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FAQ for Readers

  • Are you a book lover who still gets that little thrill when you find out an author whose books you love is actually Canadian?
  • Do you wish it were easier to find Canadian books in bookshops?
  • Have you ever been frustrated by the fact that there is no central place that lists all the Canadian books and authors in one place?
  • Do you wish you could attend one of those book conventions, but can’t because a) the cost of tickets and travel and hotel stays and eating out are more than you can afford; or b) because you live somewhere remote; or c) because you have health or mobility issues that make it dangerous or difficult to do so?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Canada Fiction Fest was made for YOU!

What is Fiction Fest?

Canada Fiction Fest is a showcase of Canadian books and authors from all across the country.

Is this some kind of sale?

Fiction Fest is not a sale. You will find links to bookstores where you can buy our authors’ books on each of the book cards on our Showcase page, but we do not require our authors to reduce prices in order to participate in this event.

Think of Fiction Fest as more of a big online book fair, focused completely on Canadian fiction. Our goal is to bring a whole bunch of Canadian books and authors together in one place where you can learn more about them and get to know some of the amazing literary talent we have right here in Canada.

Can I buy books I find here?

Yes! On each book card in our showcase, you will find up to four links that will take you to places where you can buy our authors’ books. (We do not sell books directly through the FictionFest.ca website.)

On the showcase page, you can filter the books to show only the ones that are available in the places where you generally like to shop, and we have requested that authors submit links that go to sales pages listed in $CAD for the major sales platforms.

NOTE: Authors are allowed a maximum of four links per book for the showcase, but most books will be available in far more than just four shops. Be sure to check out the “Other”/ “Buy Elsewhere” links that may be included — these are often linked to aggregator pages (e.g. Books2Read) where you can find the links to ALL the places where the book in question is available!

Another purchasing tip: We have also added the ability for authors to include “Buy Direct” and “Buy on Itch.io” links. Either of these links will take you to shop pages where you can bypass the megacorps and buy directly from the author. (Itch.io links will always go to Itch.io storefronts, and the general “Buy Direct” links may go to Payhip, Etsy, Shopify or other direct purchasing shops.) Generally, buying direct means no DRM for you and a higher royalty for the author.

And, finally, a special note about Itch.io links: Itch.io only allows pricing in $USD, so please be aware of that if purchasing through these links. (All other shop links are supposed to be in $CAD.)

How Does Fiction Fest Work?

On the FictionFest.ca website, you’ll find pages for our Showcase, our Gallery, our Stats, and our Events.

Showcase
On the Showcase page, you’ll find a filterable gallery of books that our authors have chosen to feature during this event. Each card has links to bookstores where you can buy the book. Icons at the bottom of each book card will let you know the length, format availability, spice level, and genres of each of the listed books. You can filter the gallery by these same elements if you’d like, and these filters are also interoperable, so you can choose to see just the fantasy novellas available as audiobooks on Kobo, for example. Clicking on any author’s name in a book card will take you to their bio card in our Gallery.

If you need a reminder of what any of the icons in a particular book card mean, just click on the “>>” button in the Showcase filter bar and the icons legend panel will slide out from the left-hand side of the screen. Click anywhere in the legend panel to close it again.

Gallery
In addition to photographs and biographies for each participating author, the bio cards in the Gallery also have links to author websites and other links they’ve chosen to feature. You can also filter the Gallery to see authors by province/territory, if you so choose.

Events
On the Events page, you’ll find a list of all the live virtual sessions we’ve organized for the event. You can register for events you wish to attend from this page.

Stats
On the stats page, you’ll find a map showing provincial numbers for participating authors and statistical charts and data about the books in our showcase (numbers for genres and lengths, for example).

Is there a cost to participate?

There is no cost for readers to participate in Canada Fiction Fest. Browse to your heart’s content, and sign up for any of the virtual sessions you want to attend.

If you choose to buy any of the featured books, you will need to pay for them on whatever store you decide to shop on. (Again, we do not sell books directly through the FictionFest.ca website. Purchase links are provided for your convenience and will take you off our site.)

How will my information be used?

Unless you have opted in to our email notifications or registered for one of our live virtual sessions, Fiction Fest does not capture any of your information beyond what is necessary to run the site itself.

If you have registered for a session, your email will be used to send you the link for attending that session and reminders in the lead up to the session so you don’t forget.

If you have opted in to our notifications list, your email will be retained in a mailing list so that we can let you know when Fiction Fest starts. It may also be used to send you other Fiction Fest-related marketing updates (like letting you know when the next Fiction Fest will be, for example).

We do not share your information with others (except what is technically necessary to integrate with our event session notifications), and you will not be added to any author newsletters unless you specifically add yourself to their lists. We do, however, recommend that you join your favourite authors’ lists — with social media as fractured as it is these days, mailing lists are usually the most reliable way authors have of letting you know when they have upcoming events or new books coming out! Look for the little envelope icons in the Author Gallery cards for quick links to individual authors’ signup pages.

If you signed up for Fiction Fest notifications and wish to stop receiving emails from us, all you need to do is click the unsubscribe link in any email you have already received from us.