The Canadian Association of Booksellers estimates the total number of copies of bestselling books in 2017 in Canada was roughly 11.3 million, or 22 percent of all books bought that year. They define bestselling as a title selling between 250,000 copies and 1 million copies.
Here are the 1 million-copy and 2 million-copy bestselling books of 2017. They are sorted alphabetically by publisher (in alphabetical order) and style, not by country.
Publisher of 1 million-copy sellers: Douglas & McIntyre
Style: Modernist
Year: August 29, 2017
Sarah MacLachlan’s bestselling novel “The Bookshop” (Simon & Schuster) in a “romantic, But a Walter Mitty” cover, sold one million copies in its first week.
Publisher of 2 million-copy sellers: McClelland & Stewart
Style: All-Scandinavian
Year: May 29, 2017
“The Girl in the Spider’s Web” by David Lagercrantz (Byliner) in a dark, brooding, Swedish cover with all-girl cast sold two million copies in its first week.
AUSTRALIA
Publishing House of 1 million-copy sellers: Penguin Random House
Style: Theatrical, Theatre-Foreign, European
Year: May 18, 2017
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson (Penguin Random House) in a “Guess How Many” blue cover sold one million copies in its first week. The plot synopsis that first appeared in a 2005 Sydney Morning Herald newspaper (“André Andersson has many tricks up his sleeve”) appears in the front cover of the book, followed by a scene highlighting the book’s friendship with “Metropolis” and “The Guns of Navarone” author Max Frisch.
Publishing House of 2 million-copy sellers: POM
Style: Classic, International
Year: March 2, 2017
“John Barrowman: Humanity” by Rafael Medoff (Pom) in a naked blue cover:”A total of one million copies have sold in Australia alone and demand remains very high.”
NIGERIA
Publishing House of 1 million-copy sellers: Canongate
Style: Crime, Surreal, Gothic
Year: March 31, 2017
John Grisham’s “The Rooster Bar” (Scribner) in a steamy red cover with its own cover story, “The Other Killing on Home Plate,” sold six million copies in its first seven months on the market.
Publishing House of 2 million-copy sellers: Penguin Random House
Style: Art, History, Fantasy
Year: April 6, 2017
“The Fall of Camelot” by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Penguin Random House) in a red cover with five artworks selling more than five million copies in its first five months on the market. These paintings were “picked, really, by Michael Jackson and Michael Jackson.”
PUERTO RICO
Publishing House of 1 million-copy sellers: Ballantine
Style: Thriller, Psycho
Year: February 22, 2017
“Operation Dark Heart” by David Baldacci (Ballantine) in a thick splash page: “For publishers, cover design is becoming an increasingly important part of the bookselling equation.” In this hardcover, “Sea of Love” by Lisa See and “Commonwealth” by J.K. Rowling in the back cover appeared as a single large picture of a solider wearing a sinister facial mask.
Publishing House of 2 million-copy sellers: Viking
Style: Heavy Metal, Sci-Fi, Mesmerizing Fantasy
Year: February 21, 2017
“The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson (Penguin Random House) in a gothic cover: “Everyone who has ever read Shirley Jackson has experienced the sheer creepiness of this book.” Jackson’s first book, “The Haunting of Hill House,” sold 20 million copies in its first decade on the market.