The Independent Publishers Caucus will hold the third annual Indie Press Month in March. More than 60 IPC member presses will participate and more than a dozen partners have been confirmed, making it the largest Indie Press Month. Partners include Shelf Awareness, the American Booksellers Association, the regional booksellers associations, Bookshop.org, Ingram, Libro.fm, and others.
IPC executive director Daniel O'Brien commented: "We believe these expanding partnerships will help our thriving Indie Press Month campaign reach a broader audience--both digitally and in-person at bookstores and libraries across the country. At the same time, this remains a deeply indie-to-indie effort. Our focus continues to be on in-person engagement--celebrating the creativity of independent bookstores and libraries, the power of physical displays, and the relationships that sustain our communities."
Independent bookstores nationwide are invited to participate in an in-store display contest and a social media campaign to take place throughout the month of March. Through the Indie-to-Indie program, IPC will award $2,000 in cash prizes, including $500 to the bookstore with the winning display and $100 to runners-up. In addition, IPC has expanded its co-op marketing program this year from five to 25 stores, each of which will receive $50 for posting their display to social media. The display contest is supported by IPC and Bookshop.org.
All participating publishers, bookstores, and partners will receive downloadable social media graphics and in-store marketing materials. Bookstores attending Winter Institute in February in Pittsburgh, Pa., will also receive a bundle of Indie Press Month bookmarks. Sign-ups will be accepted through February 27, the final day of Winter Institute. Full contest guidelines are available on the sign-up page. Winners and runners-up of the display contest will be announced in Shelf Awareness.