BookNet Canada, which tracks print book sales in Canada, hosted a session earlier this month to discuss 2021 sales results and point to emerging market trends. Some of the key areas included comics, graphic novels, and manga; the environment; wellness; and inevitably BookTok—because what discussion of 2021 is complete without it?
Comic, graphic novel, and manga sales are up in all age categories. In particular, the manga category is “on a roll,” according to BookNet’s Hannah Johnston, and an increasing number of adults read in this category. Manga overall saw a 93 percent increase in sales over 2020; YA manga saw a 206 percent increase over 2020. The current bestsellers, such as the My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan series, have been adapted into anime shows that are now popular in both North America and Japan.
Books on the environment have performed well for a couple of reasons. One, people have a greater appreciation for the outdoors since the pandemic began; two, there’s growing concern about climate change. In 2021, there was 137 percent growth in sales specifically for nonfiction titles on global warming and climate change and 1067 percent growth (yes, that’s four figures) for books on meteorology and climatology. Bestsellers here include How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates, Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard, and How to Change Everything by Naomi Klein.
Environmental fiction has enjoyed sales gains of 680 percent. Top adult titles here include The Living Sea of Waking Dreams by Richard Flanagan, The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven by Nathaniel Ian Miller, and Chemical Valley by David Huebert.
Wellness books are doing well across multiple categories. Body, mind, and spirit titles (often known as New Age titles) are up by 13 percent, with tarot-related books up by nearly 50 percent over 2019 sales. Psychology books are up by 62 percent, helped by a new title by Brené Brown but also by the continued success of The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, originally published in 2014 but since boosted by BookTok. What are ultimately wellness books can also be found succeeding in other categories like science (Breath by James Nestor) and self-help (The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson).
As indicated above, BookTok interest spans many different categories—not just YA fiction. BookTok favorites tend to lean backlist; word of mouth has lifted sales notably in romance; women’s fiction; science fiction; novels involving fairy tales, legends, and mythology; historical fiction; business and economics; and self-help. More than a third of the TikTok demographic (Gen Z) says that reading books and ebooks is something they do for pleasure, with reading as one of the top five biggest hobbies for the generation.
Bottom line: Every trend we heard mentioned by BookNet’s Johnston and Monique Mongeon has also come up in other industry reports from the US and UK. NPD BookScan in the US ties growth of the fiction category to comics, graphic novels, and manga. Climate change, the environment, and sustainability have become important and growing categories for new titles in nonfiction and fiction alike. And every market has enjoyed the positive sales effects of BookTok.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
