BookNet Canada
Books & Literature
About
From BookNet Canada, the latest on book publishing, data, retail, and technology.
Episodes
- A peek into Canadians' reading
The BookNet Canada podcast discusses highlights from their upcoming Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2025, which releases May 5. The episode examines recent reading trends and includes data not present in the final study.
- The importance of social media in the publishing industry
Naomi Bacon, founder of Tandem Collective, discusses social media strategies for book marketing by publishers and booksellers, and explores the dynamics of online book communities.
- Breaking into the publishing industry with Vanessa Gomez
Vanessa Gomez, an SFU Master of Publishing graduate, shares insights on entering the publishing industry. She also discusses The Publishing Guide, an online resource she created for young professionals.
- How to approach changes to distribution as an independent publisher
This BookNet Canada episode discusses distribution changes for independent publishers, featuring insights from Jen Gauthier, Publisher at Greystone Books.
- A look back at the book market
This episode shares mid-year book market data, including sales trends and insights from the Tech Forum presentation "Ready, set, go: Pre-fall sales trends and data-driven insights."
- Inanna Publications: A feminist press
This month we talked with Evelyn Elgie, the assistant publisher at Inanna Publications about what it’s like to run a feminist press in today’s landscape, the challenges facing small presses, and why prioritizing marginalized voices and bui…
- Studying storytelling with AI
This month’s episode features a conversation with Sophie Wu, a Master's candidate in Digital Humanities at McGill University, about AI and one of its potential applications in the publishing industry: storytelling analysis.
- Libraries and Canadian readers
In this month’s podcast episode, we dive into the data on Canadian book borrowers, their library visitorship, book borrowing by format, and more. Find the transcript and relevant links here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2025/10/1/podc…
- Editing Indigenous voices with care
Mélanie Ritchot joins us this episode to talk about the Indigenous Editors Circle and how it's influenced her approach to editing. Whether you're an editor, a publisher, or just interested in how the industry is evolving to better support…
- Beyond the survey: More on salary equity in the book industry
This month’s podcast episode is a continuation of the conversation from the Tech Forum webinar: Canadian book publishing: Insights from the latest salary survey. Saffron Beckwith, President at Ampersand Inc., joins us to chat about pay equ…
- Canadian Bookmark Project
This month we’re talking with Chandler Jolliffe, owner of Cedar Canoe Books in Huntsville, who pioneered the idea of a Canadian flag bookmark as a way to easily identify which books in his store were Canadian-authored. Find the transcript…
- Canadian audiobooks in 2025
In this podcast episode, we talk to Cassie Smyth about AI integration into audiobooks, accessible audiobooks, supporting the Canadian audiobook ecosystem, and more. Find the transcript and relevant links here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/…
- A research sneak peek
Listen to a sneak peek of BookNet Canada’s upcoming research reports, The Canadian Book Market and The Canadian Book Consumer. Find the transcript and relevant links here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2025/2/25/a-research-sneak-peek
- AI in the book industry
In this podcast episode, we share some snippets from last year’s Tech Forum sessions on AI in the book industry. Find the transcript and relevant links here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2025/1/28/podcast-ai-in-the-book-industry
- An introduction to the European Union Deforestation Regulation
In this month’s podcast episode, we talk to Simon Crump, Environmental Consultant for BIC, to discuss the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and its impact on the book industry. Simon offers insights on how the EUDR affects the…
- Gearing up for the holiday season: Tips for independent booksellers
In this episode of the BookNet Canada podcast, we share valuable tips and strategies for independent booksellers gearing up for the holiday season. From planning business hours and fulfillment options to creating engaging themed promotions…
- Who is the print book reader?
We share some highlights from our newest study, Turning Pages: Print Book Use in Canada 2023, all about print books: who’s buying them, borrowing them, and reading them. And what did we learn about their book acquisition and reading behavi…
- The W3C and digital publishing
This month, we invited Wendy Reid, the Accessibility and Publishing Standards Lead at Rakuten Kobo and the co-chair of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) Advisory Board to talk about the W3C, the EPUB Fixed Layout Accessibility document,…
- Best practices for navigating cybersecurity
In this month’s podcast episode, we talk to Nick Maturo, Interim Executive Director at the English Language Arts Network (ELAN), to delve into the aftermath of a cybersecurity incident that ELAN faced a few years ago. Nick offers valuable…
- Accessible Canadian children's books
This month, we invited Janis Nostbakken, the Project Director for Accessible Books for Young Readers at the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) to talk about their services. Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/20…
- Taylor Swift's impact on the book industry
We invited Jarin Pintana, speaker at the first Swiftposium, to come and talk to us about Taylor Swift and her impact on the book industry. Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2024/4/30/podcast-taylor-swifts-impact-o…
- Navigating cybersecurity: Insights for the publishing industry
In this month’s podcast episode, cybersecurity expert Francis Syms joins us to discuss the evolving landscape of digital security. In our conversation, we explore key insights and best practices to safeguard digital assets against cyber th…
- Booksellers adapting, engaging, and thriving
This month we’re bringing you a small taste of a Tech Forum presentation with booksellers from Little Ghosts Books, Cross & Crows Books, Cedar Canoe Books, and Analog Books Inc. where they share insights into their bookselling journeys, co…
- Looking Back At 2023
In this podcast episode we share some high-level data for what was going on with the print book market in Canada last year and share some highlights from the BookNet research and education channels. Find the transcript here: https://www.bo…
- Jamie Oliver braille publishing milestone: Impact on readers and the industry
In this month’s episode, we hear from Daniella Levy-Pinto, Manager at the National Network for Equitable Library Service, and Sarah Smith-Eivemark, Associate Director of Retail Marketing and Partnerships at Penguin Random House Canada abou…
- Book formats and what it means to be a good reader
In this month’s podcast episode, we take a look at the data on book formats, the people behind the data, and what it means to be a good reader. Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/11/28/podcast-book-formats-and…
- The power and importance of metadata
In this episode we look at two upcoming reasons to get your metadata in order (whether you’re a data sender or a data user): I Read Canadian Day and the holiday season. Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/10/31…
- Running a bookstore with inclusivity and equity in mind
Listen to this month’s episode where we hear from Max Arambulo, Bookseller & Manager at TYPE Books Junction, about how they run the bookstore with inclusivity and equity in mind, create safe spaces for their staff and customers, and build…
- Making books accessible for everyone
This month we talked to Christen Thomas and David Stinson from CNIB Beyond Print about accessible audiobooks, braille, and more. Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/6/27/podcast-making-books-accessible-for-ever…
- Reading bestsellers
Authors of the short book Reading Bestsellers: Recommendation Culture and the Multimodal Reader, Danielle Fuller and DeNel Rehberg Sedo, join us for this month’s episode to talk about their research into the relationship readers have with…
- Industry leaders on making publishing greener
Book industry leaders EJ Hurst from New Society and Jen Knoch from ECW Press talk about their work and progress in making their operations greener. Brian O’Leary from the Book Industry Study Group shares insight into the mission of the Gre…
- The resurgence of romance books
It's clear that romance titles are seeing an increase in sales in the Canadian market. In this month’s podcast, we look beyond the numbers and discuss why we're seeing this trend. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blo…
- Talking Canadian contributors with Taste Canada
This month we chatted with Taste Canada’s Karen Baxter about the work she and Taste Canada are doing to promote Canadian books and the business case for identifying Canadian authors in your metadata. (Find the transcript here: https://www.…
- A conversation with John Toews from McNally Robinson Booksellers about events
Wondering how events have changed for independent booksellers now that we’re three years into the pandemic? We sat down with John Toews, the Event Coordinator at McNally Robinson Booksellers in Winnipeg to chat about the positive side of h…
- Another year in the books: 2022 highlights
The BookNet staff recaps 2022 in terms of book sales and library circulation in the Canadian book market, popular BookNet blog series, and some other 2022 book related highlights. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blo…
- Behind the scenes again at BookNet
In this month’s episode, we again pull back the curtain for a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to be a BookNet staff member. CataList Project Coordinator Vivian Luu, Project Manager and Retailer Liaison Tim Middleton, and Senior So…
- Introducing a free accessibility learning network
In September, eBOUND Canada launched the Accessible Publishing Learning Network, an online resource library and community hub designed to empower publishers in Canada to create high-quality content that is accessible to all readers. We inv…
- Behind the scenes of children’s graphic novels
This month, we interviewed Serah-Marie McMahon, a graphic novel editor at Annick Press. We talked about editing, comics and graphic novels, accessibility, and everything in between. Is the rise of comics and graphic novels just a trend? Fi…
- Books on screen
This month, we’re talking all about movies and TV shows. Specifically the ones based on books. Our newest research report, out today, Must-Watch, Must-Read: Book-to-Screen Adaptations in the Canadian Book Market 2022 gives you all the info…
- BookNet research roundup: What you need to know
Looking for a quick roundup of our most recent research? Look no further. In this podcast episode we’ll share a list of quick takeaways from our most recent studies including our Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2021, The Canadian Book Mar…
- Why identifying Canadian contributors still matters
Just how many books are written by Canadian authors, anyway? In this episode we take look at why identifying Canadian contributors in book metadata matters for the industry — the work it involves, the impact it has across the supply chain,…
- The importance of queer fanfiction
In this podcast episode we’re bringing you a small taste of a Tech Forum presentation given by Jennifer Chen and Nikoo Sarraf from McGill University’s .txtlab. They took a deep dive into the differences between queer fanfiction and mainstr…
- #ShopLocal: What we know about the health of Canadian indie bookstores
What does BookNet Canada know about independent bookstores? A lot. In this podcast episode, BookNet Canada’s Marketing Associates Nataly Alarcón and Aline Zara share highlights from the study The State of Independent Bookselling in Canada…
- Improving access to Braille in Canada
January 4 was World Braille Day and to celebrate we sat down to talk with Kerry Kijewski and Marcia Yale, two of the five authors of the study Improving Braille Availability in Canadian Public Libraries to learn more about the study and wh…
- 2021 in the rear view window
The BookNet staff recaps 2021 in terms of book sales in the Canadian market, BookNet staff reading habits, and all the other book news fit to share. (Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2021/12/21/podcast-2021-in-th…
- Promoting Canadian books: An interview with 49th Shelf
We sat down with Kiley Turner, 49th Shelf’s Managing Editor, to have a conversation about the work she and her colleagues do to promote Canadian books, the role metadata plays in discoverability and marketing, the ways publishing and non-p…
- Beyond sensitivity readers
A conversation with Fazeela Jiwa from Fernwood Publishing about sensitivity readers — what that term means, the shortcomings of using them, Fernwood’s approach, and what the future might have in store for sensitivity reading. (Find the tra…
- BookNet behind the scenes
In this month’s episode, we give you a behind the scenes look at life as a BookNet staff member, aka a BookNetter. Join us for a chat with Project Manager Monique Mongeon, Product Coordinator Hannah Johnston, and Software Developers Ben Fa…
- Beyond #BookTok: When social media and publishing collide
In this month's podcast episode we’re talking about social media and its influence on bookselling, what the popularity of these online communities built around books mean for the industry, how backlist titles are having second chances than…
- Describing diverse books with Thema
This month we’re talking about Thema and exploring how you can use this international book classification for describing diverse books. Join BookNet Canada’s Marketing Associate Aline Zara, with appearances by EDItEUR’s Chris Saynor and Bo…