Book sales in Canada fell 2% in the first six months of 2024, but over 20,000,000 books were sold, generating $477,159,543. Most of these sales were from physical bookstores but also online through various retailers. This data comes from Booknet Canada, which focuses exclusively on the Canadian market.
Anything fantasy romance-related continued to see strong sales in the first half of 2024. Fantasy and Romance were up 235%, and Young Adult Fantasy saw a significant sales increase, up 214%. Indigenous fiction books were up 104%. Non-fiction books on Israel and Palestine saw substantial increases, up 1,233%.
Adult fiction had the best six-month performance, with unit sales up 6% over 2023, while adult nonfiction sales fell 8%. Unit sales were down 5% in the juvenile/young adult category, but the segment remained Canada’s largest, accounting for 40% of English-language unit sales in the first six months of 2024. Frontlist sales struggled in the year, accounting for 26% of units sold, down from 28% a year ago.
Which titles sold the most in the first half of 2024?
- Bestselling Fiction title: The Women by Kristin Hannah
- Bestselling Non-Fiction title: Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Bestselling Juvenile and Young Adult title: Dog Man: The Scarlet Shredder (Dog Man #12) by Dav Pilkey
- Bestselling adult title by a Canadian contributor: This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune
- Bestselling Juvenile and Young Adult title by a Canadian contributor: Claudia and the Bad Joke (Baby-Sitters Club #15) by Ann M. Martin and illustrated by Arley Nopra
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
