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Independent booksellers will be honoured at the inaugural Bookseller Industry Awards with five regional awards, which will feed into the overall award for Independent Bookseller of the Year.
Entries for the awards are now being called for and submissions can be sent to Louise.Lenzi@bookseller.co.uk. Emails should be headed IBOTY Nomination and include your name and the name and address of your shop in the body of the email. The deadline for entries is 5th February.
From the initial nominations, five regional shortlists will be drawn up and then judged by a panel of retail and industry experts and publicly announced in the spring. The winning bookshop in each region will then become a contender for the overall Independent Bookseller of the Year Award.
Neill Denny, editor-in-chief of The Bookseller, said: “Being named best bookshop in your region will be a huge boost for any shop and winning the national award, being named the best book shop in Britain, will benefit a store for years to come. Winning will lift staff, customers and sales, and I would urge all shops to enter.”
In order to provide further information for the final judging panel, a mystery shopping exercise will be carried out during March and April and the final judging will take place in April.
The overall winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on 17th May at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, the middle night of The Book Industry Conference (formerly the BA Conference).
The new awards have brought together the British Book Industry Awards, also known as the trade nibbies, and The Bookseller’s own Retail Awards. For further information or criteria email Louise.Lenzi@bookseller.co.uk or Sally.Poulier@bookseller.co.uk.