A RESEARCH REPORT BY BOOKNET BNC

RESEARCH 04.2012

Literary Awards

in Canada 2009-

2011

PREPARED BY JASMINE DER AND PAMELA MILLAR

CONFIDENTIAL TO BNC SALESDATA SUBSCRIBERS

© BOOKNET CANADA 2012

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Confidentiality...... 3 Summary ...... 3 Approach ...... 3 Caveats ...... 4 The Scotiabank ...... 5 Governor General’s Literary Awards ...... 10 CBC Canada Reads...... 21 Griffin Poetry Prize ...... 23 Charles Taylor Prize ...... 26 National Book Awards (USA) ...... 28 Man for Fiction...... 37 Trillium Book Award...... 39 Literary Awards...... 50 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize...... 54 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction ...... 57 Conclusion ...... 60

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CONFIDENTIALITY This document contains information that is available only to BNC SalesData subscribers and contributors. It is made available for your internal use only. If you have questions about public disclosure of this report, please contact [email protected].

SUMMARY Being nominated for a literary award is an exciting time for a publisher, but with that national recognition comes increased sales and orders. How do you prepare yourself to stay in the game? How can you predict when your books are going to start flying off the shelves? Will you need to reprint? What happens if you win?

BNC Research's Literary Awards Study aims to eliminate potential surprises during awards season for Canadian publishers and booksellers. By looking at sales data from previous years, we can help to predict sales and order spikes so that you can be prepared and have enough copies printed and stocked.

In an attempt to verify the conclusions drawn from previous literary awards studies, we have conducted a follow-up study on the impact of literary awards in Canada. Has anything changed in the past two years? Read on to find out.

Our studies have found that shortlisted titles do not show a considerable increase in sales for most awards. The exceptions are the Scotiabank Giller Prize and Canada Reads (although the timing aligns with Christmas). But the effect of winning a literary award is clear: soaring sales. Fiction and non-fiction titles tend to perform better than children’s books and poetry, but the lift in sales after winning an award is visible in all subjects studied.

APPROACH For each award, BookNet Canada staff analyzed the sales position using BNC SalesData’s sales panel comprised of chains, independents, newsstands, general retail and sales to libraries. An initial analysis was done of the following literary awards from 2009 to2011: § Scotiabank Giller Prize § Governor General Literary Awards § CBC Canada Reads § Griffin Poetry Prize § The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction § National Book Awards (US) § Orange Prize for Fiction § Man Booker Prize § BC Book Prizes § Trillium Book Awards § Alberta Literary Awards § Writers’ Trust of Canada Awards

This year, we added the Writers’ Trust fiction and non-fiction awards to the list. We also look at Canada Reads, which, although more of a contest than an award, is watched closely by both publishers and booksellers, and has a clear impact on book sales in Canada.

Within this list of awards we eliminated some award categories, such as children's literature, drama and poetry, where retail coverage seemed insufficient or where the BNC SalesData retail panel was unlikely to

BOOKNET CANADA 4 capture indicative sales. The case studies that follow are ones where we are confident that we were able to capture enough of the total sales of the books in question to provide a clear picture of the award’s impact.

Please note: The winner in each category is presented first and represented by a thick blue line in each chart.

CAVEATS Based on publisher feedback, we estimate that BNC SalesData represents 75% of book industry sales. There are certain retail categories that we do not have complete coverage of, which could mean that some awards have an effect that cannot be detected through our retail panel:

§ Independent bookstores: BNC SalesData includes many major independent bookstores, but does not include many smaller ones, any of whom could be actively promoting an award winner. It also does not capture many specialty independent bookstores (children’s books, science-fiction, etc.) where a genre or subject-specific award may have more impact. However, we are able to detect even the slightest variation in sales in our independent panel, so we are confident that sales changes in the independent market are well represented. § K-12 and higher-education sales: our panel does not include direct institutional sales to schools or college/university textbook sales. § Since the first literary awards study, which was conducted in October of 2006, new booksellers have started contributing their sales to BNC SalesData. Therefore, some changes in statistics and sales figures may be a result of these new additions.

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GILLER PRIZE 2011 THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE Winner: § Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, Thomas Allen ORGANIZED BY SCOTIABANK Publishers, 9780887627415 Nominees: 2011 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 4 § The Cat’s Table by , McClelland 2011 WINNERS ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 8 & Stewart, 9780771068645 § by Patrick deWitt, House of 2010 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 5 Anansi Press, 9780887842894 and 9781770890329 2010 WINNERS ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 9 § The Free World by David Bezmozgis, 2009 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 6 HarperCollins, 9781443403993 and 9781443404006 2009 WINNERS ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 9 § The Antagonist by Lynn Coady, House of Anansi Press, 9780887842962 § Better Living Through Plastic Explosives by Zsuzsi ABOUT Gartner, Penguin Group, 9780670065189 The Giller Prize was founded in 1994 by Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife Doris Giller. Giller was a literary journalist GILLER PRIZE 2010 who worked as the Book Review Editor for the The Gazette and the Assistant Book Editor and Reading Habits columnist for the Winner: § The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud, Star. Gaspereau Press and D & M Publishers 9781554470785 & 9781553658955 Scotiabank teamed up with The Giller Prize in 2005, creating The Nominees: Scotiabank Giller Prize. The award aims to celebrate the best in § The Matter with Morris by , HarperCollins, 9781554687749 Canadian fiction and to bring these titles to the attention of all § Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod, Biblioasis Canadians. 9781897231944 § This Cake is for the Party by Sarah Selecky, SUMMARY Thomas Allen 9780887625251 § Annabel by Kathleen Winter, House of Anansi Historically, the Giller Prize has always had great effect on sales Press 9780887842368 for all shortlisted titles—especially the winner. The 2009 winner, The Bishop’s Man by Linden McIntyre, had sales increase by over 300% the first week, 770% the second week, and over 1,000% by the third week after being announced the winner. Similarly, the 2010 winner, The Sentimentalists, saw skyrocketing sales after a two-week delay. This delay is attributed to the fact that there were very few titles on-hand in stores. When Douglas & McIntyre released a new edition and the title became widely available, sales soared.

The graphs show the weekly unit sales for the 2010 Scotiabank Giller shortlist during the nomination period and the season The Sentimentalists, upon winning, did not show the typical immediate spike. Because it was published by Gaspereau Press, a small press, and had a low print run, there were simply not enough copies on-hand for readers to buy. Therefore, the spike in sales occurred a week after the winning week when Douglas & McIntyre published on November 19, 2010.

2011 was an interesting year that sees atypical patterns in sales. The Sisters Brothers and Half-Blood Blues were both nominated for the same awards that season including the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Award, among others. The multiple nominations sent both titles’ sales soaring above other Giller-nominated titles. Michael Ondaatje’s The Cat’s Table enters the award season with very high sales numbers. Given his long-standing reputation and fan base, this is not surprising. However, sales begin a steady decline throughout the award season, rising again only during the holiday season.

The 2011 winner, Half-Blood Blues, saw an increase in sales of over 450% after announcement. Subsequent weeks saw sales of 300% to 700% greater than pre-announcement levels.

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GILLER PRIZE WINNERS COMPARISON The above graph shows the winners of the Scotiabank Giller Prize for the past seven years. From 2005 to 2011, sales have increased at the point when the winner is announced. A small portion of this growth can be attributed to growth in the BNC SalesData retail panel, but we believe that this increase primarily indicates that the award is having a greater impact on sales each year.

The largest spike in this graph is for Vincent Lam’s Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures. Until 2010, it was the only winning title available in paperback and we suspect part of its success can be attributed to its format and price point. In 2010, another paperback title, The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud, won, which was also another unique situation as described above. In 2011 Half-Blood Blues, another trade paper title, did very well which makes the current top three Giller winners trade paper editions.

Year over year, the Scotiabank Giller Prize has more and more of an impact on the Canadian market. From 2005 to 2010, sales have almost doubled at peak periods: Two weeks after the winner is announced, sales increased from 999 units in 2005 to 6,734 in 2009. During the Christmas peak, sales have increased from 3,476 units in 2005 to 12,865 in 2010.

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GOVERNOR GENERAL’S LITERARY AWARDS

ORGANIZED BY THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS

2011 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 11 2011 WINNERS ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 15

2010 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 13 2010 WINNERS ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 16

2009 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 14 2009 WINNERS ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 17

ABOUT The Governor General’s Literary Awards (GGs) were started in 1937 by Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir. The awards were initially organized by the Canadian Authors Association, but were passed on to the Canada Council for the Arts in 1959. The GGs aim to recognize the best Canadian books in English and French.

SUMMARY Nominations for a Governor General’s Literary Award generally boost sales for all titles, and after the winners are announced, sales continue to increase. The timing of this award falls neatly into the holiday season where all titles see a spike in sales before Christmas. But this spike is likely bolstered by GG nominations as well. Winning titles in all subjects examined in this report are positively affected by the GG win.

In 2009, nearly all of the fiction titles had comparable sales during the award timeline. The top three titles were The Mistress of Nothing, The Golden Mean, and Too Much Happiness. Although The Mistress of Nothing was named the winner, it was Annabel Lyon’s The Golden Mean that saw the highest sales, peaking before Christmas. But when looking at percent change, ’s winning title, The Mistress of Nothing increased by over 3,500% two weeks after winning, going from 45 units a week to over 1,600.

2010’s winning title, Cool Water by , saw a similar trend. Two weeks after winning, sales rose by over 3,700%. And while Emma Donoghue’s Room had sales well above any other titles, after the winners were announced, her sales remained relatively constant. Room was nominated for and won multiple other awards, which certainly played a role in its high sales.

Non-fiction books have similar trends but in lower sales volumes. The exception is in 2010, when the winning title, Lakeland, had increased sales that were still significantly below Just Watch Me Vol. 2. However, given the acclaim of Just Watch Me Vol. 1 and the subject of an immensely popular Canadian figure, it’s expected that Vol. 2 would be so successful. Still, Lakeland’s sales improved by 2,775% two weeks after winning.

Children’s books generally follow the same trend, except 2010’s winner Fishtailing, which peaked before it was named the winner and continued to decline until just before the holidays. Both children’s text and illustrated books see a general rise in sales during the award period, but are less adherent to the typical pattern seen with fiction or non-fiction titles. Cat’s Night Out, for example, saw a more gradual rise in sales leading up to the holiday season rather than an immediate spike.

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GOVERNOR GENERAL’S LITERARY AWARDS 2011

Fiction Winner: § The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, House of Children’s Text Anansi Press, 9780887842894 and 9781770890329 Winner: Nominees: § From Then to Now: A Short History of the World by § The Free World by David Bezmozgis, HarperCollins, Christopher Moore, Tundra Books, 9780887765407 9781443403993 and 9781443404006 Nominees: § The Little Shadows by Marina Endicott, Doubleday, § A Hare in the Elephant's Trunk by Jan Coates, Red 9780385668910 Deer Press, 9780889954519 § Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, Thomas Allen § No Ordinary Day by Deborah Ellis, Groundwood Publishers, 9780887627415 Books, 9781554981342 § Touch by Alexi Zentner, Knopf Canada, § This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor 9780307399441 Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel, HarperTrophy, 9781554683390 Non-Fiction § Blink and Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones, Random Winner: House of Canada, 9780763639839 § Mordecai: The Life and Times by Charles Foran, Knopf Canada, 9780676979633 and 9780676979657 Children’s Illustrated Nominees: Winner: § The Damned by Nathan M. Greenfield, HarperCollins, § Ten Birds by Cybele Young, Kids Can Press, 9781554682195 9781554535682 § Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald - His Life, Our Nominees: Times by Richard J. Gwyn, Random House Canada, § Migrant by Maxine Trottier, Groundwood Books, 9780307356444 9780888999757 § The Measure of a Man by J. J. Lee, McClelland & § Fishing with Gubby by Gary Kent, Harbour Publishing, Stewart, 9780771046476 9781550174977 § Empire of the Beetle: How Human Folly and a Tiny Bug § The Red Wagon by Renata Liwska, Penguin Group, Are Killing North America's Great Forests by Andrew 9780399252372 Nikiforuk, Greystone Books, 9781553655107 § Along A Long Road by Frank Viva, HarperCollins, 9781443406208

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GOVERNOR GENERAL’S LITERARY AWARDS 2010 Fiction Children’s Text Winner: Winner: § Cool Water by Dianne Warren, Phyllis Bruce Books, § Fishtailing by Wendy Phillips, Coteau Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, 9781554685592 and 9781550504118 9781554685585 Nominees: Nominees: § Me, Myself and Ike by K.L. Denman, Orca Book § Waiting for Joe by , Random House Publishers, 9781554690862 Canada, 9780307359162 § Tyranny by Lesley Fairfield, Tundra Books, § Room by Emma Donoghue, HarperCollins, 9780887769030 9781554688319 and 9780316120579 § Free as a Bird by Gina McMurchy-Barber & Eric § Motorcycles & Sweetgrass by Drew Hayden Taylor, Zweig, Dundurn, 9781554884476 Alfred A. Knopf, 9780307398062 and § Scars by Cheryl Rainfield, Marco Book Company, 9780307398055 9781934813324 § Annabel by Kathleen Winter, House of Anansi Press, 9780887842368 Children’s Illustrated Winner: Non-Fiction § Cat’s Night Out by Jon Klassen, Simon & Schuster, Winner: 9781416940050 § Lakeland: Journeys into the Soul of Canada by Allan Nominees: Casey, Greystone Books, 9781553653080 § Uirapurú: Based on a Brazilian Legend by Kristi Nominees: Bridgeman, Oolichan Books, 9780889822641 § A History of Marriage by Elizabeth Abbott, Penguin § Owls See Clearly at Night: a Michif alphabet by Julie Group Canada, 9780143017141 & 9780670044962 Flett, Simply Read Books, 9781897476284 § The Boy in the Moon: A Father’s Search for His Disabled § I Know Here by Matt James, Groundwood Books, Son by Ian Brown, Random House Canada, 9780888999238 9780679310099 & 9780307357106 § The Quiet Book by Renata Liwska, Houghton Mifflin § Burmese Lessons: A Love Story by Karen Connelly, Harcourt, 9780547215679 Random House Canada, 9780307356697 & 9780307356680 § Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968- 2000 by John English, Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 9780676975246 & 9780676975239

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GOVERNOR GENERAL’S LITERARY AWARDS 2009 Fiction Children’s Text Winner: Winner: § Kate Pullinger's The Mistress of Nothing, McArthur & § Caroline Pignat's Greener Grass: The Famine Years, Company, 9781552787984 Red Deer Press, 9780889954021 Nominees: Nominees: § 's Galore, Doubleday Canada, § Shelley Hrdlitschka's Sister Wife, Orca Book 9780385663144 Publishers, 9781551439273 § Annabel Lyon's The Golden Mean, Random House of § Sharon Jennings’ Home Free, Second Story Press, Canada, 9780307356208 9781897187555 § 's Too Much Happiness, McClelland & § Robin H. Stevenson’s A Thousand Shades of Blue, Orca Stewart, 9780771065293 Book Publishers, 9781551439211 § Deborah Willis’ Vanishing and Other Stories, Penguin § Tim Wynne-Jones’ The Uninvited, Candlewick Press, Group (Canada), 9780143170228 9780763639846

Non-Fiction Children’s Illustrated Winner: Winner: § M. G. Vassanji's A Place Within: Rediscovering India, § Jirina Marton’s Bella’s Tree, Groundwood Books, Doubleday Canada, 9780385661782 and 9780888998705 9780385661799 Nominees: Nominees: § Rachel Berman’s Bradley McGogg, the Very Fine Frog, § Randall Hansen's Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Tundra Books, 9780887768644 Germany 1942 – 1945, Doubleday Canada, § Irene Luxbacher’s The Imaginary Garden, Kids Can 9780385664042 Press, 9781554532797 § Trevor Herriot's Grass, Sky, Song: Promise and Peril in § Luc Melanson’s My Great Big Mamma, Groundwood the World of Grassland Birds, HarperCollins Canada, Books, 9780888999429 9781554680382 § Nina Manning-Toonoo’s Alego, Groundwood Books, § Eric Margolis’ American Raj: Liberation or 9780888999436 Domination?, Key Porter Books, 9781554700875 and 9781554702213 § Eric Siblin's The Cello Suites: J. S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece, House of Anansi Press, 9780887842221

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WINNER COMPARISONS The graphs below show the performance of winning titles from 2005 to 2011.

2005: A Perfect Night to Go to China 2009: The Mistress of Nothing 2006: 2010: Cool Water 2007: Divisadero 2011: The Sisters Brothers 2008: The Origin of Species

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2005: The Golden Spruce: A Story of Myth, Madness and Greed 2006: The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism 2007: I've Got a Home in Glory Land: The Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad 2008: Fifteen Days: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army 2009: A Place Within: Rediscovering India 2010: Lakeland: Journeys into the Soul of Canada 2011: Mordecai: The Life and Times

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CANADA READS 2012 CBC CANADA READS Winner: § Something Fierce: Memoirs if a Revolutionary ORGANIZED BY THE CBC Daughter by Carmen Aguirre, Douglas & McIntyre, 9781553654629 & 9781771000369 2012 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 23 Nominees: 2012 WINNER ANNOUNCED FEBRUARY 9 § The Game by Ken Dryden, John Wiley & Sons Canada, 9780470835845 & 9780470833551 2011 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 30 § On a Cold Road: Tales of Adventure in Canadian 2011 WINNER ANNOUNCED FEBRUARY 9 Rock by Dave Bidini, McClelland & Stewart, 9780771014567 2010 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED DECEMBER 1 § Prisoner of Tehran: One Woman's Story of Survival 2010 WINNER ANNOUNCED MARCH 12 Inside an Iranian Prison by Marina Nemat, Penguin Group (Canada), 9780143052173 & 9780670066124 ABOUT § The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival CBC's Canada Reads showcases five Canadian books chosen by by John Vaillant, Knopf Canada, 9780307397140 celebrity panelists. The shortlist is announced approximately & 9780307397157 three months before the final debates, giving readers time to read all of the titles before the debates begin. CANADA READS 2011 During debate week, panelists are required to defend their choice Winner: and one book is voted off each day until only the winner is left § The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis, McClelland & Stewart, 9780771047589 standing. These debates are broadcast on the radio, internet and Nominees: on television, generating a lot of attention for the competition. § The Birth House by Ami McKay, Knopf Canada, 9780676977738 SUMMARY § The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou, NeWest Publishers Ltd., 9781897126172 CBC’s Canada Reads contest continues to generate an enormous § Essex County by Jeff Lemire, Top Shelf amount of attention resulting in sales spikes for the nominees, Productions, 9781603090384 and especially for the winner. Because the time period is spread § Unless by , Random House of over two to three months from the nomination announcement in Canada, 9780679311805 late November to the on-air debate and winner announcement during February/March, it is easier to see the true sales impact of the award.

The sales of all nominated titles increase when the shortlist is announced and continue to rise into the holiday season. From January to the debates, sales remain fairly consistent. Once the winner is announced, all titles see a spike in sales; with the winner obviously experiencing the largest rise. In 2009, within two weeks, the winner increased sales by nearly 1,900%.

For the first time ever, Canada Reads 2012 focused on non-fiction works. This is important to note because non-fiction titles typically sell fewer units than fiction titles. While overall numbers for the 2012 contest were lower than previous Canada Reads finalists, sales still increased by an average of 153% after the winner was announced compared to the shortlist announcement.

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GRIFFIN POETRY PRIZE

ORGANIZED BY THE GRIFFIN TRUST FOUNDATION GRIFFIN PRIZE 2011 Winner: FINALISTS ANNOUNCED APRIL 5, 2011 § Ossuaries by Dionne Brand, McClelland & WINNER ANNOUNCED JUNE 1, 2011 Stewart, 9780771017346 Nominees: FINALISTS ANNOUNCED APRIL 6, 2010 § The Irrationalist by Susan Buffam, House of WINNER ANNOUNCED JUNE 3, 2010 Anansi Press, 9780887849541 § Lookout by John Steffler, McClelland & Stewart, 9780771082672

ABOUT Scott Griffin founded the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2000. It aims to GRIFFIN PRIZE 2010 increase awareness of poetry and the role it plays in our cultural Winner: lives. Each year there is an evening of readings by the finalists to § Pigeon by Karen Solie, House of Anansi Press, 9780887848230 promote the award. Nominees: § The Certainty Dream by Kate Hall, Coach House The prize is awarded annually to one Canadian and one Books, 9781552452233 international poet. Judges are chosen by the Griffin Trust, which § Coal and Roses by P.K. Page, The Porcupine’s Quill, 9780889843141 is made up of internationally acclaimed writers Margaret

Atwood, Robert Hass, Michael Ondaatje, Robin Robertson, David Young, and Carolyn Forché. In 2010 they selected judges: Anne Carson, Kathleen Jamie, and Carl Phillips. And in 2011 the judges were Tim Lilburn, Colm Toíbín, and Chase Twichell.

SUMMARY Poetry awards continue to be a difficult category when it comes to predicting sales. However, like all awards, the Griffin Prize garners higher sales for the winning title as well as shortlisted titles. 2011 saw two of the three titles spike after the winner was announced. Ossuaries, by Dionne Brand, was the winner but The Irrationalist by Suzanne Buffam also saw a comparable increase in sales.

Generally poetry tends to sell at lower volumes than fiction or non-fiction books, but the effects of winning an award are similar. In both years studied, winners’ sales skyrocketed by 528% in 2010 and 1433% in 2011.

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CHARLES TAYLOR PRIZE CHARLES TAYLOR PRIZE 2011 ORGANIZED BY THE CHARLES TAYLOR FOUNDATION Winner § Mordecai: The Life & Times by Charles Foran, 2010 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED JANUARY 5 Alfred A. Knopf, 9780676979633 2010 WINNERS ANNOUNCED FEBRUARY 8 Nominees § On the Farm: Robert William Pickton and the 2011 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED JANUARY 11 Tragic Story of Vancouver’s Missing Women by 2011 WINNERS ANNOUNCED FEBRUARY 14 Stevie Cameron, Alfred A. Knopf, 9780676975840 § Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the ABOUT Group of Seven by Ross King, Douglas & McIntyre, The Charles Taylor Prize is awarded annually to an author whose 9781553653622 work of literary non-fiction "best combines a superb command of § The Geography of Arrival: A Memoir by George Sipos, Gasperau Press, 9781554470808 the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of § The Love Queen Malabar: Memoir of a Friendship thought and perception." with Kamala Das by Merrily Weisbord, McGill- Queen’s University Press, 9780773537910 The winner of the award is invited to read at the International Festival of Authors at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. CHARLES TAYLOR PRIZE 2010 Winner SUMMARY § The Boy in the Moon: A Father’s Search For His The Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction has a strong Disabled Son by Ian Brown, Random House impact on sales. Like many of the awards BNC has studied, Canada, 9780307357106 nominees see a small increase in sales after the shortlist is Nominees § Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, announced. When the winner is announced, all nominees see a 1968 – 2000 by John English, Knopf Canada, dramatic increase with the winner generating the most sales. 9780676975239 § Extraordinary Canadians: René Lévesque by Given that this award is announced after the holidays, the effects Daniel Poliquin, Penguin Canada, 9780670069194 are easily visible. In 2011, all titles began to slump in the § The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of beginning of January until the shortlist was announced on William Randolph Hearst by Kenneth Whyte, January 16 and two of the four shortlisted titles then saw a lift in Random House Canada, 9781582434674 sales. The winning title, Mordecai, by Charles Foran, consistently had higher sales throughout the award timeline and sales spiked after being named the winner in February.

Just Watch Me Vol. 2, also nominated for the GG in 2010, had very high sales leading up to the Christmas season. However, during the Charles Taylor Prize timeline, sales slumped and remained below those of the winner, The Boy in the Moon by Ian Brown.

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NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS (USA)

ORGANIZED BY THE NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION 2011 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2011 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 12 Winner: 2011 WINNER ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 16 § Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781608195220 2010 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 13 Nominees: § The Sojourn by Andrew Krivak, Bellevue Literary, 2010 WINNER ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 17 9781934137345 § The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht, Random House of 2009 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 14 Canada, 9780385343848 & 9780385343831 2009 WINNER ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 18 § The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka, Knopf Doubleday, 9780307700001 ABOUT § Binocular Vision: New and Selected Stories by Founded in 1950, the National Book Awards are American Edith Pearlman, Lookout Books, 9780982338292 awards given to writers by writers. The awards recognize the 2010 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD best of American literature. Winner: § Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon, McPherson & The American Book Publisher’s Council, The Book Co, 9780929701837 Nominees: Manufacturers’ Institute, and The American Booksellers’ § Parrot and Olivier in America by , Association sponsor the awards. Alfred A. Knopf, 9780307358349 § Great House by Nicole Krauss, W.W. Norton & Co., SUMMARY 9780393079982 § So Much for That by Lionel Shriver, HarperCollins The National Book Awards have some impact on the Canadian Publishers Ltd., 9781554682010 market, but it is limited. An increase in sales is seen after the § I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita, Coffee House winner is announced, with sales continuing to climb into the Press, 9781566892391 Christmas season. (Please note that we are only looking at the fiction prize in this study.)

2009 was an interesting year for the National Book Awards. The winning fiction title, Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, had sales far above the other nominees during the entire award period. All other titles, however, hardly rose above ten units sold per week during the entire timeline. After further investigation, we found that on-hand numbers for most of these titles were very low which would explain the lower sales.

The National Book Awards are American, and perhaps the nominated titles are less popular across the border in Canada. It is only the winner that sees high sales and on-hand numbers for the duration of the award season. Figures in 2010 and 2011 suggest that there are other factors influencing the buying decisions of Canadians beyond the National Book Awards, as other shortlisted titles may see higher sales than the winners.

The 2010 season was bit more even for all shortlisted titles. But that year, it wasn’t the winning title that sold the most units. Instead, it was Nicole Krauss’s Great House that experienced sales well above the rest. The winner, Lord of Misrule, was not on-hand in stores until more than halfway through the award time period— two weeks after it won. When it was finally available, sales rose slightly but failed to exceed 50 units.

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2010 was an atypical year for the National Book Awards. Great House, by Nicole Krauss, saw soaring sales above the winner of that year, Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon. Krauss has received much praise for her first two novels and awareness of her work overall has also benefited from her publishing in magazines and short story anthologies. High sales for Great House could be attributed to her preexisting success. Gordon has written three previous novels, one of which was listed on the Los Angeles Times’ Best Fiction of 2000.

Another factor that may have contributed to fewer sales for the winner could be that Lord of Misrule wasn’t published until November 14, 2010, nearly a month after the finalists were announced, with no units on-hand until the week ending December 5, 2010.

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Compared to previous years, the pattern seen in 2009 above, is on par. The winning title has always seen sales well above shortlisted titles, both before and after being announced the winner. In 2009, sales for nominees seemed unusually low so further investigation found that for American Salvage, on-hand numbers were also exceptionally low (no more than four titles on-hand). However, the other shortlisted titles had low to moderate on-hand numbers, which may have had an effect on sales.

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Format can have an effect on performance as well. If a book is available in paperback when others are in hardcover, typically a trade paperback book will see higher sales. Let the Great World Spin was available in both hardcover and paperback during its award season. Other winners from previous years only had titles available in hardcover.

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ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION

ORGANIZED BY THE ORANGE PRIZE WOMEN’S COMMITTEE 2011 ORANGE PRIZE Winner: 2011 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED APRIL 12 § The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht, Random House, 2011 WINNER ANNOUNCED JUNE 8 9780385343831 Nominees: 2010 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED APRIL 20 § Room by Emma Donoghue, HarperCollins 2010 WINNER ANNOUNCED JUNE 9 Publishers Ltd., 9781554688319 § The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna, Atlantic ABOUT Monthly Press, 9780802119650 § Grace Williams Says It Loud by Emma Henderson, In 1992, a committee of publishing professionals established the Sceptre, 9781444704006 & 9781444704013 Orange Prize for Fiction. Their aim was to create a less § Great House by Nicole Krauss, W.W. Norton & traditional prize that focuses on the reader. The prize strives to Company, 9780393079982 honor the work of female authors and bring their books to a wide § Annabel by Kathleen Winter, House of Anansi Press, 9780887842368 audience.

SUMMARY 2010 ORANGE PRIZE The winners of the Orange Prize awarded in 2010 and 2011 saw Winner: atypical trends upon winning. In 2010, though The Lacuna won, it § The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, HarperCollins, 9781554684762 & was ’s that saw the highest sales. Wolf 9781554684755 Hall was riding the wave of success from its 2009 Man Booker Nominees: Prize win six months before the shortlist for the Orange Prize § The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison, Alma 2010 was announced. Still, The Lacuna maintained sales above Books, 9781846881008 § Black Water Rising by Attica Locke, Harper the other nominees for the duration of the award period—both Collins, 9780061735868 & 9780061735851 before and after the shortlist and winner was announced. § Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, HarperCollins, 9781554687732 When Téa Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife won the Orange Prize in § A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore, Doubleday Canada, 9780385668248 2011, sales shot up by 245% within a week. Room had soaring § The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by sales, since it was nominated for multiple awards in Canada, the Monique Roffey, Simon & Schuster, US, and the UK and won at least one award in each country, 9781847375001 which would account for its incredible performance. The Tiger’s Wife still had considerably higher sales during the Orange Prize period, which is consistent with the pattern of award winners.

If we look at the winners alongside one another, it becomes evident that the Orange Prize’s impact on sales is increasing. From 2008 to 2011, sales for the winning titles the week after the announcement shows an increase of over 860%. It seems that the Orange Prize is reaching wider audiences and influencing reading decisions.

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MAN BOOKER PRIZE FOR FICTION

ORGANIZED BY THE BOOKER AND MAN GROUP 2011 MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2011 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED SEPTEMBER 6 Winner: 2011 WINNER ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 18 § by , Random House of Canada, 9780307360816 2010 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED SEPTEMBER 7 Nominees: § Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch, HarperCollins, 2010 WINNER ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 12 9781443405164 § Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, Thomas Allen 2009 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED SEPTEMBER 8 Publishers, 9780887627415 2009 WINNER ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 6 § The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, House of Anansi Press, 9780887842894 and 9781770890329 ABOUT § Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman, House of Anansi The Man Booker Prize was first awarded in 1968 under the Press, 9780887842603 § Snowdrops by Andrew Miller, HarperCollins, name the Booker-McConnell Prize. In 2002, The Man Group 9781554687848 & 9781554687831 became the official sponsor and the award was named as it is today. 2010 MAN BOOKER PRIZE Winner: This literary prize is awarded annually to the author of the § by , Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781608196111 & 9781408808870 best original work of fiction who is a citizen of the Nominees: Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. § Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey, Random House, 9780307358349 SUMMARY § The Forest Laird by Jack Whyte, Viking Canada, 9780670068463 The Man Booker Prize for Fiction has the strongest impact on § Room by Emma Donoghue, HarperCollins, the Canadian book market of all international literary 9781554688319 awards examined in this study. In fact, the impact is in the § In a Strange Room: Three Journeys by Damon Galgut, same range as the large Canadian awards perhaps due to the McClelland & Stewart, 9780771035968 § The Long Song by Andrea Levy, Penguin, fact that Canadian authors are eligible and often in 9780670064113 contention. § C by Tom McCarthy, Knopf Canada, 9780307398864

As with most awards, being shortlisted has a small impact on sales, but things really take off when the wi nner is announced. Almost all of the nominees see an increase in sales when the winner is announced and the winner’s sales skyrocket. The only exception is Emma Donoghue’s Room, which, as we’ve seen in above case studies, already had incredibly high sales. But Room aside, the effect of the Booker is obvious in 2009 and 2010 with Wolf Hall and The Finkler Question. They saw an increase of 229% and 1,061% respectively two weeks after winning. In 2011, Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending won and saw an increase in sales of over 340% one week after announcement.

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OOK RIZES BC B P ETHEL WILSON FICTION PRIZE 2011

ORGANIZED BY THE WEST COAST BOOK PRIZE SOCIETY Winner: § Everything Was Good-Bye by Gurjinder Basran, Mother 2011 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED MARCH 10 Tongue Press, 9781896949079 Nominees: 2011 WINNERS ANNOUNCED APRIL 21 § Chernovs' Toil and Peace by Rifet Bahtijaragic, 2010 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED MARCH 11 PublishAmerica, 9781451272536 § The Forest Laird by Jack Whyte, Viking Canada, 2010 WINNERS ANNOUNCED APRIL 24 9780670068463 § The Master of Happy Endings: A Novel by , ABOUT Thomas Allen Publishers, 9780887625237 Established in 1985, these prizes aim to celebrate the work § Recipes from the Red Planet by Meredith Quartermain, BookThug, 9781897388655 of 's authors. The BC Book Prizes comprise seven prizes that are awarded annually. HUBERT EVANS NON-FICTION PRIZE 2011 Winner: SUMMARY § The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant, Knopf Canada, 9780307397140 The BC Book Prizes don’t have the typical, predictable trend Nominees: that many other awards see. They only have a minimal § Borderlands: Riding the Edge of America by Derek impact on shortlisted and winning titles. However, the prize Lundy, Knopf Canada, 9780307398628 timeline falls in midspring, which is a lull period for sales in § Marshall McLuhan by Douglas Coupland, Viking Canada, 9780670069224 general. § Morris as Elvis: The World's Greatest Elvis Impersonator by Morris Bates & Jim Brown, Fox Music Books, For the 2010 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, the only title that 9781894997157 sold over 50 copies in one week was Annabel Lyon’s The § Tangles: A Story about Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me by Sarah Leavitt, Broadview Press, 9781551111179 Golden Mean. Her book, though, was also nominated for the 2009 Giller Prize and Governor General’s Award and won the ETHEL WILSON FICTION PRIZE 2010 Writers’ Trust fiction award the same year. Winner: § Having Faith in the Polar Girls' Prison by Cathleen The winning title in 2010, Having Faith in the Polar Girls’ With, Penguin Group Canada, 9780670068456 & 9780143169079 Prison, appeared to have a small spike in sales two weeks Nominees: after being named the winner, but whether it was directly § 8 x 10 by Michael Turner, Doubleday Canada, related to the win is inconclusive as another title, Daniel 9780385665933 O’Thunder saw a spike the week prior. § Daniel O'Thunder by Ian Weir, Douglas & McIntyre, 9781553654353 § The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon, Vintage Canada, In 2011, the fiction winner, Everything Was Good-Bye, saw a 9780307356208 & 9780307356215 rise of 325% one week after being named the winner. It § Vanishing and Other Stories by Deborah Willis, Penguin remained constant for a couple more weeks before declining. Group Canada, 9780143170228 HUBERT EVANS NON-FICTION PRIZE 2010 Winners of the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize tend to see a Winner: rise in sales after the announcement. Although, in 2011, the § Small Beneath the Sky: A Prairie Memoir by Lorna winning title, The Tiger, had very high sales that slowly Crozier, Greystone Books, 9781553653431 declined during the award season. This could be attributed Nominees: § The Ice Passage: A True Story of Ambition, Disaster, and to its other nominations both in Canada and the US. Still, its Endurance in the Arctic Wilderness by Brian Payton, sales were on average over 3,000% higher than other Doubleday Canada, 9780385665322 nominees. § Savage Gods, Silver Ghosts: In the Wild with Ted Hughes by Ehor Boyanowsky, Douglas & McIntyre, 9781553653233 § Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life by Brian Brett, Greystone Books, 9781553654742 § Vancouver Special by Charles Demers, Arsenal Pulp Press, 9781551522944

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TRILLIUM BOOK AWARDS TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD 2010 ORGANIZED BY THE MEDIA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION Winner: § The Boy in the Moon: A Father’s Search for His Disabled 2010 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED JUNE 1 Son by Ian Brown, Random House Canada, 2010 WINNER ANNOUNCED JUNE 24 9780679310099 & 9780307357106 Nominees: 2011 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED MAY 31 § The Year of the Flood by , McClelland & Stewart, 9780771058905 & 9780771059094 2011 WINNER ANNOUNCED JUNE 17 § Animal: Stories by Alexandra Leggat, Anvil Press, 9781897535011 ABOUT § The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels, McClelland & The Trillium Book Awards were established in 1987 as a way to Stewart, 9780887625237 § Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro, McClelland & recognize, assist, and promote Ontario's writers. In 2003, the Stewart, 9780771065293 Trillium Book Award for Poetry was added to recognize new § Heaven is Small by Emily Schultz, House of Anansi poets. Only first, second, and third works are eligible for this Press, 9780887842238 & 9780887849565 award. § Lemon by Cordelia Strube, Coach House Books, 9781552452202

SUMMARY TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD FOR POETRY 2010 The Trillium Book Award does have an impact on sales. Both the Winner: Trillium Book Award and the Trillium Book Award for Poetry § Pigeon by Karen Solie, House of Anansi Press, result in an increase in sales for all nominees when the winner is 9780887848230 Nominees: announced, with the winner usually generating the most sales. § The Hayflick Limit by Matthew Tierney, Coach House Books, 9781552452172 Like other awards, when Room was shortlisted, it experienced § Joy Is So Exhausting by Susan Holbrook, Coach House sales far above the other titles in the running. Unlike other Books, 9781552452226 awards, though, the winning title, The Amazing Absorbing Boy, TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD 2011 didn’t see the typical spike in sales after winning. It did increase Winner: from zero units to five in one week, but still, not quite as § The Amazing Absorbing Boy by Rabindranath Maharaj, dramatic a rise as other awards we’ve studied. Knopf Canada, 9780307397270 Nominees: § Room by Emma Donoghue, HarperCollins, On the other hand, the poetry prize delivers results. In 2011, 9781554688319 nearly all titles but the winning title saw a rise in sales after the § Animal: Stories by Alexandra Leggat, Anvil Press, winner was announced. Nevertheless, titles failed to exceed over 9781897535011 ten units per week during the award period. This is typical of § What Disturbs Our Blood: A Son's Quest to Redeem the Past by James FitzGerald, Random House, poetry awards, however. The poetry award winner for the 2010, 9780679313151 Pigeon, did see a dramatic increase, rising by over 500% in a § Book by Ken Sparling, Pedlar Press, 9781897141335 week after being shortlisted. Winning did not seem to affect § The Reinvention of the Human Hand by Paul sales. Vermeersch, McClelland & Stewart, 9780771087431 § The Death of Donna Whalen by , Hamish Hamilton, 9781552452202 Interestingly, 2010 winner The Boy in the Moon did not experience the expected spike in sales after winning the Trillium TRILLIUM BOOK AWARD FOR POETRY 2011 Book Award. It did see increased sales after winning the Charles Winner: Taylor Prize earlier that year. Once again, it could be a result of § Tiny, Frantic, Stronger by Jeff Latosik, Insomniac Press, 9781897178959 the slower season that this non-fiction title didn’t see a dramatic Nominees: increase in sales. Alternatively, it could be that the Trillium Book § Sweet by , Pedlar Press, 9781897141342 Award had less of an effect in 2010 since all titles remained very § Complete Physical by Shane Neilson, Porcupine’s Quill, steady with no major spikes or falls throughout the award time 9780889843257 § At the Gates of the Theme Park by Peter Norman, period. Mansfield Press, 9781894469463

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ALBERTA LITERARY AWARDS

ORGANIZED BY THE WRITERS GUILD OF ALBERTA GEORGES BUGNET AWARD FOR FICTION 2011 2011 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED MAY 18 Winner: 2011 WINNER ANNOUNCED JUNE 11 § Toby: A Man by Todd Babiak, HarperCollins, 9781554684397 2010 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED APRIL 13 Nominees: § The Matter of Sylvie: A Novel by Lee Kvern, 2010 WINNER ANNOUNCED MAY 14 Brindle & Glass, 9781897142486 § : Collected Stories, 1955-2010 by Rudy ABOUT Wiebe, University of Alberta Press, The Alberta Literary Awards aim to recognize excellent writing 9780888645401 by Alberta authors. The Writers Guild of Alberta inaugurated the WILFRID EGGLESTON AWARD FOR NON-FICTION 2011 awards in 1982. This report focuses on the Georges Bugnet Winner: Award for Fiction and the Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Non- § Prodigal Daughter: A Journey to Byzantium by Fiction. Myrna Kostash, University of Alberta Press, 9780888645340 SUMMARY Nominees: § In the Suicide's Library: A Booklover's Journey by Over the past three years the timeline of the Alberta Literary Tim Bowling, Gaspereau Press, 9781554470891 Awards has been dramatically shortened. In 2007, the winners § Bitter Medicine: A Graphic Memoir of Mental were announced 13 weeks after the finalists were; now, the Illness by Clem Martini & Olivier Martini, winners are announced 5 weeks after the finalist announcement. Broadview Press, 9781551119281

GEORGES BUGNET AWARD FOR FICTION 2010 Compared to other awards studied, the Alberta Literary Awards Winner: have less predictable patterns. In 2011, neither fiction nor non- § Fishing for Bacon by Michael Davie, NeWest fiction categories had predictable sales trends; winning did not Publishers, 9781897126370 seem to affect sales either. Sales for one week did not exceed ten Nominees: § A Raw Mix of Carelessness and Longing by Cecilia copies for either category. Elizabeth Frey, Brindle & Glass, 9781897142363 § Nothing Sacred by Lori Hahnel, Thistledown 2010 saw higher sales overall for both categories, but still no Press, 9781897235638 consistent trends. Fishing for Bacon by Michael Davie saw an § Delivery by Betty Jane Hegerat, Oolichan Books, increase of 63% one week after winning, but saw a sharp drop 9780889822573 § Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk, the following week. McClelland & Stewart, 9780771085468

WILFRID EGGLESTON AWARD FOR NON-FICTION 2010 Winner: § Beyond Belfast: A 560-Mile Journey Across Northern Ireland on Sore Feet by Will Ferguson, Viking Canada, 9780670069156 Nominees: § Merchant Kings: When Companies Ruled the World, 1600-1900 by Stephen R. Bown, Douglas & McIntyre, 9781553653424 § The Price of a Bargain: The Quest for Cheap and the Death of Globalization by Gordon Laird, McClelland & Stewart, 9780771046063 § The Big Thaw: Travels in the Melting North by Ed Struzik, John Wiley & Sons, 9780470157282

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ROGERS WRITERS’ TRUST FICTION PRIZE

2011 SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED SEPTEMBER 28 2010 SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED SEPTEMBER 29 2011 WINNER ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 1 2010 WINNER ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 2

SUMMARY 2011 The Rogers Writers’ Trust Prize for Fiction for 2011 was awarded to Winner: Patrick deWitt for his book The Sisters Brothers. deWitt was also § The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, nominated for several awards this season, including the Giller Prize House of Anansi Press, 9781770890329& 9780887842894 and the GG, which he won. Nominees: § The Meagre Tarmac by Clark Blaise, During the shortlist periods for all three prizes, The Sisters Brothers Biblioasis, 9781926845159 saw a steady climb in unit sales. At the time of the fiction shortlist § The Beggar’s Garden by Michael Christie, HarperCollins, 9781554688296 announcement for the Writers’ Trust Prize, The Sisters Brothers and § Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan, Thomas multiple-award nominee, Half-Blood Blues, both saw an increase in Allen, 9780887627415 sales. The Sisters Brothers increased in sales by about 223% when § The Quiet Twin by Dan Vyleta, comparing the unit sales of the week after shortlist announcement to HarperCollins, 9781554689040 the week before. This increase can probably be attributed to the 2010 shortlist announcement as well as the book’s multiple nominations, Winner: and since the Giller shortlist wasn’t announced until the following § Room by Emma Donoghue, HarperCollins, week, it’s unlikely the book’s increase was affected by it. 9781554688319 Nominees: § Practical Jean by Trevor Cole, McClelland & When the winner was announced, The Sisters Brothers saw an Stewart, 9780771023255 increase of 57% the first week, then 117%, then 152% by the third § Cities of Refuge by Michael Helm, McClelland week after winning. The trend shows that the Rogers Writers’ Trust & Stewart, 9780771040399 Fiction Prize has some effect on unit sales for the winner, but for § Annabel by Kathleen Winter, House of Anansi Press, 9780887842368 2011, it’s hard to be definite since two titles performed much better § The Death of Donna Whalen by Michael than others on the shortlist likely due to their multiple nominations Winter, Hamish Hamilton, 9780670066636 for other influential awards.

2010 was similar. Emma Donoghue’s Room saw sales well above other titles on the Writers’ Trust shortlist that year. It went on to win a handful of awards internationally. The only other title that had a significant increase in sales was Kathleen Winter’s Annabel, which was also nominated for multiple awards.

It appears that the prize’s shortlists does not significantly impact sales. While winning certainly increases sales, from the data of the 2010 and 2011 season, books with multiple nominations fared better than those with just one nomination.

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HILARY WESTON WRITERS’ TRUST PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION

2011 SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED SEPTEMBER 20 2010 SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED SEPTEMBER 29 2011 WINNER ANNOUNCED OCTOBER 25 2010 WINNER ANNOUNCED NOVEMBER 2

SUMMARY 2011 The Hilary Weston Prize for Non-Fiction for 2011 was awarded to Winner: Charles Foran for his biography, Mordecai: The Life and Times. This § Mordecai: The Life and Times by Charles title didn’t see a spike in sales at the announcement of the shortlist or Foran, Knopf Canada, 9780676979633 & 9780676979657 its win. Richard Gwyn’s Nation Maker had soaring sales that began Nominees: before the shortlist was announced and continued to see higher sales § Eating Dirt: Deep Forests, Big Timber, and for the duration of the studied period. Life with the Tree-Planting Tribe by Charlotte Gill, Greystone Books, 9781553659778 Mordecai was nominated for several other awards and went on to § Nation Maker: Sir John A. Macdonald - His win the Charles Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction and the Governor Life, Our Times by Richard J. Gwyn, Random General’s Literary Award. Nation Maker was also nominated for the House of Canada, 9780307356444 GG award and the BC National award for non-fiction. § Adventures in Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation Sound by Grant Lawrence, The winning title saw fluctuating sales throughout the study period Harbour Publishing Company, with a spike in sales mid-judging in October which aligns with the 9781550175141 finalists announcement for the GGs. Although Mordecai experienced a § Why Not?: Fifteen Reasons to Live by Ray Robertson, Biblioasis, 9781926845272 drop in sales of 70%, the fall occurred prior to the winning announcement. 2010 The Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-fiction, at this time Winner: does not have a significant impact on the sales of its shortlists . But § What Disturbs Our Blood: A Son's Quest to 2011 was the first year of the prize’s new name so we may see it Redeem the Past by James FitzGerald, Random House of Canada, 9780679313151 increase in visibility and impact as it matures. Nominees: § Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven by Ross King, Douglas & McIntyre, 9781553653622 § Tangles: A Story about Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me by Sarah Leavitt, Broadview Press, 9781551111179 § The Ptarmigan's Dilemma: An Exploration into How Life Organizes and Supports Itself by John Theberge & Mary Theberge, McClelland & Stewart, 9780771085192 § The Love Queen of Malabar: Memoir of a Friendship with Kamala Das by Merrily Weisbord, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 9780773537910

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CONCLUSION The effect of literary awards are wide ranging. Some awards like The Scotiabank Giller Prize and CBC's Canada Reads have a tremendous impact on national sales, while others seem to have much less of an impact. Is this due to marketing efforts, media attention, availability of the book, or other factors? Based on sales figures, we are reasonably confident that:

§ Titles that are available in paperback sell more units than those that are only available in hardcover. § Winner takes all. The nominees generally see a small increase in sales, but the real spike happens when the winner is announced. § Large national awards generate the largest sales impact. § Regional awards have a small, but noticeable impact on national sales. § International awards lead to some sales increase, and if a Canadian is nominated for a high-profile international award, the book is likely to do very well. § Well-known titles that have been nominated for other awards or that have received a lot of media attention will do better than their fellow nominees.

These awards all strive to recognize the hard work of authors and to bring their books to the attention of a wider audience, and this study has proven that many of their efforts are succeeding. As these awards continue to gain momentum and awareness, we can look forward to further awareness and appetite for great books.