Six publishers have combined to create Indie Shindig, a new program aimed at promoting new books to independent booksellers in the absence of the numerous trade shows that have been postponed because of the coronavirus. The initiative is spearheaded by Workman Publishing in partnership with Abrams Books, Bloomsbury Publishing, Candlewick Press, Chronicle Books, Sourcebooks, and the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation.
Beginning June 22 and running through September 28, Indie Shindig will consist of 14 separate hour-long themed weekly events, which will take place each Monday at 2 p.m. EST. (There will be no program on Labor Day.) According to Workman, the virtual event series will cover more than 200 titles across a range of genres and authors. Event themes include debuts, award winners, young adult fiction books, gift books, new and established series, genre blenders, and more.
The first event to kick off Indie Shindig will be In Solidarity: Black Voices Matter on June 22. As part of Indie Shindig, the participating publishers will combine to make a donation of $10 per bookseller attendee for each event to Binc with a cap of $15,000 for the full program. The full events schedule for Indie Shindig can be found here, and interested booksellers can find out more about Indie Shindig here.
