Booknet Canada

After another round of inspiring talks, illuminating research, and innovative ideas at our annual Tech Forum conference on digital developments in the book publishing industry, we're here to share some highlights from the conference. We've got consumer research on how millennials buy and read books, how and why the industry should work to include more diverse voices, five recommendations for improving your book metadata in today's complex marketplace, and lessons for encouraging grassroots innovation at a legacy publisher. To see videos of all the Tech Forum presentations in their entirety, visit booknetcanada.ca/tech-forum.

It's been a big year for adult colouring books in Canada: they've dominated the non-fiction bestseller lists, adults are frequenting drinking 'n' colouring nights, and everyone seems to have an opinion about the trend. So are they on the decline, or here to stay? We investigate by examining sales trends from the past year, talking with consumers and experts on the subject, and surveying adult colouring book buyers to learn more about their buying habits and preferences. Hungry for more data? Keep an eye on the BookNet Canada Blog in the coming weeks for more results from our research: booknetcanada.ca/blog.

Kaya Thomas, creator of the app We Read Too, joins BookNet on the podcast this month. While still in her undergrad at Dartmouth College, Kaya developed We Read Too—a book resource application that showcases a directory of hundreds of children's and young adult fiction books written by and for people of colour—which contains over 600 books and has over 4,000 downloads. Kaya has held software engineering internships at Time Inc and Intuit working on mobile applications. She was a CODE2040 2015 Fellow and is a technical volunteer mentor for Black Girls Code. For her work in education and technology, Kaya was recently honoured by First Lady Michelle Obama at the 2015 Black Girls Rock Awards. She joins us to talk about her favourite books, breaking into coding, and diversifying the publishing industry. techforum.booknetcanada.ca

Can quantitative analysis be used to predict bestselling or prize-winning books? We discuss this question and more with Andrew Piper, an associate professor at McGill University where he's also the director of .txtLAB, a digital humanities laboratory focused on applying computational approaches to literature and culture. This month, it's all about how data can be used to better understand books. To learn more about .txtLAB, check out their blog: http://txtlab.org/

In this month's episode, we ask our Bibliographic Manager, Tom Richardson, to ruminate on how subject metadata can be optimized to better serve the book industry. Strap in for 20 minutes of subject codes, meandering, and lots of telling it like it is. Looking for the keywords white paper mentioned in the episode? Find it right here: https://www.bisg.org/best-practices-keywords-metadata.

BookNet Canada invites Canadian publishing superstars Allister Thompson, Leonicka Valcius, and Rachel Letofski to discuss the growing trend of adults purchasing Young Adult books for themselves, but misidentifying the target audience for those books as adult. According to a report put out by BookNet Canada entitled The Canadian Book Buyer 2015, consumers think they're buying 14% juvenile and 50% fiction, though 2014 purchasing trends indicate consumers are buying 38% juvenile and 31% fiction. Does this variance indicate that adults are trending towards juvenile without realizing it?

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. Presented by Cory Doctorow at Tech Forum 2015 / BookNet Canada / March 12, 2015 booknetcanada.ca/technology-forum

This week’s episode is very meta, in that it’s a podcast about podcasting. If your mind is still intact after being so spectularly blown, and if you’re interested in how podcasting can help you build a relationship with your audience, then you should definitely give it a listen. The talk is from Anshuman Iddamsetty, who up until recently hosted Hazlitt Magazine’s book podcast, The Arcade. (It was retired after more than 50 stirring episodes.) In his Tech Forum talk, he explains the unique power of sound and how it’s the ideal medium for fostering intimacy, trust, and loyalty. Presentation slides are available here: http://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/sound-strategy-how-can-11minute-podcast-can-change-a-books-life-tech-forum-2015-anshuman-iddamsetty Presented by Anshuman Iddamsetty (Hazlitt) at Tech Forum 2015 / BookNet Canada / March 12, 2015 booknetcanada.ca/technology-forum

With the growth of subscription services such as Scribd and Oyster, and sites such as Pottermore, many publishers are starting to think differently about their businesses. The time has come for experimenting with conversion architectures: business models that involve attracting an audience, retaining it in various ways (website visits, email lists, newsletters, etc.) and monetizing it. Brian O'Leary explores how conversion architectures work and how they apply to current—and, more importantly, future—book content models. You'll leave this session ready to strategize new ways of marketing and selling content to your readers. Presented by Brian O'Leary (Magellan Media Consulting) at Tech Forum 2015 / BookNet Canada / March 12, 2015 booknetcanada.ca/technology-forum

Striking a balance between books, games, and community. Keith Fretz of Scholastic US explores three main components of a successful transmedia property: attracting and retaining interest with gamification, using usage data to inform the evolution of your product, and building and maintaining a vibrant community. Presentation slides: http://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/transmedia-success-striking-a-balance-between-books-games-and-community-tech-forum-2015-keith-fretz Presented by Keith Fretz (Scholastic US) at Tech Forum 2015 / BookNet Canada / March 12, 2015 booknetcanada.ca/technology-forum

As more and more publishing houses bring in talented digital employees there’s a likely clash of cultures on the horizon. How can publishers with their rich history work alongside technologists and their history of “disrupting” everything? A sometimes humorous, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately optimistic look at the future of the people behind the books. Presentation slides are available at: https://dvs.atavist.com/tech-forum-2015 Presented by Derrick Schultz (Atavist) at Tech Forum 2015 / BookNet Canada / March 12, 2015 booknetcanada.ca/technology-forum

Drawing on their extensive history with the middle school market, Melanie Jeffs from Orca Book Publishers will examine how engagement, not only with customers but with staff and authors, can inform content generation as well as lead to successful marketing strategies that result in increased print and digital sales. Slides are available at http://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/engaging-everyone-a-case-study-from-orca-book-publishers-tech-forum-2015-melanie-jeffs Presented by Melanie Jeffs (Orca Book Publishers) at Tech Forum 2015 / BookNet Canada / March 12, 2015 booknetcanada.ca/technology-forum

BookNet Canada conducts regular market research and consumer research, giving you a detailed picture of the Canadian book market and Canadian book buyers. In this session, Noah Genner will present some of BookNet's recent research, including not-yet-released stats. Presented by Noah Genner at Tech Forum 2015 / BookNet Canada / March 12, 2015 Presentation slides available at: http://www.slideshare.net/booknetcanada/new-at-booknet-canada-research-tech-forum-2015-noah-genner booknetcanada.ca/technology-forum

Is there a difference between readers who mainly purchase heavily discounted ebooks versus those who pay full price? How about readers who purchase an ebook as soon as it's available, compared to readers who wait until the ebook price drops in correspondence with the trade paper release? What about readers who make spontaneous purchases, like Daily Deals? In this presentation, Kobo Director of Merchandising Nathan Maharaj weighs in on what Kobo has learned about the relationship between price points and reading habits. He'll also touch on other factors affecting reader engagement, such as season, country, and genre. Get ready for data-driven decision-making at its best! Presented by Nathan Maharaj (Kobo) at Tech Forum 2015 / BookNet Canada / March 12, 2015 booknetcanada.ca/technology-forum

Many publishers are interested in bundling ebooks and print books, but don't know where to start. Will ebook bundling erode traditional ebook sales? Which price points are most likely to attract readers to bundle their books? Can ebook bundling be used as a discoverability strategy? And, what are the different options available to publishers who want to start offering print and ebook bundles? Mary Alice Elcock of BitLit will present answers to these questions and more, along with further insights into the book bundling market. Presented by Mary Alice Elcock (BitLit) at Tech Forum 2015 / BookNet Canada / March 12, 2015 booknetcanada.ca/technology-forum

Concerns about ebooks “killing” publishing are just the latest in a centuries-long tradition of worrying unnecessarily about the end of reading. The rise of ebooks and, not by coincidence, big data, will be good for reading, writing, publishing, and bookselling, or at least for the people who learn to embrace them. Everyone else is right to be worried. Kevin Ashton draws on his experience as a bookseller, author, marketer, and leader of the “Internet of Things,” to provide guidance and reassurance to help you survive the coming Ebookalypse. Presented by Kevin Ashton (How to Fly a Horse) at Tech Forum 2015 / BookNet Canada / March 12, 2015 booknetcanada.ca/technology-forum