Tech Forum: Most viewed videos of 2022

From The Guardian sharing the best movies of 2022 to Pitchfork’s 50 best albums of 2022, these types of lists are everywhere at this time of the year. Even our very own research team released the long-awaited Most circulated books of 2022 and Bestselling books of 2022 lists just days ago, and today is Tech Forum’s turn!

In case you didn’t know, most of our past sessions, webinars and in person presentations, have been recorded and made publicly available on our YouTube channel for you to watch for the first time or re-watch at your leisure. For the creation of this list, we focused on the recordings with the highest views in 2022.

What are people watching? Let’s take a look!

Jump right in

  1. What makes #BookTokers tick: Everything publishers need to know

  2. How to make accessible ebooks: A workshop for beginners

  3. The year of testing dangerously: The EPUB 3.3 story

  4. Let's judge a book by its cover: A panel about book cover design

  5. What makes #BookTokers tick part two: Even more of what publishers need to know

  6. I opened a bookstore in the pandemic!

  7. The art of promoting books on social media: The publisher’s perspective

  8. Emerging trends: Book subjects on the move in the Canadian market

  9. The difference queer fanfiction makes: Lessons for the publishing industry

  10. Information doesn't want to be free

What makes #BookTokers tick: Everything publishers need to know

With over 175,000 TikTok followers combined, this panel of successful BookTokers share insights into their world — how they choose the books they feature in their videos, what they wish publishers knew before approaching them for partnerships, how their reading habits have changed since amassing a significant following, and much more.

How to make accessible ebooks: A workshop for beginners

Everyone’s talking about accessibility these days and it can be daunting if you don’t know where to start. Let this workshop be your starting place.

Non-technical? No problem. This workshop is for everyone who wants to learn how to make accessible, ready-for-the-market ebooks, regardless of their department or previous experience with ebooks.

The year of testing dangerously: The EPUB 3.3 story

A new version of EPUB 3 is coming, but it's nothing to fear. For the first time, EPUB is going through the W3C's rigorous "recommendation track." In this presentation, Wendy Reid and Dave Cramer talk about what's changed since EPUB 3.2, the testing process, the surprising things they've learned about EPUB, and what comes next.

Let's judge a book by its cover: A panel about book cover design

The best and brightest cover designers (and one bookseller) working today debate what makes good design shine, revisit their best-of lists, and consider the covers that could have been.

What makes #BookTokers tick part two: Even more of what publishers need to know

A continuation of the conversation with a group of successful BookTokers. Learn how they choose the books they feature in their videos, how they think about their content, their predictions for the future of the platform, and much more.

I opened a bookstore in the pandemic!

This panel of retailers, all of whom launched their bookstore during the pandemic, share what motivated them to start a bookstore and what it was like to open their doors, virtual and physical, during a pandemic. The panelists also delve into how they establish themselves within their communities and how they forge relationships with their customers.

The art of promoting books on social media: The publisher’s perspective

In this session, social media experts from five Canadian publishing houses share their insights into what goes on behind the scenes — how they plan their content, what platforms they prefer, their tips and tricks for efficiency, and so much more.

Emerging trends: Book subjects on the move in the Canadian market

This webinar reveals the emerging trends in the types of books Canadians were buying at the time of the presentation. Were Canadians still buying books about bread-making? Were they turning away from Thrillers and Self-Help in favour of Manga and Crafts & Hobbies? BookNet Canada SalesData experts dig deep into the data to show you the book subjects on the move.

The difference queer fanfiction makes: Lessons for the publishing industry

Nikoo Sarraf and Jennifer Chen from McGill University's .txtlab share insights from their 2021 report, queer fans: the difference that queer fanfiction makes: revealing the stylistic qualities of queer fanfiction, that allow readers to form strong attachments with the material and showing how queer fanfiction authors approach content from a place of emotional vulnerability, explore taboo topics, and offer character-focused storytelling.

Information doesn't want to be free

There are three iron laws of information age creativity, freedom, and business, woven deep into the fabric of the Internet's design, the functioning of markets, and the global system of regulation and trade agreements. You can't attain any kind of sustained commercial, creative success without understanding these laws—but more importantly, the future of freedom itself depends on getting them right.

Looking for more? Visit the Tech Forum website to find more of our upcoming sessions. And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel; our ongoing Tech Forum presentation recordings are added as they become available.