SaskBooks provides the following benefits of service to its members regardless of their corporate structure:
Communications & Networking
SaskBooks provides a common forum for businesses in the publishing industry, and advocates for and on behalf of the publishing industry. Members of SaskBooks are small and independent businesses and entrepreneurs who share a common passion and a common goal – to tell important stories and to relate information through book publishing. SaskBooks produces a semi-monthly newsletter, administers a members-only listserv, and hosts a number of networking sessions throughout the year for members. Members have access to more than thirty years’ experience in and knowledge of the publishing industry in Saskatchewan and across Canada, and one-on-one consultations with Association staff, consultants, other members, and resources are valuable elements of the successful publishing industry in the province.
Marketing & Promotion
A number of SaskBooks’ programs and services are geared toward the promotion and marketing of books published in Saskatchewan. Services related to book promotion and marketing are available for books whose ISBNs are demonstrably registered to a Saskatchewan entity. SaskBooks uses the National Library of Canada’s ISBN registry & publisher directory services to demonstrate where a publisher’s ISBN is registered. If you are using a pay-to-print or vanity press service, your ISBN may not be registered in your name or region and your book(s) may not be eligible for SaskBooks’ promotional services. Publishers whose books are not eligible for SaskBooks’ promotional and marketing services are eligible for other services such as Professional Development.:
Book Box
SaskBooks assembles a box of books for libraries, schools, or tourist destinations to sample based on supplied criteria.
Catalogues
Each fall, SaskBooks produces a catalogue of new and recently-released books published by our members. We distribute our catalogue with the Western Producer and other publications, and we give it out at all of the trade shows and gift markets we attend. If you’d like us to mail you a catalogue, please contact us. A downloadable PDF of the current catalogue is always available on SaskBooks’ home page. SaskBooks has also produced a number of specialty catalogues and educational resources which are distributed to all the schools and libraries in the province, under the guidance of educational consultants.
Display
Throughout the year, SaskBooks attends numerous book display and sales events. Look for our booth at library conferences and gift/trade shows in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, SaskBooks delivered much of its Display program in the spring and summer months virtually by compiling lists of books that would have been displayed at conferences and events, and offering discount codes to the recipients of those lists.
Advertising
SaskBooks’ advertising program is designed to raise awareness of the vibrant book industry in our province and of our province’s dynamic publishers. There are often co-operative advertising opportunities presented through SaskBooks, as well as print and radio advertisements promoting our members and their books. In the past, SaskBooks has produced billboards, catalogues, posters, and even a weekly radio programme highlighting the books our publishers produce.
Weekly Book Reviews
SaskBooks produces weekly book reviews to help spread the good word about Saskatchewan’s thriving book industry. Each week, a free 400-500 word review is e-mailed to every weekly newspaper in Saskatchewan, and to a growing list of opt-in recipients from schools, libraries, and of our voracious readers. These reviews, written by some of Canada’s best emerging and established writers, are also featured at reviews.skbooks.com for easy access to our visitors from around the world. We distribute weekly book reviews via email to anyone wishing to receive them.
Professional Development and Peer-to-Peer Learning
SaskBooks researches, organises, co-ordinates, and hosts regular Professional Development sessions for book publishers each year, including several sessions at the annual conference in June. Our publisher members suggest and choose topics for each session. We have provided PD sessions on every topic related to book publishing, from manuscript evaluation and development to print and digital production to marketing and distribution strategies to licensing and rights/royalty negotiations.
Research
SaskBooks conducts publishing industry research and sector development and planning. Every year, SaskBooks collects benchmark data from its members that assess the economic impact of the publishing sector in Saskatchewan. In its more than thirty years of operation, SaskBooks has commissioned, compiled, and distributed research ranging from A Harvest of Books, a study of the Saskatchewan publishing industry, to library and educational marketing reports, to distribution studies, to sector benchmarking and economic impact and labour market surveys. Copies of these studies and reports are available on request.
To apply to become a member of SaskBooks, get in touch with us! If email isn’t your thing, please call our main number: (306) 780-9809.
