2012 New Voices Program Expands

By Elizabeth Knapp on Wednesday, Apr 4, 2012

This year, the ABC New Voices program has expanded to include a new spring marketing package. A flier featuring New Voices Committee member picks for the spring’s top five middle grade and top five young adult books by debut authors, which will arrive in stores in the May Children’s White Box mailing, will be a great way to kick off the summer reading season. The books on the list will be published between January 1, 2012, and June 30, 2012. Marketing materials, including bookmarks, a counter sign, and shelf-talkers, to promote the New Voice’s spring picks will be sent in the White Box mailing exclusively to members of the ABC Group at ABA.

In addition to the spring New Voices materials, the 2012 ABC Best Books for Children Catalog will feature a two-page spread of the top 10 middle grade and 10 young adult debut books of the year. The catalog will be available in the fall to all ABA members, and special promotional materials for the fall New Voices titles will be sent exclusively to members of the ABC Group at ABA.

The 2012 New Voices committee is made up of booksellers from stores of various sizes from across the nation.  Meghan Goel of  BookPeople, in Austin, Texas, is this year’s chair, and Cathy Berner of  Blue Willow Bookshop, in Houston, Texas, is chair emeritus of the 12 member committee. Each member of the committee devotes hours to reading titles submitted by ABC Group Publisher Subscribers to choose the year’s top debuts.

Berner believes the new spring and fall format will make it even easier for booksellers to become aware of great new voices. “It’s like a trickle-down effect,” she said. “We pass our recommendations to other booksellers, who pass them to customers, to help them find these great new books.”

At  Dragonwings in Waupaca, Wisconsin, store owner and 2012 committee member Ellen Davis uses the New Voices program to discover new books that might have been missed, to promote these titles to teachers, librarians, and book clubs, and as an additional endorsement when recommending new authors to our customers.

“Indie booksellers have respect for each others’ judgment, and our customers trust the independence of our recommendations,” said Davis, who has been involved in the New Voices program for several years. “Publishers’ marketing materials can draw attention to books, but are treated as commercials, not as the sought-after opinions of your local bookseller. The New Voices flier is effective because, like the Indie Next lists, the recommendations are independent and believable.”

Past New Voices committees have consistently chosen smart, diverse books that end up getting buzz. Last year’s favorites for teens included Where Things Come Back (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster),which went on to win the Printz and National Book Award, Divergent (Katherine Tegen Books./HarperCollins),which became a runaway hit with teens, and Between Shades of Gray (Philomel/Pengin Young Readers Group), which won the Golden Kite Award and the 2012 Indies Choice Book Award in the Young Adult category.

“I can not underestimate the delight of the committee discussions,” said Berner. “It’s so much fun to talk about great new books. This is why we’re booksellers — we’re so excited to find the next new thing. And to know that you have found a book readers will love, or the perfect book for a parent to read to their child — it’s such a great feeling.”

The 2012 ABC New Voices Committee members are:

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