The audience is engaged; the industry must simply meet them where they are.

The Data: A Sector-Wide Challenge

Quebec’s publishing sector confronts a mounting discoverability crisis. Research from the Quebec Institute of Statistics reveals that 54% of 15-29 year-olds primarily read foreign authors, significantly exceeding the 37% figure for the general readership. English-language exclusivity also surges among youth, hitting 26% compared to 17% broadly.

Digital Platforms Reshape Reading Patterns

The BookTok ecosystem dominates youth discovery. Pascal Genêt of the Quebec Observatory of Culture and Communications attributes the trend to genre preferences: young Quebecers consume twice as many comics, graphic novels, and manga – formats largely produced abroad. Social media algorithms on foreign platforms prioritise international titles, marginalising local voices.

Karine Vachon, Executive Director of the National Association of Book Publishers (ANEL), notes structural gaps: “In romance and fantasy, Quebec’s catalogue remains underdeveloped.” With 6,000 domestic titles vying against 30,000 annual European imports, market saturation compounds the issue.

Industry Countermeasures at Montreal and Read Quebec Fairs

The Montreal Book Fair concluded last week with renewed optimism. “Quebec literature now has its stars,” declares Fair General Manager Olivier Gougeon, highlighting authors who experiment with form and voice.

The imminent Read Quebec English-Language Book Fair launches next, directly targeting the 26% of youth reading exclusively in English – a strategic effort to reclaim market share through curated anglophone Quebec content.

The Opportunity Amid Disruption

The headline is not all bleak. A mere 13% of 15-29 year-olds never read -the lowest across all demographics. Youth read frequently, if not daily, constrained primarily by time pressures.

For publishing professionals, the imperative is twofold: harness BookTok’s recommendation power and accelerate genre diversification. The audience is engaged; the industry must simply meet them where they are.

And that, of course, is a key takeaway for publishers everywhere, not just in Canada.

#CanadaPublishing #CanadaBookMarket #QuebecPublishing #ReadQuebec #MontrealBookFair

This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.