The Book Industry Study Group has announced that Publishers Weekly editorial director Jim Milliot will receive the group's Sally Dedecker Award for Lifetime Service. The annual award honors book publishing professionals whose "tireless and persistent" work has made a positive impact on the book publishing industry. Milliot is recognized for his "decades-long commitment to reporting on the book industry."
Previous award honorees include Joe Gonnella, formerly of Barnes & Noble; Maureen McMahon of Kaplan Publishing; the late David Cully of Baker & Taylor; Mike Shatzkin of the Idea Logical Company; and Michael Bamberger of Dentons. The award was created in 2013.
"I am happy to accept this award on behalf of all my colleagues, past and present, at PW," said Milliot in a statement about the honor. "We have always done our best to provide the information the industry needs to make informed decisions, and it is truly appreciated that those efforts have not gone unnoticed."
Book Industry Study Group added that Milliot's reporting highlighted the publishing industry's "best moments and many of its most challenging," informing on the changing scope, structure and color of the business.
Milliot joined PW in April 1993 after then-publisher Fred Ciporen invited him to lunch where editor-in-chief Nora Rawlinson offered him the job of business editor. Prior to joining the magazine, Milliot served as executive editor of Simba Information, helming the business of publishing newsletter, the BP Report, and serving as editor for the Educational Marketer and IDP Report newsletters.
Serving as news editor at PW, Milliot regularly helped launch innovative such as “fast-growing indie publishers” and the Publishers Weekly annual salary surveys. He also oversees coverage for Person of the Year, Bookstore and Rep of the Year, and Star Watch programs.
For BISG, Milliot served on the organization's statistics committee, formed under Sandy Paul, BISG's first executive director. He wrote commentary for a number of BISG Trends reports, including several published under the leadership of Jeff Abramson and Angela Bole. From 2014 to 2018, Milliot served on the board of directors of the Independent Book Publishers Association.
The Sally Decker Award for Lifetime Service award will be presented as part of a lunchtime program at the BISG annual meeting, hosted at the Harvard Club of New York on Friday, April 28.
