Our Privacy Commitment

Shelf Awareness (“The Shelf”, “Shelf” “us”, “our” or “we”) has developed this Privacy Policy to provide information regarding the collection, use, and sharing of information we receive about our subscribers, website visitors and job board users. We care about your privacy and want you to be informed about what we do. We’ll try to make this clear and simple, but if you have questions, you can contact us, and we’ll be happy to help.

Shelf Awareness publishes e-newsletters about books and the book industry.

For Readers: Discover the 25 best books coming out this week as selected by our industry insiders. (Tuesdays and Fridays.)

For Book Trade Professionals: Receive daily enlightenment with our FREE weekday trade newsletter.

For Indie Bookstore Partners: Several “Powered By Shelf Awareness” programs serving stores, regional trade associations and the American Booksellers Association.

The Shelf Awareness website, where we offer information about the Shelf Awareness products, host our job board, facilitate subscription management and post all past mailings is www.shelf-awareness.com.

Each time you access or use a Shelf Awareness email newsletter product or digital property, such as the website, you signify that you have read, understand, and agree to be bound by this Privacy Policy found at www.shelf-awareness.com/privacy.html. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please discontinue using Shelf Awareness products and properties.

This Privacy Policy will be updated from time to time and all future changes will take effect as specified at the time of the update by posting a revised version of it on our website. Please check back regularly for the most current version of our Privacy Policy.

Privacy Summary

The Data Controller and Processor, Huge Inc doing business as Shelf Awareness, a company registered in the United States, 811 1st Avenue Suite 315, Seattle WA, 98104, is committed to protecting your privacy. If you have any questions about this policy please write to Director of Technology and Operations, Shelf Awareness, 811 1st Avenue Suite 315, Seattle WA, 98104 or alternatively by sending an email to the aforementioned director, Neil Strandberg, neil@shelf-awareness.com.

In order to send electronic newsletters, allow account access on the website and manage job board postings, Shelf Awareness must ask you to provide us with information about yourself. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, personal data is referred to as ‘information’ which means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.

Shelf Awareness uses Google Analytics to analyze traffic to our websites. Google Analytics does not create individual profiles for visitors. You can learn more about Google Analytics and opt out on their website.

Shelf Awareness uses our content management platform, Xtenit, for information storage and analysis relating to the website and the newsletters, in addition to content management.

The Shelf does not disclose information about identifiable individuals to advertisers or partner organizations. Aggregate statistical information gathered from newsletter and website usage (e.g. email open, click-through and engagement rates) may be passed on to advertisers and partners. At no point will this include personal identifying information.

Information We Collect

To use any of our services, you must provide your email address. You may voluntary supply supplementary information such as reading preferences, employer, job title, and other contact information on the subscription preferences page of your account, accessible on www.shelf-awareness.com/xs/rc.

When you access our newsletters or services online using any device, we collect information such as newsletter opens, newsletter links that you click, IP addresses, the pages of our website you visit, the type of browser or email application you use and the times you access our website.

We will only keep your information for as long as is necessary for the purpose of providing you with the service you have requested from us or to meet specific anti-fraud and legal requirements.

The provision of the information detailed above is a requirement necessary to provide the service. By providing your information and signing up to our service you are entering a contract for the term of the service. If you object or are not willing to provide this information, please do not register or use any of our services.

Please note that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of other web sites or partner stores and we recommend that you check the privacy policy of any other web sites you may visit. The inclusion of links to such web sites does not imply any endorsement of the material on such sites nor any association with their owners or operators. If you have any complaints relating to such sites, please contact them directly.

Cookies

When you access our website, or use any of our services, we (including companies we work with) may place small data files on your computer or other device known as cookies. Cookies may be used for many purposes, including, without limitation, remembering you and your preferences and tracking your visits to our web pages. We use cookies to collect information for record keeping purposes and to make it easier to navigate the Site. These cookies are intended only to improve your experience with our website and are not used to collect information about you for any other purpose. We use both “session ID cookies” and “persistent cookies.” Session ID cookies are used to store information while a user is logged into the Site and expire when the user closes his/her browser. Persistent cookies are used to make tasks like logging into the Site easier for returning users by remembering a user’s login information. Persistent cookies stay on a user’s hard drive from one session to the next. You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a persistent or session cookie is being sent, or you can choose to turn off such cookies through your browser settings. Each browser is a little different, so look at your browser Help menu to learn the correct way to modify your cookies.

Sweepstakes, Contests, and Promotions

We may offer sweepstakes, contests, and other promotions through Shelf Awareness newsletters that may require registration. By participating in a promotion, you are agreeing to official rules that govern that promotion. When you enter a promotion, we may ask for personally identifiable information including your name, address, and email address so that we can administer the promotion and notify winners. If you choose to enter a promotion, such personal information may be disclosed to third parties or to the public in connection with the administration of such promotion, including, without limitation, in connection with winner selection, prize fulfillment, and as required by law, such as on a winners’ list or as permitted by the promotion’s official rules. Also, by entering the promotion, you are agreeing to the official rules that govern the promotion, which may contain specific requirements of you, including except where prohibited by law. Depending upon the contest or sweepstakes, you will be providing information directly to publisher sponsors as well as Shelf Awareness. It is the entrant’s responsibility to become familiar with the privacy policies of the contest/sweepstakes sponsor.

Surveys

From time-to-time we may request information from you and other users via surveys. Participation in these surveys is voluntary. Survey information will be used for the purpose(s) identified in any given survey, including the monitoring or improvement of the use and satisfaction of Shelf Awareness products.

Web Beacons

Small graphic images or other web programming code called web beacons (also known as “1×1 GIFs” or “clear GIFs”) may be included in our email newsletters. Web beacons may be invisible to you, but any electronic image or other web programming code inserted into an e-mail can act as a web beacon. Web beacons or similar technologies may be used for a number of purposes, including, without limitation, to count how many e-mails that were sent were actually opened, or to count how many particular articles or links were actually viewed.

Job Board

The job board found at www.shelf-awareness.com/jobboard allows for credit card payment for job posts. Our online payment processor is PayPal. We will share your Billing Information with PayPal as necessary to process your payments. PayPal stores your Billing Information; we do not store this information. Storage by PayPal of your Billing Information is subject to its privacy policies and practices and is not subject to the terms of this privacy policy. By providing your Billing Information, you acknowledge and agree to use of such information by PayPal for purposes of processing your payment to us. You may view PayPal privacy terms at https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/privacy-full.

Information You Provide About a Third Party

If you send someone else a communication from Shelf Awareness, such as sending an invitation to a friend, the information you provide (names, e-mail addresses, etc.) is used to facilitate the communication and is not used for any other marketing purpose, unless we obtain consent from that person, or we explicitly say otherwise. If that person becomes a subscriber to our publications, his/her information will be treated in the same manner as all other subscribers. Please be aware that when you use any send-to-a-friend functionality your e-mail address may be included in the communication sent to your friend.

How We Use The Information We Collect

Our primary purpose in collecting your information is to provide you with a service. You agree that we may use your personal information to:

Provide the service to you
Carry out internal administration and analysis.

How We Use The Information For Marketing

We will only send you direct marketing communications created by Shelf Awareness as part of your subscription to either Shelf Awareness Pro or Shelf Awareness for Readers. Partner mailing subscribers do not receive direct marketing communications from Shelf Awareness. These communications will always be related to our services and we believe will be of interest to you. You will not receive third-party marketing email. We will honor your right to withdraw your consent at any time.

If you want to stop receiving direct marketing from us, you can use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email you receive or amend your preferences by logging in to your account on www.shelf-awareness.com/xs/rc.

How We Share Information With Third Parties

We will not sell or rent your information to third parties for their marketing purposes without your consent.

However, just like most service providers, Shelf Awareness works with third parties who administer important functions that allow us to offer and enhance the services we provide. These providers are covered by appropriate privacy policies. Sometimes it will be necessary for us to disclose information required for the specific purpose to them so that the services can be performed and by requesting us to provide you with the services you consent to this disclosure.

Who We Are

John Mutter

John Mutter is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Shelf Awareness. He was the longtime executive editor of bookselling at Publishers Weekly and executive editor of the former PW Daily for Booksellers. He enjoys reading anything funny or mysterious and loves maps, crossword puzzles, running, visiting bookstores, travel and watching Jenn Risko demonstrate the fine art of business.

Neil Strandberg

Neil Strandberg is our chief executive and brings to Shelf Awareness 35 years of experience in the independent bookselling community. Prior to joining Shelf in 2015, Neil was the American Booksellers Association director of technology, where he was responsible for the e-commerce platform IndieCommerce, digital content partnerships and other tech projects. Prior, he served many roles over the course of a twenty-three year career at Denver's Tattered Cover Book Store. Neil applies his experience with technology, retail and bookselling to support Shelf Awareness staff and its many projects and is always eager to "talk shop" with booksellers and publishers, when not enjoying the outdoors in the Pacific Northwest.

Matt Baldacci

Matt Baldacci is our publisher, meaning he's the guy to talk to for anything from planning the best way to use the Shelf to reach your marketing objectives to the craziest, unlikely idea you have to sell books. He has worked as a roofer, bank teller, teacher, social chairman, and publishing executive, with experience at S&S Children's, Simon & Schuster, DK, St. Martin's Press and Scholastic. Matt lives with his wife and children in Summit, N.J., but likes Seattle and visits often. He enjoys paddle tennis, being the bartender, rooting for the Yankees, and spending time with his extended family. In fine Shelf tradition, he’s a New York Giants fan.

Richard Jobes

Richard Jobes is our chief financial officer. He holds a bachelors degree in accounting from the University of Nebraska, an MBA from the University of Michigan and was a financial strategist for years in cell phone related businesses. He fell in love with cinema via basement classroom viewings of classics like Persona and The Third Man presented by various U of M film societies. Subsequent searches for complete screenplays led him many times to the cozy and well-stocked Borders bookstore in Ann Arbor--works of Dick Francis, C.S. Lewis and The Far Side collections he found there provided escape and perspective during the travails of graduate school. Richard has a deep pain-and-pleasure obsession with Cornhusker college football and women's college volleyball. He lives in Seattle, near Wide World Books & Maps, and now loves sushi even more than steak.

Robin Lenz

Robin Lenz has been a bookseller (indie, then chain, then indie), a librarian, did a brief stint at a large publishing house, and spent many years as managing editor at Publishers Weekly. She now gets to combine her loves for things geekish and things bookish as managing editor of Shelf Awareness. She organizes, copy edits, scours the Internet for story leads, and brightens the newsletters with photos.

Dave Wheeler

Dave Wheeler, senior editor, joined Shelf Awareness after working for several years as a bookseller at The Elliott Bay Book Company and at Village Books. His favorite authors include Bill Hayes, Hari Kunzru, Ruth Ozeki and Hanya Yanagihara. When he's not reading he's writing, and he earned his BA in Creative Writing from Western Washington University. In his spare time, he likes to try recipes from cookbooks that he has primarily accumulated for the pictures. Results vary widely.

Siân Gaetano

Children’s/YA editor Siân Gaetano has a Master's in Children's Literature from Simmons College and experience as a book reviewer, publicity assistant, and as an assistant editor for the Horn Book Guide. Siân currently resides in Providence, R.I., with an overlarge book collection and two cats named after cheeses.

Elaine Cho

Associate editor Elaine Cho came to Shelf Awareness from a stint as a bookseller at the illustrious Elliott Bay Book Company. She's worked for various arts nonprofits around Seattle and has an MFA in Flute Performance from CalArts. Her debut novel, Ocean's Godori, is the inaugural title from Hillman Grad Books, an imprint of Zando. She also loves watching and talking film (anything from Edward Yang to aspect ratios to which Fast and Furious movie is the best), and is a kyūdō practitioner.

Kristianne Huntsberger

Partnership program manager Kristianne Huntsberger has worn a few hats: writer, teacher, storyteller and bookseller (Elliott Bay Book Co. Pioneer Square alum). Some of her earliest reading memories are The Phoenix and the Carpet and Hans Christian Anderson. The book she reads most frequently is Moby-Dick. Her bookshelves are full of travel narratives, off-kilter fiction and fairytales. She co-hosts the monthly Bowie Book Club Podcast and presents storytelling workshops around King County.

Alex Mutter

Alex Mutter is our associate editor. He profiles booksellers, covers author events and reports on trade shows. His first job was a part-time gig at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, N.J., and he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College with a concentration in Creative Writing. Before joining Shelf Awareness, he interned with Publishing Perspectives as an editorial assistant. He is an avid hiker and traveler. His German is poor, but he tries. When he's not working, he's reading, writing, drinking coffee with abandon and obsessing over the New York Giants. He is an evangelist for Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan, and True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey.

Robert Gray

Robert Gray is a contributing editor and weekly columnist for Shelf Awareness. For 15 years he was a bookseller and buyer at the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vt., but before that he worked as managing editor of Sailboard News, a windsurfing trade magazine based in landlocked Vermont. Learning how to read unpredictable, sometimes hazardous winds and waves proved to be ideal training for understanding the publishing world. He has written for numerous publications, ranging from Cimarron Review to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

Casey Stryer

Casey Stryer is the production assistant at Shelf Awareness. Before joining the Shelf, he was a bookseller for 14 years, starting his career at Barnes & Noble, and then working at the venerable Elliott Bay Book Company for a decade. Casey can be found most days walking his dogs, Orpheus (Orphie) and Watson, reading young adult or middle grade novels, bingeing on television, or cooking something he found at the farmer’s market that week.

Madison Gaines

Madison Gaines, our publishing assistant, hails from Seattle's Third Place Books and the rolling hills of northern Appalachia. She has an MFA in Creative Writing and Poetics from the University of Washington Bothell, and their first favorite book was Savvy by Ingrid Law. They enjoy adult fantasy, romance, and horror, but are first and foremost a children's bookseller. In her free time, Madison yearns for puzzles, listens to B.B. King on vinyl, and drinks tea with too much sugar.

Jess Mayfield

A born-and-raised Seattleite, sales & marketing assistant Jess has been toying with the written-word since before she could hold a pen, and knew from a young age that working in the publishing industry in some capacity was her calling. Like many of her colleagues, she found her footing in independent bookselling before joining the Shelf team. In 2022, she obtained a BA in Creative Writing from Western Washington University, TA’ing and bussing tables along the way. Recently, she’s found her way back to Seattle and is establishing roots in their bustling literary community. The first book she truly fell in love with was Camus’ The Stranger. When she’s off-the-clock, she can be found with her nose in a memoir or short story collection, trying out a new restaurant, or re-watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the hundredth time.

Marilyn Dahl

Marilyn Dahl is the editor for Maximum Shelf and G.L.O.W. After a career as a book buyer for various companies, she joined Shelf Awareness at its inception, when the books she reviewed fit loosely into a rattan basket. She retired in 2017, when the books had long-since moved to their own office. But the siren call of the Shelf was irresistible, so she returned less than 2 years later. She is a firm believer in the healing properties of strong coffee and good books, which she consumes under the benevolent protection of two cats.

Jenn Risko

Jenn Risko is the co-founder and publisher emerita of the Shelf. She started the Shelf with John Mutter back in 2005 and loved (almost) every minute of building this company for close to 20 years. She departed the company in 2024, to take a break and find what she calls The Next Jenn. When she isn’t searching for her next adventure in the book business, she is often found in her garden, on a trip, baking or quietly judging others' paint color choices. Keep up with her at www.jennrisko.com.

Alex Baker

Alex Baker is the art director, mascot dresser and designer for Shelf Awareness. He has a background in painting, fine-art printmaking and book design and binding and is probably the only member of staff to have actually done a saddle stitch. When not designing or playing the role of wrench in an otherwise well-oiled machine, Alex can be found experimenting in the kitchen, reading, playing with his old cars or trying to finish the remodel on his house. Or drinking.