ABA to Showcase Indies Introduce Picks at Regional Shows

Booksellers interested in being reader panelists for next season wanted

Booksellers who are beginning to plan their orders and displays for the Winter/Spring 2016 Indies Introduce program can stop by ABA’s booth at the upcoming regional association trade shows next month to see many of the featured titles and to collect a handout that includes all 20 picks, cover images, bookseller comments, and more.

Publishers are offering specials on the 10 adult and 10 children’s books selected by booksellers from across the country for this round of the Indies Introduce program. The titles include adult fiction and nonfiction, middle grade, and YA books publishing between January and June 2016. See the full list of Indies Introduce picks and details about the program here.

Several Indies Introduce debut authors will be making appearances at regional trade shows as well, including Sunil Yapa (Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist, Lee Boudreaux Books), Ed Tarkington (Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Workman/Algonquin), and Gavriel Savit (Anna and the Swallow Man, Knopf Books for Young Readers) at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association trade show. At the Heartland Fall Forum, booksellers can meet Tarkington as well as Jeff Zentner (The Serpent King, Crown Books for Young Readers).

Bookseller panelists who read through stacks of debut galleys to select this most recent group of Indies Introduce picks raved about the experience, and ABA is now seeking indie booksellers who are interested in serving as readers for the Summer/Fall 2016 season.

“Sharing these incredible debuts we selected for the reading public is just one way we as independent bookstores solidify our place as arbiters of good taste,” said Jenny Lyons of The Vermont Book Shop in Middlebury, Vermont, who served on the Indies Introduce adult panel.

“One of my favorite perks of being a bookseller is having the pleasure of reading books before they are published and discovering gems to hand-sell. Reading for the Indies Introduce program was all of that times 10! It felt a lot like taking part in a great big book club, and getting together once a week to talk books with independent booksellers across the country was such a blast. We all can’t wait to meet each other in person,” she added.

“I love discovering new writers and so it was a real honor to be a part of the Indies Introduce Middle Grade/Young Adult panel,” said Caitlin Baker of University Book Store in Seattle, Washington. “I loved talking about all of the fantastic new voices debuting in Winter/Spring 2016 with booksellers from around the country. I am so excited for the books and authors on our list and to share them with other readers!”

Booksellers who are interested in reading a number of promising debuts to help select the next round of great new authors are asked to send an e-mail with the subject line “Indies Introduce Reader” to ABA Senior Program Officer Joy Dallanegra-Sanger. In the e-mail, booksellers should indicate whether they prefer to read adult titles or kids’ titles, or whether they have no preference.

Learn more about this season’s Indies Introduce selections here.