For the first quarter of 2010, both volume and value were down overall compared to 2009. Fiction was up in both value and volume, where as non-fiction was down in both. Juvenile was down the most in both units and dollars.

Canadian book sales in 2009 remained strong with book sales 4% higher in dollars and 1% higher in units than 2008. Fiction and Juvenile increased significantly in the last year, perhaps due to the remarkable performance of authors like Dan Brown and Stephenie Meyer.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown was the top-selling book in Canada this year, followed by Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn, Eclipse, and New Moon. Canadian Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes rounded out the top five. According to BNC SalesData, Canada’s national book sales tracking service, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson was the only non-fiction title to make the top ten bestsellers at number 10.

In the week ending November 15, 2009, the first since Random House Canada’s The Bishop’s Man was named the 2009 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner, Canadian sales for the title spiked by almost 340%. The Bishop’s Man also sold strongly in the week leading up to the prize announcement with an increase of 63% in units sold between the weeks ending November 8th and November 1st.

For the third quarter of 2009, volume and value was up slightly overall with significant increases for Fiction. Non-fiction was down in both volume and value compared to Q3 of 2008 while Juvenile is relatively flat in both categories this quarter. All figures for this report have been drawn from BookNet Canada’s national book sales tracking system, BNC SalesData, using the year-over-year sales from a fixed panel of 665 retail locations from across the country.

For the second quarter of 2009, volume was relatively flat while value was up slightly overall with significant increases for Juvenile. Non-fiction was down in both volume and value compared to Q2 of 2008 while Fiction is up slightly in both units and dollars.

BookNet Canada announced today the departure of Michael Tamblyn as President and CEO effective June 25, 2009. Michael Tamblyn was the founding CEO of BookNet Canada, Canada’s book industry supply chain and technology innovation agency, in March 2003. The BookNet Canada Board of Directors has appointed Noah Genner as CEO.

Canadian book sales continue to show steady growth in the first quarter of 2009 vs. the same time period of 2008 with volume up 6.7% and value up 5.0% in the first three months of the calendar year.

Canadian book sales are substantially higher in the first weeks of 2009. Unit sales were up 10% and dollars sold up 6% in January 2009 when compared to sales in the same time period of the 2008.

Canadian book sales in 2008 remained strong with book sales 6% higher in units and 2% higher in dollars in the last three months of 2008 than they were over the same time period in 2007. “These are strong numbers considering both the economic climate and the winter climate this year,” says Michael Tamblyn, CEO of BookNet Canada.

Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, takes four out of the five top selling books of 2008. Meyer was outsold only by Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. BookNet Canada SalesData shows that Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, Breaking Dawn, Eclipse, and New Moon followed A New Earth, in that order.

The five titles chosen as finalists for CBC’s Canada Reads 2009 panel have seen an average sales increase of more than 1700%. The Book of Negroes, written by Lawrence Hill and published by HarperCollins, is the number one selling shortlist title in the first week after the announcement was made.

In the four weeks ending November 23, 2008, book sales in Canada are 4.9% higher in units and 2% higher in dollars in 2008 than they were in 2007. With Nielsen BookScan UK reporting that UK book sales remain down year-over-year for a fifth consecutive week as of late November and Nielsen and comScore’s prediction of flat or negative growth in U.S. for the holiday season, Canada might be the only English book market still in positive territory.

In the week ending November 16, 2008, the first since Penguin Canada’s Through Black Spruce was named the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize winner, Canadian sales for the title spiked by more than 560%. Joseph Boyden’s first novel, Three Day Road, also saw a significant increase in sales. The trade paper edition of the title sold 160% more units in the week after the win than it did in the week before.

According to BookNet Canada’s BNC SalesData, the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize finalists saw an average volume increase of nearly 195% in the first week after the shortlist was announced. Leading the pack in percent increase is Barnacle Love, the debut short story collection by Anthony De Sa. Published by Doubleday, Barnacle Love saw a sales bump of 350% in just five days after the shortlist was made public.

Analysis of consumer book spending shows the influence of ‘desperation dollars’ in the Humour, Performing Arts and Sports sections of Canadian bookstores during the holiday rush, especially in the last week before Christmas. A comparison of category market share in December vs. the rest of the year shows that subjects like Humour, Performing Arts and Sports/Recreation see large relative increases over the holiday season.

Think ‘Canadian’, ‘innovation’, and ‘bookselling’ are a three-way contradiction in terms? On Thursday, March 6, 2008, Todd Anderson will address the BookNet Canada Technology Forum, describing how the University of Alberta Bookstore is making waves after becoming the only campus bookstore in the world with a Print-On-Demand Espresso Book Machine.

Big category winners for 2007 are apparent in BookNet Canada’s annual review of the Canadian trade book industry, The Canadian Book Market 2007. Due to the power of the Potter and Stephenie Meyer, Juvenile Fiction led all other categories by a wide margin. Not so in percentage jump over 2006 results though—for that, we can look to some of the other big books of 2007.

2007 was a hard year to keep The Secret with Rhonda Byrne’s bestselling title edging out all competition to finish number one overall. BookNet Canada SalesData shows The Secret was 2007’s top-selling book and the only non-fiction title on this year’s top five selling titles. And no surprises for wizard fans: topping the fiction category was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows while our homegrown favorite remained Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures for the second year running.

The five titles chosen as finalists for CBC’s Canada Reads 2008 panel have seen an average sales increase of more than 4200%. Icefields, written by Thomas Wharton and published by NeWest Publishers, is the top selling title out of the five in the first week after the announcement.