Indies Introduce was developed with the goal of discovering new voices and building relationships between independent booksellers and authors who are at the beginning of their careers. Due to quantity limitations and at booksellers’ request, ABA limits the number of publishers it solicits, and the number of submissions per publisher. Decisions regarding submissions are subject to ABA's discretion.

ABA Associate Member publishers who have sponsored recent ABA events are asked to submit up to a certain number of titles by debut authors (see debut criteria below) for consideration by a panel of 8 booksellers from ABA member stores across the country (one from each region). The panelists read and discuss each title over a series of conference calls eventually narrowing the list down to their top ten debut titles.

ABA Associate Member publishers interested in submitting to Indies Introduce can contact Chief Operating Officer Joy Dallanegra-Sanger ([email protected]) or Program Manager Cedar Fields ([email protected]).

Timing

There are two seasons per year:

  • Winter/Spring - for books publishing January through mid-June; submissions are requested in April/May of the year before; panel reading and discussion occur late May through August before these titles go on sale. The final adult and children’s lists are announced publicly in early September.
  • Summer/Fall - for books publishing June through December; submissions are requested in September/October of the year before; panel reading and discussion occur January through April before these titles go on sale. The final adult and children’s lists are announced publicly in early May.

There is a separate panel of booksellers for adult books and children’s books for each season. These panels each come up with a final list of 10 debuts (for a total of 20) per season to feature.

Criteria for Eligibility

  • The debut titles can be fiction, nonfiction, or poetry; all genres welcome.
  • The works chosen must be available in print; ebook exclusives will not be considered.
  • The books being considered should have an on-sale-date corresponding to the season they are being submitted for.
  • Authors with previously published books will not be considered. This includes self-published books. However, if an author has only published an e-original that is equivalent to or under 100 print pages, that author is eligible for submission.
  • Authors from outside the United States who are being published in the US for the first time ARE eligible, however efforts should be made to make sure any previously published foreign editions are not widely available in the US through online vendors.
  • For titles with multiple authors or graphic works with an author and illustrator, all authors/illustrators must not have previously published a book.
  • When reviewing potential debuts to submit, keep in mind that booksellers have made a strong call for publishers to better support BIPOC and other underrepresented authors.

*For children’s submissions, only middle grade and YA are accepted. We are not accepting picture book submissions at this time.

Promotion

If a title is chosen to be part of the promotion, publishers agree to the following:

  • Offer one of the following to participating bookstores: +10 points on the initial order; a display allowance; OR 150 days dating
    *To simplify this process for booksellers and to accommodate the various sell-in schedules, we request that the terms be retroactive for stores that have already placed their frontlist orders.
  • Include information about your Indies Introduce author in marketing bullets on Edelweiss and have your sales reps talk about these titles with buyers.
  • Allow one of the panelists to contact the author directly to share the good news.
  • Consider including your author in the Indies Introduce presentation (virtual or in-person as opportunity allows).
  • Consider making the galley available for booksellers on Edelweiss and/or NetGalley.
  • In addition, we ask that the author show their support for independent bookstores by linking to their favorite independent bookstore(s) or to Indie Bound and Bookshop on their website, and to visit their local bookstore(s) to make signed copies of their debut title available through that store.

Once the final titles (10 adult/10 kids) have been selected for a season, there will be an open period for ABA member stores to sign up to take advantage of the publisher promotional terms.

Participating Bookstores agree to:

  • Promote at least 8 of 20 titles (adult and kids combined).
  • Order at least 3 copies of hardcover adult and kids’ titles or 5 copies of paperback titles (display allowance titles may have different order requirements).
  • Promote the debut titles through social media, staff picks, and the like.

The ABA agrees to: 

  • Create a presentation centered on the books chosen by the panelists at Winter or Children’s Institute as the opportunity allows.
  • Share early bookseller quotes with booksellers and publishers.
  • Create marketing DIY for booksellers.
  • Coordinate audio interview and/or written Q&A’s with the authors and panelists for BTW and for booksellers to use in newsletters