ABA Relaunches Indie Booksellers Awards

Jan 29, 2026

The American Booksellers Association announced on Wednesday that it is relaunching its Indies Choice Book Awards, the literary prize program initially launched in 1991 as the American Booksellers Book of the Year and presented at the now-defunct trade show Book Expo.

In 2000, the program was relaunched as the Book Sense Book of the Year, and in 2009 was renamed the Indies Choice Book Awards. In 2010, it was renamed once again as the Indies Choice Book Awards/E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards. The program was postponed in 2019 and went on hiatus following the cancelation of Book Expo in 2020.

There will be seven categories in the Indies Choice Book Awards: adult fiction, adult nonfiction, picture book, middle grade, young adult, debut adult, and debut children’s book. Winners in each category will receive $2,000. Nominees will be selected by ABA member bookstores from titles included on the ABA’s Indies Next, Kids Indie Next, and Indies Introduce lists. 

For more information about the awards program, contact icba@bookweb.org.

 

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