This year's Board of Director candidates:

All biographies were written and submitted by the candidates.

Kathy Burnette (currently serving as an appointee)

Danny Caine (running for a second term)

Danny Caine is a co-owner of the Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kansas, where he has worked in some capacity since 2015. The Raven is a small, college-town, new-only bookstore with specialties in poetry, political nonfiction, horror, Midwestern authors, and children’s literature.  In 2022, Publishers Weekly named the Raven Bookstore of the Year. Aside from running the Raven with its talented team of employee co-owners and booksellers, Danny is the author of several books, including How to Resist Amazon and Why, How to Protect Bookstores and Why, and the poetry collections Continental Breakfast, El Dorado Freddy’s, Flavortown, and Picture Window. In 2019, the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association presented Danny with the Midwest Bookseller of the Year award.

Danny is a former member of the ABA Bookseller Advisory Council and the MIBA Board. He founded the Paper Plains Literary Festival and has created a bestselling series of zines, including Save the USPS and the original version of How to Resist Amazon and Why. He is committed to finding ways to help bookstores create a better world for their communities and booksellers. To this end he has written about bookselling and associated issues for Publishers Weekly, Literary Hub, and Kansas Reflector.

Danny firmly believes the book industry is at a turning point: massive upheaval, from corporate consolidation to big-tech monopolizing, threatens to permanently alter the book industry in ways that do not favor independent bookstores. According to Danny, book industry upheaval demands dynamic leadership from the ABA to ensure that there is a healthy and vibrant next generation of booksellers.

To nurture this next generation of booksellers, Danny feels strongly that the ABA must push the book industry to welcome and support BIPOC booksellers, LGBTQIA+ booksellers, booksellers with disabilities, neurodiverse booksellers, and booksellers who don’t come from connected or privileged backgrounds.

The most important of the many ways to nurture the next generation of diverse booksellers, according to Danny, is to ensure booksellers make a living wage. Caine acknowledges, “There is much work to be done.” But, he adds, “It is vital work to ensure that all booksellers earn a living wage and reflect the full diversity of the communities they serve.”

Jake Cumsky-Whitlock (running for a second term)

Jake Cumsky-Whitlock is co-owner of Solid State Books (SSB) in Washington, D.C., the store he co-founded in 2017. SSB has two locations that sell new children’s and adult books, stationery, and other book-related gifts. Its first location has a coffee shop/beer and wine bar, and functions as a community gathering space, hosting author events, panels, and book clubs. Jake has worked for publishing houses in Boston and New York. 

His bookselling career began in 2004 at Kramerbooks & Afterwords in Washington, D.C., where he served as bookseller, shift manager, hiring manager, and assistant buyer before eventually being named Head Buyer. Jake is a former member of ABA’s Booksellers Advisory Council and served as chair of the Spring 2020 Adult Indies Introduce panel. He holds a B.A. in English Literature and Art History from the University of Virginia, and an M.A. in Creative Writing from Boston University. He lives in Northeast Washington, D.C., with his wife, 14- and 11-year-old sons, and 7-year-old daughter.

“I have been incredibly lucky to learn my trade from a range of talented, generous booksellers, co-workers, and bookstore owners, and my service on the ABA Board represents an opportunity to pay back some of that generosity,” says Jake. “I believe in, and luxuriate in, this bookselling community of ours. Independent bookstores, and their incredible diversity of booksellers, are a resilient and creative lot, having weathered numerous storms throughout the years.

“We currently find ourselves at another inflection point, as the uncertainty of the post-pandemic retail landscape, and the increasing market dominance and omnipresence of the multi-billion-dollar internet behemoth in the corner, threatens once more to reduce our numbers. Despite such obvious hurdles, I strongly believe that, once again, our resourcefulness, adaptability, and guile will see us through. We still have such a valuable role to play in our communities, for our communities, and I believe that the pandemic has only reinforced that importance.

“I look forward to continuing to work with Allison Hill, the ABA staff, and the rest of the ABA Board to continue to level the playing field in our favor, creating a more stable environment in which all ABA members will thrive. I am also excited to be a small part of the increasing diversification of both the ABA Board and the greater independent bookselling community. I’d like to see those gains similarly reflected in the larger publishing ecosystem, sooner rather than later.”
 

Christina Pascucci Ciampa (running for first term)

Christina Pascucci Ciampa is the founder/owner of All She Wrote Books, located in Somerville, Massachusetts. All She Wrote Books is an intersectional, inclusive queer/feminist indie bookstore that supports, celebrates, and amplifies underrepresented voices through its thoughtfully curated selection of books spanning across all genres.

As a queer person and survivor of domestic abuse, Christina went digging for stories that she could relate to. Being an avid reader, she often felt unrepresented by bookshelves and online recommendations showcasing what was already popular.

In response, Christina started All She Wrote Books by partnering with local businesses in Somerville such as the Canopy Room at Bow Market and Winter Hill Brewing Company, asking them if she could bring a 3-shelf, beige Ikea cart of new and used books written by authors that the big retailers seldom acknowledged. She would set herself up in a small section of these businesses, selling books that tended to be shortchanged with less shelf space and support.

In July of 2020, All She Wrote Books opened its first brick-and-mortar location at Assembly Row in Somerville, and celebrated its three year anniversary this past July. As of October 15th, 2023, All She Wrote Books had moved its new storefront at 75 Washington Street in Somerville.

Christina has served on the ABA Bookseller’s Advisory Council for the last three years, along with being a board member of her local main street’s organization, East Somerville Main Streets. Her unique board experience brings a fresh perspective that goes beyond the bookshelves. “We all know the world of indie bookstores is drastically different than it was just a few years ago. Bouncing back from the hits we’ve experienced certainly isn’t easy, but our mission remains the same. Indies aren’t just purveyors of books; we’re facilitators of opportunities to learn and feel included. I aim to use my expertise and unique experiences to help indies think beyond the bookshelf. Together, we can become better community members within the book community and beyond.”

When Christina is not at the bookstore or reading, she is spending time with her partner, Chris, and her tri-color Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy Ruby, as well as family and friends.