PW Launches Frederic G. Melcher Lifetime Achievement Award

Publishers Weekly is launching the Frederic G. Melcher Lifetime Achievement Award, to be awarded annually to an individual who over the course of their career has made a significant impact on the publishing business.

The award is named after an influential figure in PW's history. Melcher joined the magazine in 1918 and was active with it for over 40 years, acting as, among other things, PW's editor and chairman of its parent company, R. R. Bowker. Melcher also served as secretary of the American Booksellers Association, helped create the National Association of Publishers, and launched the Newbery Medal and Caldecott Medal for children’s books and the Carey-Thomas Awards for distinguished publishing.

The inaugural award will feature in PW's 2023 Person of the Year issue on Dec. 18, and will honor PW's retiring editorial director, Jim Milliot, for the 30-plus years he has covered the industry. During his tenure at PW, Milliot has risen from business editor to editorial director and steered the magazine's reporting through an era of tremendous change. He also served four years as a director of the Independent Book Publishers Association, and won the BISG Sally Dedecker Award for Lifetime Service in 2023.