BookNet Canada

Everyone is talking about AI lately, so we pulled together some clips from recent Tech Forum sessions all about how to make sure your books get discovered in the age of AI.

Further reading/listening

Get discovered: How to use your metadata to conquer AI search webinar: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/get-discovered-how-to-use-your-metadata-to-conquer-ai-search/

Get discovered: Adapt your marketing for the AI search era webinar: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/get-discovered-adapt-your-marketing-for-the-ai-search-era/

AI use across the North American book industry 2026 report: https://booknetcanada.ca/research/ai-use-across-the-north-american-book-industry-2026/

How the Canadian book industry is approaching AI webinar: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/how-the-canadian-book-industry-is-approaching-ai/

Over the last five years, the popularity of audiobooks has been on a consistent upward trend: BookNet research suggests that the percentage of Canadian readers who prefer audiobooks over other formats increased from 8% in 2020 to 16% in 2025. We brought together a panel of professionals from different corners of the industry to talk about what’s behind this increase, how they champion audiobooks, what opportunities and challenges they face, how the industry could look in the future as technology evolves, and much more.

An unexpected entanglement between Heated Rivalry breakout star Hudson Williams and Playwrights Canada Press’ Yaga has led the Canadian independent press to its busiest season since it started operations in 1984. We talked to Annie Gibson about how they’ve handled the increase in sales, how they reach readers beyond Canadian borders, their plans for the future, and more.

Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2026/5/26/podcast-the-heated-rivalry-ripple-effect-impacting-playwrights-publishing-in-canada

Listen in as we give you some of the highlights from our forthcoming report, Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2025, releasing May 5. We also see if some recent reading trends that have made headlines are true for Canadians. We’ve even included some data we didn’t get to use in the study.

Further reading/listening

- Study Finds 20-Year Drop in Reading for Pleasure: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/98435-study-finds-20-year-drop-in-reading-for-pleasure.html

- Is reading your favourite hobby? A new era of book clubs is reshaping how we read: https://theconversation.com/is-reading-your-favourite-hobby-a-new-era-of-book-clubs-is-reshaping-how-we-read-274406

BookNet Canada Newsletter sign up: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/newsletter-sign-up

Founder of Tandem Collective, Naomi Bacon, talks to us about the various ways in which publishers and booksellers can utilize social media to market books and how online book communities operate.

This month’s episode features an interview with Vanessa Gomez, a recent graduate from Simon Fraser University’s Master of Publishing program, about how she’s breaking into the industry, and The Publishing Guide, an online platform she created where young professionals can find relevant information about the industry.

This month’s episode features a conversation with Jen Gauthier, Publisher at Greystone Books, about how to approach changes to distribution as an independent publisher.

In this month’s podcast, we’re sharing some mid-year market data from an excerpt of the Tech Forum presentation, Ready, set, go: Pre-fall sales trends and data-driven insights.

Links:

- Ready, set, go: Pre-fall sales trends and data-driven insights: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/ready-set-go-pre-fall-sales-trends-and-data-driven-insights/

- BookNet eNews weekly newsletter: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/newsletter-sign-up#enews

- BookNet blog: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog

- Customer satisfaction survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LX7DD55

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 building community is so important to upholding the values of the company.

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.