Canadian book sales up 6% in last quarter of 2008: Booknet

Canadian readers found the lower prices of books in Canada irresistible in the last quarter of 2008, and book sales were up six per cent compared to the same time last year.

But according to Booknet Canada, which monitors sales across the country, revenues rose just two per cent.

Canadian publishers were under pressure to drop prices last year when the Canadian dollar traded at parity with the U.S. dollar.

Best Selling Canadian-Authored

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, Eckhart Tolle ($15.50)The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, Eckhart Tolle ($14.95)The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity, William P. Young ($15.99)The Book of Negroes, Lawrence ($24.95)Late Nights on Air, Elizabeth Hay ( $22)

Source Booknet

The average list price for the top 500 titles was down about six per cent last month compared to the same period last year, while the average hardcover was about eight per cent cheaper.

Sales are considered to have increased as a result of those lower prices.

"Canadian book lovers were tested by economic uncertainty and terrible weather coast-to-coast in the last two weeks of December and still fought their way into bookstores," said BookNet Canada CEO Michael Tamblyn in a release.

BookNet said its national book sales tracking system, BNC SalesData, uses year-over-year sales from a fixed panel of 665 retail locations.