Turning over a new page

Statistics Canada's Survey of Household Spending has confirmed an increase in the buying books included in household spending, while the Canadian publishing industry is committed to encourage Canadian culture, public financial support for Canadian authors and publishers. It is also found that more than 600 Canadian publishers generate over $2.4 billion in revenue and, in 2007, published nearly 28,000 titles. The Department of Canadian Heritage has estimated that Indigo and other chains have 44% of domestic book sales, independents 20%, non-traditional 20%, and online booksellers 4%. US-based books sales accounted for nearly two-thirds of book printing for a company such as Transcontinental, which decreased to about half by early in 2008. Blitzprint, with sales around $3.7 million, is a company that has devoted substantial resources to the book printing sector.