BOOKSELLING 

Sales boomed for indie bookstores in December BY SUSAN PETERS

CANADIAN INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES reported a jolly holiday as overall book sales in December 2020 soared by 33 per cent over the previous year. Michael Neill, owner of Book Manager, the software popularly used by independent bookstores in Canada, says that online sales for the month were nine times higher than in 2019. Barack Obama’s memoir A Promised Land was a top seller, along with cooking titles, jigsaw puzzles, and games.

Customers rallied to support local businesses across Canada. Neill’s own Mosaic Books in Kelowna, B.C., averaged 72 online orders per day in December 2020, compared to an average of 13 per day the previous year.

“It’s the busiest month we’ve ever had in the 10 years we’ve been open,” says Karlene Nicolajsen, the manager of Calgary’s Shelf Life Books. December sales at the bookstore more than doubled over 2019 numbers.