Rebranding the Award 

PRESS RELEASE
April 28, 2024

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IBPA ANNOUNCES EXCITING CHANGES TO ITS BOOK AWARD PROGRAM

 

Name Change and New Categories Modernize the Awards and Strengthen the Brand

 

(Manhattan Beach, CA, April 28, 2024) — To ensure every independent book publisher has the access, knowledge, and tools needed to professionally engage in an inclusive publishing industry, the Independent Book Publishers Association announces a name change for its prestigious awards program. Currently known as the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, the NEW name will be the IBPA Book Award. Also in 2025, the awards will expand to include NEW award categories to highlight publishing excellence within underrepresented communities.

  

“The new name and additional award categories reflect our commitment to ensure that all independent publishers have an equal opportunity to participate in the business of publishing,” said Andrea Fleck-Nisbet, CEO of IBPA. “We are proud to continue our work as an equity leader in the publishing industry.”

 

Celebrating publisher excellence since 1985, the awards honor independent publishers who have exceeded industry standards to produce editorial and design excellence in a book. As the longest running book award program for independent publishers, the awards are one of the highest national honors an independent book publisher can receive.

 

Honoring IBPA’s founder, the association is pleased to announce the establishment of a new award category, the Jan Nathan Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to independent publishing by individuals and companies.

 

The other new award categories include the following: 

 

AAPI Communities

Black/African American Communities

Disabled Communities

First Nations/Indigenous Communities

Latina/o/e Communities

LGBTQIA2+ Communities

Neurodivergent Communities

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“By increasing the award categories, we create an environment where every independent publisher has an equal chance for their outstanding work to be recognized,” said Karen Pavlicin, current IBPA Board Chair and publisher of Elva Resa Publishing.

 

The 2024 award programs will mark the final year of the program under the current name of the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award. During the next award cycle, the new award categories will launch under the name the IBPA Book Award.