Bookshop.org, the online bookstore on a mission to support independent bookshops, is delighted to reveal the winners of the inaugural Indie Champions Awards, recognising the individuals and organisations that have supported independent bookshops the most using Bookshop.org in 2022.
Shining a light on authors, publishers, podcasts, festivals and more that have taken concrete steps to champion independent bookshops through Bookshop.org, the Indie Champions Awards aim to encourage the whole of the book industry to engage with the platform in creative ways, while at the same time supporting the vital work of independent booksellers, especially as they face the challenges presented by the cost-of-living crisis.
From consistent online linking to indies and media partnerships to embedding Bookshop.org in their digital marketing activities, and from helping Bookshop.org reach new audiences to using Bookshop.org lists in creative ways, all Indie Champions Awards winners have all gone the extra mile to contributing to Bookshop.org’s mission to support independent bookshops.
In the categories of Indie Champion Titles of the Year and Indie Champion List of the Year, the winners were chosen purely based on the amount of money generated for indie bookshops over the course of 2022, with data collected until 31st December 2022.
Spanning ten categories in total, the winners of the Indie Champions Awards are:
AUTHORS
- Fiction
- Gabrielle Zevin, author of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
- Highly Commended: Alice Oseman, creator of the Heartstopper series
- Non-fiction
- Cal Flyn, author of Islands of Abandonment
- Children’s
- Dara McAnulty, author of Diary of A Young Naturalist
- Lifestyle and Culture
- Brian Bilston, author of Days Like These
PUBLISHERS
- Overall Publisher
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- Hodder & Stoughton
- Highly Commended: Thames & Hudson
- Publisher Professional of the Year
- Richard Green, Independent Bookshop and Wholesaler Manager at Pan Macmillan
- Highly Commended: Katrina Northern, Marketing Manager at Vintage
PODCASTS
- Backlisted
- Highly Commended: Literary Friction
INNOVATIVE USE OF BOOKSHOP.ORG
- The Booker Prizes
- Highly Commended: Hay Festival
INDIE CHAMPION LIST OF THE YEAR
INDIE CHAMPION TITLES OF THE YEAR
- Days Like These by Brian Bilston
- The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
- The Story of Art without Men by Katy Hessel
- The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman
- Food for Life: The New Science of Eating Well by Tim Spector
- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
- The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
- Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
- Regenesis: Feeding the World without Devouring the Planet by George Monbiot
- Femina by Janina Ramirez
- Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
- The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
- What Just Happened?!: Dispatches from Turbulent Times by Marina Hyde
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
- One: Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna James
- To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara
- Where the Wildflowers Grow: My Botanical Journey Through Britain and Ireland by Leif Bersweden
- Madly, Deeply: The Alan Rickman Diaries by Alan Rickman
For the full list of 100 Indie Champion Titles of 2022, please visit this link.
Brian Bilston said: “Thank you so much to Bookshop.org and to the independent bookshops for this award. I’m thrilled to win it: the indies are the beating heart of the book industry: they bring together books with readers, authors, whole communities in ways that simply can’t be replicated elsewhere. I’m hugely grateful for all of your support and amazing efforts last year.”
Vickie Boff, Marketing Director at Hodder & Stoughton, said: “A huge thanks to Bookshop.org and all the independent bookshops for this award. We’re absolutely thrilled that Hodder and Stoughton have won the Overall Publisher Award. Supporting all the brilliant work the indies do across the UK is such an important part of our work here at Hodder, so to be recognised for that is a real honour.”
Paul Davies, Head of Editorial at the Booker Prize Foundation, said: “At the Booker Prizes, we’re much more accustomed to handing out awards, so it’s an unexpected thrill to be on the receiving end of one. It’s been a real pleasure to work with Bookshop.org, to support independent booksellers and spread the joy of reading quality fiction, and we look forward to building on our relationship in 2023.”
Amanda Ross, Executive Producer of BBC Two Between the Covers, said: “Thank you Bookshop.org and the independent booksellers. Between the Covers are delighted to accept the award for Indie Champion List of the Year. Like the independent booksellers, our team are passionate about finding and recommending great books to people and getting more people reading, so we couldn’t be happier. Thank you.”
Meryl Halls, Managing Director of The Booksellers Association, said: “It’s really good to see how much support, affection and active advocacy there is out there for indie booksellers, and we applaud Bookshop.org for celebrating and rewarding those individuals and organisations who have excelled themselves in working with the indie bookshop sector. Indie booksellers are the hardest working and most innovative and resilient group of retailers, and it’s always good to see the evidence of the industry rallying to amplify the brilliant work they do on our high streets and in our communities.”
Nicole Vanderbilt, Managing Director of Bookshop.org UK, said: “As we reveal the winners of the inaugural Indie Champion Awards, we’d like to congratulate them all on embracing our platform and using it to support independent bookshops. We hope the awards will inspire more people across the industry to engage with Bookshop.org in making a concrete difference to independent bookshops.
Earlier this month, the Booksellers Association revealed that the number of indies in the UK and Ireland has hit a 10-year high. We’re incredibly excited about the steady growth of indies on our high streets, but we are also aware of the acute challenges they are facing right now: recession, inflation, labour shortages and massive cost increases to name a few. As almost two in three books are bought online in the UK today, Bookshop.org exists to ensure indies not only survive, but also thrive, by enabling them to get a greater share of online sales is a big part of that.”
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