It has been a stellar year for HarperCollins Canada. In June, the company won an unprecedented five out of 10 Libris Awards—which are voted on by members of Canada's bookselling community. Richard B. Wright took home the award for Author of the Year, while his bestselling novel, Clara Callan, won Fiction Book of the Year. His editor, Phyllis Bruce, won the Editor of the Year award, and Nancy Purcell won Sales Rep of the Year. To round out the coup, HarperCollins Canada was selected Publisher of the Year.
In a letter to employees regarding the fiscal year ended June 30, HC Canada executives observed that out of the 52 new Canadian titles published last year by the company, 30% went on to become national bestsellers, including 15 top-10 bestsellers, among them Clara Callan, The Corrections, The Ash Garden, Spadework, The House of Blue Mangoes, Lures, Enemy Women and Desirable Daughters. In addition, more than one third of HC Canada's new titles published in the year were shortlisted for awards.
HarperCollins president and CEO Jane Friedman, in Toronto for a sales conference late last month, admitted that HC Canada's success with awards has much to do with timing and luck, but she also gave credit to the Canadian staff. "We have assembled a team that may be the best in Canada," explained Friedman.
HarperCollins didn't always have such a stellar reputation in Canada. According to Friedman, HarperCollins in Canada and Australia used to be run as distribution companies. But in recent years, the emphasis has turned to both local publishing and publishing from a global perspective. Equally as important, HarperCollins has increased its investment in money and personnel in Canada in the last 18 months. "Canada is one of the leading places with growth potential," said David Steinberger, HarperCollins' president, international and corporate strategy, who said the company plans to invest more in marketing. "This was a company that had great potential, but not the resources it needed," added Steinberger.
Friedman specifically credits David Kent, hired as HC Canada's president and CEO in March 2001, as contributing to the success. "The hiring of my old colleague David Kent fits perfectly because David is a total publishing CEO, and that's what we have now all over the world," Friedman said. "We hired David for his keen sense of the Canadian market so it was important to listen to the things he had to say. I have a tremendous amount of confidence in David."
HarperCollins's investment in Canada has paid off with great sales in the most recent fiscal year, led by the Tolkien trilogy, which sold some 2.5 million copies between July 2001 and June 2002—about 1.9 million of those sold before Feb. 1, 2002. In addition to the Tolkien titles, HC Canada sold approximately 60,000 copies of The Corrections at C$40 each. Timothy Findlay's Spadework, his last novel before his death in June, sold 25,000 in hardcover. The mass market edition, which was published in early July, went right to the bestseller list and has sold 115,000 copies to date. A reprint of 10,000 is on the way. Overall, total revenues increased 35% in the year and were up 20%, excluding the Tolkien sales.
