canada, and the Maritimes.

Infographic: Why Canadians Choose Independent Bookstores

There’s something about indies! Learn about book-buying habits at indie bookstores, including how books are discovered, what formats are most popular, and why buyers choose indies.

Did you know about the Indie Bestsellers List provided by BookNet and the Retail Council of Canada? Learn more here.

Perennial Bestsellers: Books That Just Keep on Selling

Backlist is one of the foundations of the publishing industry. Books that sell reliably year after year might not be new and exciting, but they are a sure bet for booksellers’ shelves.

So what are these faithful favourites that show strong and steady sales long after their publication date? Which titles are the most reliable for retailers to keep in stock? That’s the subject of BookNet’s latest study, Perennial Bestsellers: The Most Reliable Books to Stock by Category, 2010–2013

Infographic: Meet the Mystery Book Buyer

It was a dark and stormy night. A wolf howled in the distance. A hooded figure curled up in an armchair and opened a book…

If that book’s genre is Mystery, chances are that our reader is a woman. But how old is she? Where did she buy her book, and what format is she reading in? BookNet research followed the trail of clues (okay, we did the consumer research)…

Literary Prizes 2014: The Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction

The shortlist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction was announced last week at a press conference in Toronto. Congratulations to the five finalists! Interested in how this literary prize affects sales in Canada? Check out some highlights from BookNet Research in this blog post.

Infographic: Canadians Adopting Ebooks

According to data from The Canadian Book Consumer 2013: Digital Sales and Trends, 17% of books purchased in Canada in 2013 were ebooks. Canadians still prefer to read ebooks on dedicated e-reading devices, but 8% of our survey respondents say they do read on their mobile phones. Want more juicy details about digital reading? Check out our infographic.

Infographic: Path to Purchasing Books in Canada

In our second Canadian Book Consumer report, Book Purchases by Channel, we trace how the average consumer discovers and buys a book, from first hearing about the book to making the purchase. What types of information can you expect to see in the report? This infographic gives you a sampling.