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Regional writers are bestsellers on Canadian ferries

The MS Chi-Cheemaun ferry. (Image courtesy Ontario Ferries)

Rupi Kaur and Margaret Atwood may be semi-permanent presences on Canadian newspaper and magazine bestseller lists, but on ferries in B.C., Ontario, and the Maritimes, regional authors had the bestselling books this summer.

This summer’s bestseller on the BC Ferries was Joe Calendino and Gary Little’s To Hell and Back. Calendino’s memoir of his time with Vancouver’s Hells Angels was one of 13 regional titles in the BC Ferries’ top sellers of 2018 as of Aug. 22, besting national bestsellers carried onboard such as The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy.

On Ontario’s MS Chi-Cheemaun ferry, which crosses Lake Huron, The Inconvenient Indian by Guelph, Ontario, author Thomas King was the bestselling title. In the Maritimes, it was a tie between two titles from Halifax-based Nimbus Publishing: Sandra Phinney’s Waking Up in My Own Backyard, a memoir of her 31 days playing tourist in her home province of Nova Scotia, and Halifax-based Sarah Sawler’s 100 Things You Don’t Know About Atlantic Canada (for Kids).

“On the ferries it really comes down to a strong regional sense and then carrying the best of the best,” says Ross Harrhy, category manager, books, at distributor TNG. “For a lot of travellers aboard the boat, they aren’t necessarily exposed to local books in their day to day. Most people may not walk into a bookstore even once a year. But on the ferries, it’s right in front of them.”

Bestsellers onboard, such as Barbara Smith’s Campfire Stories of Western Canada and Roy Henry Vickers’s picture book One Eagle Soaring, often find the BC Ferries to be their most lucrative outlet. “In most cases BC Ferries is the predominant seller for titles published by B.C. publishers, authors, or illustrators,” Harrhy says, noting the 15 ferry stores typically match or surpass Indigo sales when it comes to B.C.–focused books.

Sales in Ontario and the Maritimes have been boosted by author appearances during sailings. On Lake Huron’s Chi-Cheemaun, an appearance by Jennifer Farquhar in support of her debut novel, Watermark, translated to 25 copies sold, contributing significantly to the 60 total copies sold on the ferry throughout the summer. It ultimately ranked as the second-best-selling title of the season.

The CAT ferry travels between Nova Scotia and Maine. (Image courtesy Northumberland and Bay Ferries Ltd.)

The Bay and Northumberland Ferries, which service New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I., and Maine, report similar success with their reading series Authors Onboard. It’s no coincidence that the ferries’ bestselling authors, Phinney and Sawler, both made appearances onboard.

“We can see the sales, for sure,” says Monica MacNeil, partnership and customer experience manager for Northumberland and Bay Ferries Ltd. The Fundy Rose ferry will welcome Steve Vernon, author of Where the Ghosts Are: A Guide to Nova Scotia’s Spookiest Places, on Sept. 8 and 9.

Books have been selling so well onboard that MacNeil is looking into expanding sales beyond the gift shops, perhaps stocking standalone kiosks, and scheduling more authors for next summer’s Authors Onboard program. To MacNeil, it’s a natural pairing. “The CAT [ferry between Maine and Nova Scotia] takes five and a half hours to sail,” she says. “And people use that as a real opportunity to snuggle up with a book.”

By: Ryan Porter

August 23rd, 2018

4:47 pm

Category: Bookselling

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