ABA Board of Director Candidate Bios - 2017

For a Two-Year Term as ABA President (2017–2019)

Robert Sindelar

Robert Sindelar has been a bookseller for 26 years. He started his career at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida, in 1990 and in 1992 moved to Seattle, Washington, where he worked at The Elliott Bay Book Company for seven years. In 1999, Robert joined Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Washington, where he is now managing partner. Third Place Books is a large independent bookstore with new and used books and three locations in the Seattle area. Robert is the current vice president/secretary of the ABA Board of Directors and has served on the Booksellers Advisory Council, the Nominating Committee, and the IndieCommerce Task Force, as well as the Washington State Book Awards Committee.

“Independent bookselling is simultaneously changing at a faster rate than I’ve ever seen (changes in threats from online competitors, customer buying behavior, relationships with our publishing partners, minimum wages increases, etc.), while still maintaining the core values that were so prevalent in my first days as a bookseller over 25 years ago (creating unique welcoming spaces in our communities, connecting authors and readers, curating distinguished reading selections for our customers, offering outstanding customer service, etc.). This is definitely a moment when it’s more important than ever to remind ourselves who we are and why we are here, while constantly looking forward and anticipating the changes we may need to make to secure and ensure the longevity of independent bookselling. To be in a position to continue to steer this organization in the right direction with such a dedicated group of people (the ABA Board and the ABA staff) is both humbling and invigorating.”

For a Two-Year Term as ABA Vice President (2017–2019) and a Second Three-Year Term as a Board Director (2017–2020)

Jamie Fiocco

Jamie Fiocco worked in publishing for 15 years before helping out at her local independent bookstore one holiday season … and four years later, in 2009, she opened her own store, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She is currently serving as a director on the ABA Board and is a past president of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. She has served on ABA’s Booksellers Advisory Council, Nominating Committee, Education and Technology task forces, as well as her local county library advisory board.

“I was able to start my own store in large part due to educational programs and materials from ABA, and I’m very interested in helping current and future bookstore owners get the tools and advocacy they need to excel in today’s environment,” Jamie says. “I’d like to help continue the Board’s good work on establishing independent bookstores as tastemakers in the industry, and I think there’s even more we can do to make independent bookstores more successful and profitable, from improving technological tools to working even more closely with publishers and authors. It’s an honor to serve on the ABA Board and to be selected for this role and I’m excited to be part of the future of independent bookselling.”

For Their First Three-Year Terms as Board Directors (2017–2020)

Kenny Brechner

Kenny Brechner has owned and operated Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers (DDG) in Farmington, Maine, for the last 26 years. Apart from being passionately engaged as a children’s book specialist, for which he was recognized with the 2014 WNBA Pannell Award (honoring bookstores that enhance their communities by bringing exceptional creativity to foster a love of reading in their young patrons) and the 2015 Maine School Board Association Business Friend of Education Award, he also writes the Thursday Shelftalker children’s book blog for Publishers Weekly and has written a book column in the Franklin County Daily Bulldog for many years.

Kenny is a current member of ABA’s Booksellers Advisory Council and the ABC Children’s Advisory Council. He has also served on various ABA and ABC awards and program committees. Kenny is a past co-chair of the New England Children’s Booksellers Advisory Council and has served on the New England Independent Booksellers Association’s Advisory Council and Board Nominating Committee.

“Apart from advocating for the particular needs of rural bookstores,” Kenny reports, “there are a number of important issues I hope to have the opportunity to emphasize at ABA. One is providing the tools for stores to change the Amazon narrative at the local level, helping community members and other local businesses see themselves as stakeholders in safeguarding their local economies and tax bases from being undermined by Amazon's cloaked but burgeoning vertical and horizontal acquisitions. Another issue I am fired up about is expanding ABA resources to help member stores increase their school business through subscription programs, literacy outreach, diversity and nonfiction initiatives, and community networking. Holding forth in our stores is no longer a sufficient posture in many communities. Have store, will travel is the unofficial DDG slogan.”

Christine Onorati

Christine Onorati is the owner and buyer of WORD Bookstores in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and Jersey City, New Jersey. After working in publishing for several years after college, Christine decided to follow in her family’s retail footsteps and open a small used and new bookshop on Long Island. Christine considers those years to be her training for opening the Brooklyn location of WORD in 2007.

Coinciding with a 10-year anniversary celebration this spring, Christine is excited to be expanding the Brooklyn location, creating separate stores for kids and adults. Partnering with schools and presenting a strong author event program are essential to WORD’s mission, and the staff is constantly exploring new partnerships and opportunities to sell books outside of their four (eight) walls.

Christine is very focused on the role of bookstores today and the evolving nature of our industry.

“I vividly remember sitting in the preview presentation for IndieBound and bouncing out of my seat with excitement over seeing something so fresh and new for our industry,” says Christine. “I’m looking forward to working with the ABA Board to come up with new and creative ways to get the indie message out to the masses, get media coverage for our targeted messages, and advocate for indies in a modern, meaningful way.”

Christine also feels very strongly about focusing on the next generation of booksellers, of ensuring that young people will continue to view bookselling as a viable career, and in helping indies find new, modern solutions for many of the operational systems traditionally available to us. “If we’re going to be competitive in the 21st century, we need strong tools to do so, and I look forward to exploring improvements to our IndieCommerce platform and other technological advantages and partnerships,” she says. “I have been pleased to participate in the IndieCommerce Task Force for each of the last two years and look forward to contributing more in this effort.”

Christine served on the board of New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association for two years and is thrilled at the prospect of joining the ABA Board. She lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with her husband, eight-year-old son and two-year-old twin daughters.