Eight years after its creation in 2014, the initiative “On August 12, I buy a Quebec book” continues to attract readers to independent bookstores. A 634% increase in sales of Quebec fiction (literature, comics, children’s books) was observed during the most recent edition of the event.
Posted at 12:01
According to data collected by the BTLF (Bank of French-language titles), 7.3 times more fiction books than usual found takers. It should be noted that to measure this difference, the Gaspard information system matches the values of August 12 with the average of the cumulative values of the four previous Fridays.
In 2021, sales had jumped 672%, which means that August 12 is the most successful day since the advent of this celebration of Quebec books.
An extraordinary woman by Catherine Ethier, A thousand secrets, a thousand dangers by Alain Farah and fancy molasses by Francis Ouellette occupy the top three positions in the literature category.
Gloria breaks out of the mold (Guylaine Guay and Bach), behind my chair (Edith Cochrane and Isabelle Brouillette) and Maxim’s world (Lucile de Pesloüan and Jacques Goldstyn) form the leading trio in youth. The space factor, volume 3 by Guillaume Perreault dominates in comics.
Gaspard also observes that a greater number of distinct titles are claimed on August 12. If 575 different novelties make the cash drawers sing on average, they are 1042 to do so on August 12. On the side of the books published for more than a year, the margin is even more notable, between the usual 1395 different books, and the 3339 of August 12.
Book sales, all categories and all origins combined, increased on August 12 by 294% in independent bookstores in Greater Montreal, by 343% in the greater Quebec City region and by 287% in the rest of Quebec.
Launched on the web by two children’s authors, Patrice Cazeault and Amélie Dubé, the day “On August 12, I buy a Quebec book” has profoundly changed the buying habits of Quebecers, emphasizes Gaspard. “As an illustration, before 2014, out of 100 copies of Quebec books sold on August 12, 9 were literature books, 41 school books, while after 2014, 41 literature books found their audience. »
The 10 best sellers of August 12, 2022 (literature category)
- An extraordinary woman (Stanké), by Catherine Ethier
- A thousand secrets, a thousand dangers (Le Quartanier), by Alain Farah
- fancy molasses (The Wick), by Francis Ouellette
- In the splendor of the night (Points), by Dany Laferrière
- kukum (Free Expression), by Michel Jean
- forest woman (Leaf Merchant), by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette
- Plessis (VLB), by Joël Bégin
- The girl with the braid (Leaf Merchant), by Françoise de Luca
- The daughter of herself (Leaf Merchant), by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay
- My beginnings in eternity (Boreal), by Gilles Archambault