We are chuffed to see the literary awards season in full swing and to be announcing the second instalment of our literary awards blog post series. (You can find the first one here.) Today marks the announcement of the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize shortlist. Congratulations to the shortlisted publishers and authors:
| Bad Endings Carleigh Baker Anvil Press 9781772140767 |
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The Last Neanderthal Claire Cameron Doubleday Canada 9780385686785 |
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Brother David Chariandy McClelland & Stewart 9780771022906 |
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American War Omar El Akkad McClelland & Stewart 9780771009419 |
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This Accident of Being Lost Leanne Betasamosake Simpson House of Anansi Press 9781487001278 |
You can see all the books in this BNC CataList catalogue.
Being shortlisted for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize may not necessarily have an immediate significant impact on sales. Historically, the winning title sees the biggest sales increase and there's often a bump for shortlisted titles after the winner is announced, with sales for all titles peaking during the holiday season.
Titles with nominations for multiple awards tend to fare better in sales than those with one. Over the past six years, the winning titles with the highest sales have been André Alexis’s Fifteen Dogs and Patrick deWitt’s The Sisters Brothers. Fifteen Dogs won the Scotiabank Giller Prize in addition to the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, while The Sisters Brothers was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Fiction Award and the Man Booker Prize the year it won. The added publicity garnered from multiple nominations may also benefit sales for titles that don't win, such as Katherena Vermette’s The Break, which received multiple nominations and experienced the highest sales out of the five nominated titles in 2016.
The winning books from the last three years are:
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| Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains Yasuko Thanh Penguin Canada 9780345809308 |
Fifteen Dogs André Alexis Coach House Books 9781552453056 |
All My Puny Sorrows Miriam Toews Vintage Canada 9780735272958 |
The 2017 winner will be announced on Nov. 14, 2017.
