Why Is Book Publishing So Precarious?

When Megan Cole learned that BC and Yukon Book Prizes would not receive a key grant from Canada Council for the Arts this year, the executive director was disappointed — and nervous.

Cole knew the lost grant would put the organization that celebrates B.C. and Yukon authors and publishers in a precarious financial position. It would set them back almost $30,000 in funds earmarked for programming and operations, which includes author tours in remote B.C. communities, library book donations and a podcast.

On top of missing grant funding, sponsorships supporting author awards have also become more challenging to secure.

“It’s kind of a perfect storm of funding issues,” said Cole.

As a result, BC and Yukon Book Prizes have had to lean on fundraising more heavily this year than ever before, which comes with its own set of challenges.

“You need to look outside your bubble because so many people are getting hit twice,” said Cole. “They’re probably receiving multiple fundraising requests. It’s a hard time for all of us.”

The financial challenges experienced by the BC and Yukon Book Prizes are not unique. Arts funding has taken a hit across Canada, while inflation has soared.

The cost of doing business was the number-one challenge facing book publishers in the province, followed by supply chain issues, according to a 2025 report from Books BC and Deetken Insight. 

Meanwhile, the dollar amounts for federal arts grants awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts have decreased from $364.9 million in the 2022 to 2023 reporting period to $284.2 million in the 2024 to 2025 period. 

B.C. budget estimates for arts and culture, meanwhile, have mostly stagnated, at 1.7 per cent, between the 2021 to 2022 and 2026 to 2027 reporting periods, while estimates for cultural services in the Yukon increased 12 per cent.

Over the same time period, inflation in Canada was up almost 20 per cent. And Canadian Heritage Department spending is planned to decrease roughly 31 per cent by 2028.  

Arts funding opens doors

Cole stressed that BC and Yukon Book Prizes are not in peril just yet. But necessary budget adjustments could mean fewer school programs, such as author tours.

Those tours bring writers to schools, libraries and bookstores in remote regions of the province like Fort St. John, the Peace Region or the Kootenays. They’re a chance to introduce youth to professional authors, raise awareness for the books and provide some income for the writers.

Touring was “exhausting,” said author and acquisitions editor at ECW Press, Jen Sookfong Lee, who did the tour in 2017. Sookfong Lee is also shortlisted for the book prizes this year.

Funding was tight then, too, which meant up to three visits a day — plus, the car sickness.

Nevertheless, “It was one of the greatest experiences of my life,” said Sookfong Lee.

Meeting an author is an experience that can be taken for granted in larger markets and big cities, said Cole.

But when an author enters the classroom in a rural community, “it’s like the Beatles rolled into town and they all want an autograph,” she said.

“It’s really special to see how much kids love books,” she said.

“It scares me that we could be facing a future where that doesn’t feel important anymore.”

As grant applications surge, investment in them goes down

Canada Council funding is being impacted by a number of factors, said Lise Ann Johnson, director general, arts granting and partnerships for Canada Council for the Arts.

The council is receiving higher numbers of applications, she said, and applicants are asking for larger dollar amounts. At the same time, government funding for the grants has decreased.

Artists are feeling the effects of a 2023 directive for Canada Council to trim almost $10 million over three years. This is the first year reductions are in full effect.

Johnson said the council is “trying to find the right balance” to navigate the influx of requests and avoid decreasing the number of projects that get support.

“But we also don’t want to add to that financial precarity,” said Johnson. “We really think it’s important that artists are paid for their work.”

Canada Council continues to advocate for increased arts investment through data and economic impact studies, said Johnson. She pointed to the 2024 Artworks report, co-commissioned with Business / Arts, a national charity. 

The Canadian Arts Coalition, an arts advocacy group, also made the case for a permanent, $140 million increased investment for Canada Council and $190 million to the Department of Canadian Heritage in a 2026 pre-budget submission, Johnson noted. 

The Department of Canadian Heritage was one of several departments asked to reduce their main estimates by 15 per cent by the 2028 to 2029 reporting period in the last federal budget. 

At the same time, starting in the 2026 to 2027 period, the department will receive $312.4 million over five years “to bolster Canada’s arts, culture, heritage and media sectors,” the department shared in an emailed statement. Canada Council will receive $6 million over three years. 

The statement noted that the Canada Book Fund received a $10 million investment in 2024, among other literary supports. Additionally, targeted regional support from Budget 2025 is available over three years for initiatives such as the Canada Music Fund or Building Communities, which supports local festivals and other community projects. 

The statement did not address specific questions relating to inflation, or an unfulfilled 2021 election promise from the Liberal government to support authors and publishers with a $43 million per year investment by increasing funding for the Canada Book Fund, Canada Council for the Arts and the Public Lending Right Program by 50 per cent. 

A representative from the Yukon government said in an email that it has also seen an increase in requests for project funding due to cost of living and inflation.

Arts operating funds have given recipients flat increases twice since 2018 based on the Yukon Bureau of Statistics cost-of-living data, a 12.4 per cent increase in 2018, and 10 per cent in 2024, the statement said. 

In an email, a B.C. government representative acknowledged the important role arts and culture plays in the provincial economy, and support is delivered through a range of programs with BC Arts Council and Creative BC.

Stable support to the BC and Yukon Book Prizes “has helped the organization celebrate writers, illustrators and publishers and promote the achievements of B.C.’s literary community,” the email said.  

The statement did not address concerns put forward by The Tyee around arts funding not keeping pace with inflation.

‘We absolutely can’t do this without government funding’

A decade ago, the team at Vancouver’s Arsenal Pulp Press was sifting through submissions when an emerging author’s manuscript caught their eye. 

Published in 2018, the work was Jonny Appleseed, the debut novel from writer Joshua Whitehead, a Two-Spirit, Oji-nêhiyaw member of Peguis First Nation. Whitehead’s first book of poetry, full-metal indigiqueer, was published by Talonbooks in 2017. 

Jonny Appleseed earned too many accolades to list, and ultimately won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction, the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction and CBC’s 2021 Canada Reads competition.

“It’s become a seminal example of Indigenous literature in Canada,” said Arsenal Pulp publisher Brian Lam.

“That’s the function of Canadian publishers,” he said. “We work with raw talent and hone it and bring it to the market and these writers then become the big superstars.”

Canadian publishers are key for nurturing local talent and launching the careers of Canadian writers. But their advocates say more investment is needed to keep the industry alive.

In the midst of a trade war with the United States and a federally-backed ‘Buy Canadian’ movement, the government needs to invest in Canadian arts and culture, said Laraine Coates, board chair for the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia, also known as Books BC.

Canadian publishers are also in constant competition with the U.S., she said. 

Only 6.2 per cent of books sold in Canada in 2025 were from Canadian publishers, up from 5.6 per cent the year prior.

“It’s just appalling,” she said.

“We need the funding to build those markets,” said Coates. “The economics of book publishing are so difficult that we absolutely can’t do this without government funding. There’s no way.”

Despite a difficult funding landscape, reader interest is rising

For Kevin Williams, president of Vancouver-based publisher Talonbooks, funding challenges facing publishers in B.C. are a matter of “hard-fought gains are easily lost.”

A veteran of Canadian independent publishing, Talon was first formed as a poetry magazine in 1963 before transitioning to book publishing in 1967. Kevin and Vicki Williams acquired the press in 2007.

Talonbooks has weathered multiple financial storms in almost 60 years operating, yet the current landscape is the worst Williams has seen, thanks to compounding factors including inflation and the U.S. market. 

But interest in local literature is rising, Williams said. Talonbooks sales have remained stable; it’s the associated costs that are rising unsustainably.

Talonbooks relies on grant funding for about half of its expenses, said Williams. While grants have been reliable, with allocations over two or four years for operating expenses, the dollar amounts have not increased.

While government funders are in it for the long haul, “I think they’ve been just hoping that they don’t really need to do anything more,” said Williams. “Or they don’t need to keep up with inflation.”

Williams noted that the monthly rent for Talonbooks’ office space has increased by 70 per cent since 2019.

Survival means making adjustments to save money where possible, but it’s a tricky balance, he continued. Pull back too much from marketing, and sales may suffer.

B.C. is Canada’s second-largest English-language book market. The book publishing industry generates significant economic activity and supports more than 790 jobs throughout the province, the B.C. government representative said over email.

What happens when writers lose places to publish?

While many of B.C.’s 40-plus independent publishers are surviving, funding challenges have already led to closures. Vancouver independent book publisher New Star Books closed in 2025, for example.

Literary magazines are also feeling the pinch. Earlier this year, Room, Canada’s oldest feminist literary magazine, briefly ceased operations before emerging with increased prices, citing financial challenges from higher operating and living costs.

If writers lose places to be published, entire careers could fail to launch, said Sookfong Lee.

“How are people supposed to know who the next emerging voice is, if you can’t read their second short story that’s ever been published,” she said.

Fewer avenues to publication could also mean lower chances of grant success or amounts received. Veteran writers are not immune either, she added.

The person who suffers the most is the author, Sookfong Lee laughed.

“I laugh because I am an author,” she said. “What else are we going to do in the face of destruction?”

A faster-growing sector than oil and gas

Canadian publishers are particularly savvy about weathering financial uncertainty through collaboration, not as competitors, said Lam.

“We’re all working with Canadian authors, and all working towards getting our books better represented in the marketplace,” he said. 

Authors need a unified voice to survive, said Yukon story laureate, John Firth. 

“It starts with the writers,” he said. “They’ve got to stand up and get loud, make a lot of noise.” 

Perhaps ironically, Firth is not alone in thinking more collaboration is needed. 

The Artworks report from Business / Arts and Canada Council found that the cultural sector directly contributed $65 billion to the Canadian economy and was a faster-growing sector than most others, including oil and gas, manufacturing and agriculture. 

Why that contribution is not recognized in the same way is complicated, said Aubrey Reeves, president and CEO of Business / Arts. 

“But I think the main reason is the structure of the arts and culture sector.”

Other major industries only have a few stakeholders with one big footprint. This gives them the ability to come together to pinpoint their key issues and speak with one voice when advocating to the government, said Reeves. 

This force is even clearer at the municipal level. If a big industry player threatens to close, the community impact is obvious to elected officials, said Reeves. 

Arts and culture, however, is “very dispersed,” with thousands of small arts organizations scattered across the country, said Reeves. 

“You don’t have that visible presence and concentration,” she said. 

People are aware of the impact their local arts organization has at the grassroots level, said Reeves, but it’s harder to see how it adds up across the whole country.

Regional organizations shine a light on stories that are unique to provinces and territories, said Cole of BC and Yukon Book Prizes.

“It’s an investment in the future and the community we want to create,” said Cole.

“If that all washes away and we’re all one homogeneous voice, it would be a real loss.”