ABA to Restart Indies Introduce Program for Summer/Fall 2021 Season

While the American Booksellers Association paused the Indies Introduce debut authors program as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted business for many booksellers this spring, ABA is once again inviting booksellers to join the adult and children’s panels for the Summer/Fall 2021 Indies Introduce season.

As part of the program, teams of booksellers (one from each region of the country for the adult panel and the kids’ panel) will read manuscripts for upcoming debut titles, meeting via Zoom from January to April 2021.

The goal of each bookseller panel is to narrow the manuscripts to the top 10 titles — 10 adult picks for the adult panel and 10 middle grade and young adult titles for the children’s panel — that best showcase new voices and are publishing in the Summer/Fall 2021 season.

When the lists are announced in May 2021, publishers will offer promotional terms for these titles to stores that sign up to promote the list.

ABA is always looking for potential booksellers to be readers on the Indies Introduce panels. Booksellers who are interested in reading and participating on a panel should email Program & Development Coordinator Jess Stauffer, indicating whether they prefer to read for the adult or kids’ list, and their preferred reading time frame: January to April for the Summer/Fall 2021 season, or June to August for the Winter/Spring 2022 season.

Booksellers can see the past Indies Introduce picks here.