Tuesday, April 15, 2025
The second day of Creative Industries Week marks BC Book Day, which brings industry associations, key stakeholders, and creators together with the government for a showcase event.
BC Book Day invites people in B.C. to celebrate the province’s book and magazine publishers, authors, illustrators, bookstores, libraries, festivals, and literary prizes. These are the creators and companies that connect us to one another with local stories and a distinctively west coast Canadian perspective on the world.
Book Publishing in British Columbia
Read Local BC’s guide to B.C. books about family dynamics.
B.C. is home to the second-largest English-language book publishing sector in Canada. B.C.’s publishers represent 18% of the English-language Canadian-owned publishing industry and bring Canadian writing and culture to a global audience, exporting to more than 40 countries. There are 425 businesses, 46 independent publishers, and 300 independent bookstores across the province. Discover them by viewing two maps of the Canadian Independent Book Publishers and Canadian Indie Bookstores who deliver.
Q&A with Matea Kulić
To gain an insight into the book publishing world, BC Creates interviewed Matea Kulić, Executive Director of Books BC.
Q: Can you share more about the mission of Books BC and its role in supporting publishers in the province?
Founded in 1974, the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia (Books BC) serves 36 B.C.-owned book publishing companies. The organization works to highlight the importance of a thriving independently owned publishing industry in our province, as well as to raise the profile of B.C. books.
B.C.’s book publishers produce an average of 250 new titles each year that reflect B.C., Canada and the world back to readers in a range of genres including literary fiction, poetry, regional interest, Indigenous perspectives, children’s literature, cuisine, and scholarly topics.
The mission of Books BC and its campaign Read Local BC is to highlight and champion these titles to ensure the reading public is aware of the range and richness of the content being produced and published in our province.
Q: How does the unique cultural landscape of B.C. influence the types of books that get published and the voices that are heard?
B.C. books explore themes of identity, migration, family, environmental change, and the complexities of modern life, all while offering fresh takes on familiar genres. B.C. is known for its innovative poetry scene, as well as the strength of its Indigenous storytelling, writing, and publishing community. B.C. has a number of Indigenous-focused publishers such as Theytus Books, Strong Nations, and Medicine Wheel Publishing. B.C. books are responsive to our geography, distinctive sense of place, and ongoing relationship to the weather! Take heart, there is a B.C. book for every season.
Explore B.C. with 14 local books, discover 12 new B.C. authors, celebrate National Poetry Month 2025 this April, and find a B.C. book for every season.
Q: What are some highlights from the past year for the book publishing world?
Last year, B.C. Publishers continued to produce award-winning titles, with many B.C. Publishers featured by the BC and Yukon Book Prizes and two homegrown Arsenal Pulp Press titles making the Canada Reads Longlist, with Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew finishing in second place.
Q: Looking ahead, what trends and themes are shaping the future focus of B.C. book publishers?
Like many small businesses, publishers are concerned by the impact of tariffs not just with regards to the import and export of books to and from the U.S., but the broader ramifications on supply chains, inflationary pressures, and consumer spending power. The threat of tariffs also served to expose some vulnerabilities in our industry, such as the overdependence on the U.S. market for international sales and the need for more robust domestic infrastructure. A silver lining has been the Canadian consumer’s desire to connect with locally owned businesses and locally produced goods. We are excited by the “Buy Canadian” wave and are invested in a conversation about how it relates to the cultural industries.
Q: How can we support B.C. Book Day and B.C.’s Independent Publishers?
- Buy B.C.-published books directly from your local independent bookstore or the publisher’s website.
- Encourage your school and public library to buy and stock both BC and Canadian-published books.
- Celebrate Canadian Independent Bookstore day on April 26th.
Now is a great time to explore the offerings of B.C. independent publishers in your community. Request a B.C. book from your local library or bookstore. Get to know your local bookseller, and talk to your school’s librarian. Look at your own bookshelf – is there room for more locally authored and published books in your collection? We wager there is!
Magazine Publishing in British Columbia
Montecristo magazine.
British Columbia is home to over 280 magazines, representing a broad diversity of publications, ranging from small to large, literary to lifestyle, leisure to arts and culture, news, business, and special interest magazines.
British Columbia titles represent the diverse interests of the people of British Columbia and are read by millions of people both here in B.C. and around the world. B.C. magazine publishers connect with their audience online as well as through traditional print channels, embracing advertising and circulation opportunities on the web, over social networks and via mobile devices.
Industry professionals in all magazine-related occupations are recognized for their excellence in content, design and production as well as providing thought-provoking commentary, engaging narrative, spectacular images and informed analysis of current issues that reflect the lifestyle, spirit and aesthetic of B.C.
Did you know?
In 2023, the book publishing and magazine publishing industries contributed $168M Total GDP to the provincial economy. More than 2,200 people work full-time and equivalent jobs in the industry.
Learn more about the B.C.’s publishing industries in the Sector and Industry Overviews, on the Books BC website, the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association, and MagsBC.
Share the excitement!
Celebrate our province’s vibrant literary landscape and share a favourite BC-published book or magazine using the hashtags #BCBookDay #BCBooks #ReadBC #ReadLocalBC #SubscribeBC #BCReadsMagazines and #BCCreates.
