November is here, and with it comes a fresh round of updates and resources!

Inside this month’s newsletter, you’ll find the latest on The Booksellers’ List Winter 2026, a brand-new staff proficiency checklist, BookNet Canada’s October indie market report, and more.

There’s lots to dig into — let’s jump in!

The Booksellers’ List Update

Thank you to all the booksellers who shared nominations for The Booksellers’ List Winter 2026 campaign. Last week, we shared the confidential list with members so your stores can begin preparing for the launch. We couldn’t be more excited about the books we’ll be promoting, and we know your customers are going to love them too!

The Booksellers’ List (Winter 2026) will be announced to the general public on January 6. Please refrain from any public announcements until after the launch.

During the week of December 15, CIBA will provide Bookseller Members with a marketing toolkit featuring a variety of branded templates to help you promote The Booksellers’ List both in store and online.

All Fall TBL Books Are Out Now!

All of the Fall TBL books have now hit shelves! CIBA’s vibrant marketing campaign, executed through the IndieBookstores.ca channels, has been driving strong engagement and excitement among Canadian readers. As we move toward the holiday season, these are great books to recommend to customers as gifts.

We’ve been thrilled to see your stores amplifying the campaign throughout the fall, helping us share the energy and enthusiasm for The Booksellers’ List far and wide. Your support makes all the difference!

Nominations for Spring 2026

We’re now seeking nominations for titles that booksellers would like to see included on the Spring 2026 list. 

We welcome all CIBA Bookseller Members to nominate titles for an adult audience published between April 1 and June 29, 2026. Titles can be nominated via:

• CataList
• CIBA’s web form
• NetGalley

The deadline for nominations is Monday, February 9, 2026. 

Please note: We’re not ready to launch our children’s list just yet, but please stay tuned for an announcement in the new year.

Holiday Picks from The Booksellers’ List

This year, our holiday campaign will highlight the 20 incredible books included in the inaugural TBL, with festive Holiday Picks from The Booksellers' List now rolling out across IndieBookstores.ca channels.

Over the next several weeks, CIBA will celebrate indie bookstores as the best place to find meaningful, thoughtful gifts.

Booksellers can jump in right away by resharing IndieBookstores.ca posts, bringing the festive look and feel into your own holiday promotions, and making TBL titles the stars of your seasonal displays.

Join in, have fun with it, and help spread a little indie holiday cheer far and wide!

NEW RESOURCE:

Bookseller Staff Proficiency Checklist

While bookselling is an established and highly skilled profession, the Canadian industry does not have a professional accreditation program. To help standardize skills expectations for booksellers across the industry, CIBA has developed a downloadable resource that provides recommendations for the training cycle of a new employee.

CIBA Bookseller Members can find this resource in The Guide to Bookselling in Canada, within Chapter 5: Human Resource Management.

Each document (one for full-time and one for part-time employees) contains three checklists that should be assessed at 3, 6, and 12 months of an employee's tenure. This allows managers to communicate expectations clearly, and enables staff to bring their completed checklists to future jobs as a form of recommendation. These checklists have been created with Bookmanager bookstores in mind but can be adapted to other systems.

Thank you to Hilary Atleo (Iron Dog Books), Anjula Gogia (Another Story Bookshop), and Alicia Neil (Mosaic Books) for developing these resources for CIBA.

Get Involved in CIBD 2026

Calling all publishers and industry champions! CIBA wants to partner with you to help make Canadian Independent Bookstore Day 2026 our strongest celebration yet.

We are currently seeking campaign sponsors and proposals for customer giveaways in advance of CIBD 2026, which will take place on April 25.

Download the CIBD 2026 Partnership & Sponsorship Guide for more information.

Please email Kayla Calder if you’d like to work with us on next year’s celebration. The deadline to confirm your participation is January 16.

Upcoming Events

“Can you help me find a good book?”: Readers Advisory in the Bookstore

Wednesday January 14, 2026

12pm PT, 1pm MT, 2pm CT, 3pm ET, 4pm AT, 4:30pm Newfoundland

Booksellers help readers discover new titles every day. We know firsthand that matching the right book with the right reader is a complex skill that takes time and experience to develop. The field of study and practice in library sciences called Readers’ Advisory aims to train librarians on how to most effectively suggest books to readers.

Join us for a special event where MLIS candidate (and staffer at Iron Dog Books) Mizuki Giffin will present basic best practices and tools for how Readers’ Advisory might be integrated in a bookstore setting.

2025 Cundill History Prize Winner

Sponsored Content

The winner of the 2025 Cundill History Prize has been announced: Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants’ War by Lyndal Roper (John Murray Press / Basic Books).

Roper’s deeply researched and compelling account of the sixteenth-century uprising offers fresh insight into the lives and voices of the peasants who helped reshape European history. Through its exploration of justice, community, and resistance, the book stands as a powerful example of rigorous and accessible historical scholarship.

Booksellers may wish to highlight the title in store and online as the newly crowned Cundill winner. Summer of Fire and Blood is available now through your usual suppliers.

BookNet Canada: October Indie Sales & Insights

October was a busy month for indies across the country, and BookNet Canada’s newest report breaks down how the market is tracking so far this year.

Key highlights from the October Report:

• Overall indie year-to-date sales are up 7% over last year.
• Canadian-contributed titles are up 9%, accounting for 19% of all units sold so far in 2025.
• Fiction continues to lead, with YTD sales up 15% and a 25% increase compared to October 2024.
• Canadian Non-Fiction remains strong, up 13% YTD and 16% over last October.
• Juvenile titles are up 1% YTD, while Young Adult is showing a slight decline.

The report also highlights October’s top-selling Canadian releases in the indie market, including new books from Louise Penny, Adam Shoalts, Chris Hadfield, and Iona Whishaw.

You can read the full October Indies Market Report for a deeper dive into category performance and top titles.

*Data is shown in units sold and includes all participating indie retailers. “Canadian” titles refer to books with a Canadian contributor, as noted in publisher metadata.

Reminder: RISE 2026 Conference

Thinking about attending or have questions? Share them with us, we’d love to hear from you!

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