This month we talked to Christen Thomas and David Stinson from CNIB Beyond Print about accessible audiobooks, braille, and more.

Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/6/27/podcast-making-books-accessible-for-everyone

Further reading and listening:

-CNIB Beyond Print: https://cnib-beyondprint.ca/

-Centre for Equitable Library Access: https://celalibrary.ca/

-CNIB braille transcription services portal: https://cnib-beyondprint.ca/braille-portal/

-Benetech’s Global Certified Accessible (GCA) Program: https://bornaccessible.benetech.org/global-certified-accessible/

Authors of the short book Reading Bestsellers: Recommendation Culture and the Multimodal Reader, Danielle Fuller and DeNel Rehberg Sedo, join us for this month’s episode to talk about their research into the relationship readers have with bestsellers and what they found from their qualitative work with a group of international Gen Z readers.

Link to the transcript: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/5/30/podcast-reading-bestsellers

- Reading Bestsellers: Recommendation Culture and the Multimodal Reader by Danielle Fuller and DeNel Rehberg Sedo: https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/abs/reading-bestsellers/8C6D9254C5B8C6DD87714DE3A98CEA77

- Canadian Leisure & Reading Study 2022: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/canadian-leisure-and-reading-study-2022

- What makes a book a bestseller: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/11/12/what-makes-a-book-a-bestseller

Book industry leaders EJ Hurst from New Society and Jen Knoch from ECW Press talk about their work and progress in making their operations greener. Brian O’Leary from the Book Industry Study Group shares insight into the mission of the Green Book Alliance, the resources they have made available, and what they’re hoping to accomplish in the near future.

Link to the transcript: www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/4/25/podcast-industry-leaders-on-making-publishing-greener

Further reading and listening:

- element6 Dynamics and Ingram Content Group Announce Strategic Supplier Relationship for Industrial Hemp-Based Paper: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/element6-dynamics-ingram-content-group-183000632.html

- About B Corp certification: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/certification/

- Banking on Climate Chaos: https://www.ran.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/BOCC_2022_vSPREAD-1.pdf

- Green Book Alliance website: https://www.greenbookalliance.org/

- Publisher-Printer Sustainability Checklist: https://www.greenbookalliance.org/checklist

- Making Sense of Scope 1, 2, and 3 GHG Emissions webinar: https://www.greenbookalliance.org/post/gba-sustainability-series-an-introduction-to-your-carbon-footprint

- Canopy: https://canopyplanet.org/solutions/next-generation-solutions/

- This is what the world looks like if we pass the crucial 1.5-degree climate threshold: https://www.npr.org/2021/11/08/1052198840/1-5-degrees-warming-climate-change

- Bloomsbury wins inaugural sustainability prize at LBF International Excellence Awards: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/bloomsbury-wins-inaugural-sustainability-prize-at-lbf-international-excellence-awards

- 5 questions with ECW Press: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/01/10/5-questions-with-ecw-press

- 5 questions with New Society Publishers: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/01/17/5-questions-with-new-society-publishers

- Green Games Guide: https://www.greengamesguide.com/

- IPCC Reports: https://www.ipcc.ch/reports/

It's clear that romance titles are seeing an increase in sales in the Canadian market. In this month’s podcast, we look beyond the numbers and discuss why we're seeing this trend.

(Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/3/28/podcast-the-resurgence-of-romance-books)

Further reading/listening:

- Romance book sales in the Canadian market: A love story: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/research/2023/2/16/romance-book-sales-in-the-canadian-market-a-love-story

- Trendspotting: Book subjects on the move in the Canadian market - Tech Forum 2023: https://youtu.be/6huV7CUt-QI

- The Canadian Book Market: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/canadian-book-market

- The real impact of #BookTok on book sales: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/research/2022/9/29/the-real-impact-of-booktok-on-book-sales

- How TikTok is changing the music industry: https://www.businessinsider.com/how-tiktok-is-changing-the-music-industry-marketing-discovery-2021-7

- How TikTok is changing book cover designs: https://www.readersdigest.co.uk/culture/books/editor-s-picks/how-tiktok-is-changing-book-cover-designs

- Most Americans who are ‘single and looking’ say dating has been harder during the pandemic: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/04/06/most-americans-who-are-single-and-looking-say-dating-has-been-harder-during-the-pandemic/

- Key findings about online dating in the U.S.: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2023/02/02/key-findings-about-online-dating-in-the-u-s/

- The "Dating Wrapped" Movement On TikTok Will Entertain You For Hours: https://www.bustle.com/life/tiktok-dating-wrapped-2022

- I Found Mr. Right — Unfortunately, He Only Exists In My Romance Novels: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2021/03/10328800/romance-novels-bad-unrealistic-expectations

This month we chatted with Taste Canada’s Karen Baxter about the work she and Taste Canada are doing to promote Canadian books and the business case for identifying Canadian authors in your metadata.

(Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/2/28/podcast-talking-canadian-contributors-with-taste-canada)

Further reading/listening:

- Canadian contributor content on the BookNet Canada blog https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog?tag=canadian+contributors

- Canadian authors: The whys and hows of identifying them in your data: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2020/5/26/canadian-authors-the-whys-and-hows-of-identifying-them-in-your-data

- Celebrating Canadian contributors on I Read Canadian Day 2022: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/research/2022/11/21/celebrating-canadian-contributors-on-i-read-canadian-day-2022

Wondering how events have changed for independent booksellers now that we’re three years into the pandemic? We sat down with John Toews, the Event Coordinator at McNally Robinson Booksellers in Winnipeg to chat about the positive side of hosting virtual and hybrid events, how they measure success, the challenges that came with pivoting to virtual, and so much more.

(Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2023/1/31/a-conversation-with-john-toews-from-mcnally-robinson-booksellers-about-events)

The BookNet staff recaps 2022 in terms of book sales and library circulation in the Canadian book market, popular BookNet blog series, and some other 2022 book related highlights.

(Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/12/20/podcast-another-year-in-the-books-2022-highlights)

Further reading/listening:

- Tech Forum to-go series:https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog?tag=tech%20forum%20to%20go

- Must-Watch, Must-Read: Book-to-Screen Adaptations in the Canadian Book Market 2022: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/must-watch-must-read-book-to-screen-adapatations-2022

- Book adaptations blog series: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog?tag=book%20adaptations

- The real impact of #BookTok on book sales: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/research/2022/9/29/the-real-impact-of-booktok-on-book-sales

- The real impact of #BookTok on library circulation: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/research/2022/10/7/the-real-impact-of-booktok-on-library-circulation

- The State of Publishing in Canada: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/state-of-publishing

- On Loan: Library Use in Canada 2021: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/on-loan-libary-use-in-canada-2021

- Easier with BookNet blog series: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog?tag=easier+with+booknet

In this month’s episode, we again pull back the curtain for a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to be a BookNet staff member. CataList Project Coordinator Vivian Luu, Project Manager and Retailer Liaison Tim Middleton, and Senior Software Engineer Tom Gerrard join this episode to tell us what they do, their favourite part of the job, and what they do when they're not working.

(Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/11/29/podcast-behind-the-scenes-again-at-booknet)

Further reading/listening

-Podcast: BookNet behind the scenes: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2021/8/31/podcast-booknet-behind-the-scenes

- BNC CataList: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/catalist

- The Legend of Drizzt series by R.A. Salvatore: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Drizzt

- BNC BiblioShare: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/biblioshare

- BNC SalesData: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/salesdata

- Peak Mind by Amishi P. Jha: https://bnccatalist.ca/viewtitle.aspx?ean=9780062992154

- The Great Transformation by Karen Armstrong: https://bnccatalist.ca/viewtitle.aspx?ean=9780676974669

In September, eBOUND Canada launched the Accessible Publishing Learning Network, an online resource library and community hub designed to empower publishers in Canada to create high-quality content that is accessible to all readers. We invited accessibility expert, Laura Brady, to tell us all about it in this podcast episode.

(Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/10/25/podcast-introducing-a-free-accessibility-learning-network)

Further reading:

- eBound’s Accessible Publishing Learning Network: https://apln.ca/

- European Accessibility Act: https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1202

- The European Accessibility Act: Everything you need to know: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/05/11/the-european-accessibility-act-everything-you-need-to-know/?sh=4f191de05b86

This month, we interviewed Serah-Marie McMahon, a graphic novel editor at Annick Press. We talked about editing, comics and graphic novels, accessibility, and everything in between. Is the rise of comics and graphic novels just a trend? Find out what we think in this episode.

(Find the transcript here: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/9/27/podcast-behind-the-scenes-of-childrens-graphic-novels)

Further reading:

- Tech Forum to-go: Emerging trends: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2022/5/20/tech-forum-to-go-emerging-trends

- Subject spotlight: Comics & Graphic Novels: https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/research/2022/5/9/subject-spotlight-comics-amp-graphic-novels