Author Events Planned for Independent Bookstores Across the Country

The American Booksellers Association and the Authors Guild [4] announced today a new joint initiative to produce events in independent bookstores around the country. The events — each of which will include a conversation and a book signing — will pair a debut author with an established author in the authors’ home area. The emerging authors have been chosen by independent booksellers for ABA’s Indies Introduce list.

Angie Thomas (photo by Anissa Hidouk) and Nic Stone (photo by Nigel Livingstone)

Three events are scheduled for fall 2017, beginning on Tuesday, October 24, at 7:00 p.m. at Little Shop of Stories [5] in Decatur, Georgia, featuring Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give, Balzer + Bray) and Indies Introduce author Nic Stone (Dear Martin, Crown Books for Young Readers).

Clockwise from top left: Esmé Weijun Wang, Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (photo by Ben Krantz), Karina Yan Glaser, and Rachel Vail

Subsequent events include Esmé Weijun Wang (The Border of Paradise, Unnamed Press) and Indies Introduce author Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (A Kind of Freedom, Counterpoint) at Book Passage [6] in Corte Madera, California, on Sunday, October 29, at 1:00 p.m., and Rachel Vail (Well That Was Awkward, Viking Books for Young Readers; Justin Case, Macmillan) and Indies Introduce author Karina Yan Glaser (The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, HMH Books for Young Readers) at Bank Street Bookstore [7] in New York City on Sunday, October 29, at 1:00 p.m.

ABA developed the Indies Introduce program in 2013 in order to highlight debut authors as selected by a panel of independent booksellers. Twice a year (winter/spring and summer/fall), bookseller panelists read and discuss publisher-submitted manuscripts, then announce 10 adult and 10 YA/middle grade Indies Introduce titles. The ABA works with member stores and publishers to promote the Indies Introduce titles and authors throughout the season in which they go on sale.

“ABA is pleased to be partnering with the Authors Guild to bring greater attention to debut writers,” said ABA Senior Program Officer Joy Dallanegra-Sanger. “Through the Indies Introduce program, now in its fifth year, independent booksellers have identified many unique, new talents. We look forward to watching the program grow in scope and awareness through the events planned with help from the Authors Guild.”

“We are delighted to work with the ABA on this wonderful initiative, which helps debut authors launch their careers and brings new writers to readers,” said Authors Guild Executive Director Mary Rasenberger. “Events pairing debut and established authors are especially important today, as the world of traditional publishing continues to contract and creative work is devalued online. Writers need each other more than ever. And it begins with those just starting out in their careers. As the nation’s professional organization for authors, the Authors Guild promotes and supports good literary citizenship among authors wherever and however we can.”

The Authors Guild has served as a resource for working writers since 1912, advocating on behalf of all authors and offering guidance, advice, and community in the form of professional support, education about the legal and business sides of writing, and networking opportunities. As the largest and oldest community of professional writers, the Guild is committed to providing lifelong support to authors of all stripes as they move through multiple stages of their careers.