Bestseller Lists Policy

Owned by Monique Mongeon
Last updated: Mar 19, 2024 by Lauren Stewart
2 min read

As part of the BNC SalesData service, BookNet Canada provides ranked lists (based on Volume Sold) of titles for the use in the production of bestseller lists by media. These lists are meant to represent Canadian consumer demand for books and are used as a promotional tool.

  • The lists may be for different time periods (usually weekly), subjects/genres, geographical regions, and formats.

  • The lists include only a rank number and do not include actual units sold.

  • The lists do not include any retailer identifiers.

  • The lists compiled according to the criteria below will not necessarily match the bestseller lists generated from the All Markets Bestseller Report in SalesData. 

  • Our media partners will make editorial decisions at their discretion for the lists they publish.

Publisher-reported direct sales

Publisher-reported direct sales will only be counted towards a title’s ranking on a bestseller list under the following circumstances:

  • The sale must be for a single book only.

  • The sale must be a direct-to-consumer sale.

  • The sale must be done by the submitting publisher and not by an intermediary.

  • Sales must be reported at a transactional level.

  • Sales must be reported either automatically via a POS, e-commerce platform, or via one of our standard reporting formats.

Merging ISBNs

Sales from multiple ISBNs of the same work may be merged in the creation of media Bestseller Lists if the publisher submits a valid Merge Request in advance of the book’s publication date.

To be eligible for a Merge Request, all ISBNs in the merge group must share:

  • The same title and author

  • The same format / binding

  • The same list price

  • The same language

  • The same publisher

  • The same sales territory (Canada)

  • The same Pub Date month

ISBN Merge Requests may only be submitted by SalesData subscribing publishers.

Up to five ISBNs of the same title can be submitted for a Merge Request.

Merge Requests are granted at the sole discretion of the BookNet SalesData team. Requests submitted less than one month prior to the book’s on-sale date will not be granted.

For information about Merge Requests, please contact salesdata@booknetcanada.ca.

Missing data

As a general policy, we do not fill in missing data, including the Canadian marker. Publishers are responsible for providing all necessary data through the Report Bibliographic Errors form, available in the Single ISBN report on SalesData.

Number of stores reporting & OH thresholds

ISBNs with fewer than 20 stores reporting sales and/or no stores with inventory (0 on-hand) will be filtered off the list. This is to avoid reporting on special one-time sales and to ensure wide and genuine representation of the book across the Canadian market.

Rolling forward pre-sales/orders

Titles are reported on bestseller lists as sales are received, regardless of publication date. Unless a publisher has provided advanced notice to BookNet Canada to hold a title off the list, all titles will be reported and BNC will not hold a title off the list because of publication date. As part of this, we will not add pre-publication sales numbers to the first week of sale (“rolling forward” sales numbers).

If you have any questions or concerns about Bestseller Lists or the Bestseller List Policy, please contact salesdata@booknetcanada.ca.