New Indie Shindig Initiative for Independent Bookstores to Benefit Binc

In the wake of the postponement of many key trade shows due to the spread of COVID-19, a new virtual event series for booksellers titled Indie Shindig is being launched to help independent booksellers discover new books published by the independent-minded publishing community.

In an environment that also prevents sales teams from hitting the road to share new and forthcoming books with buyers, Indie Shindig allows publishers to better serve the bookselling community by giving everyone a way to discover forthcoming and favorite titles. This initiative is led by Workman Publishing Co., Inc., in partnership with Abrams Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, Candlewick Press, Chronicle Books, Sourcebooks, and the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation.

Indie Shindig will consist of 14 separate hour-long themed weekly events, occurring each Monday at 2:00 p.m. EST, from Monday, June 22, through Monday, September 28 (with no events held Labor Day, September 7). The virtual event series will cover more than 200 titles across a range of genres and authors. Event themes include debuts, award winners, young adult fiction books, gift books, new and established series, genre blenders, and more. The first event to kick off Indie Shindig will be “In Solidarity: Black Voices Matter” on June 22. The full events schedule for Indie Shindig can be found here.

All participating publishers will split a donation of $10 per bookseller attendee for each event to Binc, with a cap of $15,000 total. “The Binc Foundation is proud to be part of this incredible collaboration with six outstanding publishing houses. The commitment to independent bookstores is evident in this innovative initiative, which brings booksellers and publishers together all while supporting booksellers through Binc. The funds contributed through Indie Shindig events will help booksellers and their families through the hardships brought on by the current public health crisis and beyond,” said Pam French, executive director of Binc.

Of the partnership, Liz Hunter, associate director of field sales at Workman Publishing, said, “Workman is thrilled to partner with a stellar group of independent publishers in this virtual event series. We hope that Indie Shindig will be an opportunity on a few different levels: to foster community with our friends at the indie bookstores and our colleagues in publishing, to continue to support the incredible efforts of Binc, and to have fun by celebrating fantastic books.”

Interested booksellers can find out more about Indie Shindig and sign up for events via the Indie Shindig sign-up form.