18 Booksellers Named “Introduce an Indie” Scholarship Winners

On Friday, May 18, BookExpo announced the winners of the first annual “Introduce an Indie” scholarship. The program, designed in collaboration with the American Booksellers Association and the nine regional bookseller associations, will bring up-and-coming booksellers from around the country to BookExpo 2018 for the opportunity to be fully immersed in the book industry. 

BookExpo launched the program at ABA’s Spring Forums, where representatives shared the show’s new value offerings and encouraged ABA member booksellers to apply for the scholarships. Applications were reviewed with the executive director of each association and picked collaboratively with BookExpo.

Winning booksellers will receive a BookExpo travel voucher, including a room at the official ABA hotel (The New Yorker), and a custom itinerary of meetings, education sessions, and author events.

“We have reimagined BookExpo to support independent booksellers as they continue to grow. Working with the ABA, this program was a natural extension to this effort to offer more booksellers an opportunity to discover all that the reimagined BookExpo offers,” said BookExpo Senior Vice President Ed Several. “We look forward to welcoming this year’s winners and learning from them how we can improve and grow this program each year.”

The 2018 Introduce an Indie winners are:

Northern California Independent Booksellers Association:

• Susan Tunis, Bookseller & Event Coordinator, BookShop West Portal (San Francisco, CA)
• Rosie Lee, Children’s Specialist, Readers’ Books (Sonoma, CA)

Southern California Independent Booksellers Association:

• Robert Turner, Buyer & Finance Manager, Café Con Libros Press (Pomona, CA)
• Amanda Qassar, Children’s Buyer, Warwick’s (La Jolla, CA)

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association

• James Crossley, Buyer & Bookseller, Island Books (Mercer Island, WA)
• Alexa Butler, Manager, Beach Books (Seaside, OR)

Midwest Independent Booksellers Association:

• Beth Burnett, Manager, Zenith Bookstore (Duluth, MN)
• Megan McComb, Bookseller, Raven Bookstore (Lawrence, KS)

Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance:

• Star Lowe, Owner, Star Line Books (Chattanooga, TN)
• Wendy Beeker, Owner, South Main Book Co. (Salisbury, NC)

New England Independent Booksellers Association:

• Paul Swydan, Owner, Silver Unicorn (Acton, MA)
• Karen Opper, Owner, That Book Store (Wethersfield, CT)

New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association:

• Leslie Spishock, Owner, A Likely Story (Sykesville, MD)
• Elliot Batzedek, Outreach Manager, Big Blue Marble (Philadelphia, PA)

Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association:

• Kelsey Westenberg, Bookseller, Dial Bookshop (Chicago, IL)
• Melia Wolf, Owner, Cover to Cover Children’s Books (Columbus, OH)

Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association:

• Marcy Rizzi, Owner, Booked on 25th (Ogden, UT)
• Callie Metler, Owner, Noteworthy (Stamford, TX)

Booksellers can register for free badges to BookExpo by providing their ABA member ID number during the registration process. More information about ABA’s programming at BookExpo can be found on BookWeb.org.