The American Booksellers Association and the Center for Fiction will partner to promote the seven novels shortlisted for the Center's annual $10,000 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. The ABA will select 450 bookstores focused on literary fiction to receive tabletop displays, posters and shelf talkers for the novels. In addition, 50 booksellers will be asked to be first-tier readers for the prize.
"We are honored that a group of ABA-member independent booksellers from throughout the country will serve as first-tier readers for this year's prize, and look forward to working with the Center to develop materials to be used by our member stores to celebrate and feature the books of the finalists for this very worthy award," said ABA CEO Oren Teicher.
Noreen Tomassi, executive director of the Center for Fiction, commented: "We believe that there are no better readers than the people who continue against all seeming odds to own and operate independent bookstores. We are thrilled that we will be working with ABA, an organization we admire so much, to include these booksellers as readers and to feature the shortlisted books at more than 450 stores all across the country."
The award was established in 2005 as the John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize, and has been underwritten since 2010 by Center for Fiction board member and writer Nancy Dunnan, who named it in honor of her journalist father, Ray W. Flaherty. In addition to the winner's monetary award, the other shortlisted authors receive $1,000 each. The shortlist will be announced in late summer and the winner named at the Center for Fiction's annual benefit and awards dinner in early December.
