Heartland Booksellers Award

The Heartland Booksellers Award is a reflection of handselling at its best, as all the books are selected directly by independent booksellers, and celebrate literature in the Great Lakes and Midwest, with content either about the region, or an author from our region.

Celebrating our book awards as one industry force will amplify the impact of the award for booksellers, publishers, authors, and consumers, as 12 states and 300 bookstores throughout the Greater Midwest will celebrate the same set of exemplary titles. We release jacket stickers for all winners and finalists and encourage our stores to create digital marketing and in-store displays. Our award-winning titles often remain on our bestseller lists for weeks, months, and even years to come.

To support the titles germane to each of our regions, both GLIBA and MIBA are conducting separate submission processes with publishers, allowing books that have been popular in each of our regions to receive the attention they deserve. Please submit your titles as follows to each association for our booksellers’ consideration. We will celebrate the winners at a wonderful awards ceremony this October.

Timeline

May 31
Publisher submission deadline

June 1 - 18
Booksellers nominate titles

Week of June 28
Finalists announced

August 19
Finalists feature event

Aug 23 - Sept 10
Booksellers vote for winners

Week of Sept 20
Winner notified

October
Winners and finalists invited to our kick-ass virtual Heartland Booksellers Award Ceremony