ABA is excited to announce IGNITE, a BIPOC bookseller pre-con for Winter Institute 2025!

This pilot program builds off of a great idea shared by a member of ABA’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council (DEIC) — and feedback from other DEIC members, members of ABA’s Bookseller Advisory Council, members of ABA staff, and other BIPOC ABA members. It was modeled to emulate similar programs in colleges and universities to welcome and acclimate students of color to campuses at predominantly white institutions. This was created in our continuing effort to support booksellers of color and our commitment to antiracism, equity, access, and representation.

The goals for IGNITE include:

• Bringing BIPOC booksellers together with BIPOC authors and editors to network and connect.
• Connecting BIPOC booksellers in a substantive and meaningful way before Wi2025. 
• Building a community of support for BIPOC booksellers and fostering a sense of belonging in the industry and during this conference, as both have been historically predominantly white.  
• Supporting BIPOC attendance/racial representation at the conference by adding value for BIPOC attendees.
• Supporting BIPOC booksellers by providing programming designed exclusively for them.
• Providing access to ABA programming for BIPOC booksellers who may face obstacles created by systemic racism that prevent them from attending Winter Institute.
• Celebrating BIPOC authors, editors, illustrators, and booksellers!

Does this mean BIPOC booksellers attending Wi2025 have to stay an extra night? 
Since Winter Institute begins at 9:00 am on Sunday, most attendees will be arriving on Saturday. IGNITE is scheduled to start in the afternoon in the hopes that attendees can travel during the morning and won’t need to schedule/pay for an extra night. However, we are working on a hotel night subsidy for some BIPOC booksellers who did not plan on arriving that early. Registrants will be notified if/when those hotel night subsidies become available and names will be drawn to determine the recipients.

Are there hotel night subsidies for IGNITE attendees? 
We are working on a hotel night subsidy for some BIPOC booksellers who did not plan on arriving early on Saturday. Registrants will be notified if/when those hotel night subsidies become available and names will be drawn to determine the recipients.

Do I have to attend Winter Institute to attend IGNITE? 
No! If you are not able to, or do not wish to, attend Winter Institute this year, you may still register to attend IGNITE by emailing winterinstitute@bookweb.org.

Do I have to be a person of color to attend IGNITE?
Yes! This event is exclusively for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) booksellers and bookstore owners. 

Will the authors and editors in attendance at IGNITE be BIPOC?
Yes!

Will the publishing sales representatives presenting at IGNITE be BIPOC?
In some cases, yes. In some cases, no. But the titles being presented during Rep Picks will be by BIPOC authors and illustrators and publishers have been encouraged to send BIPOC sales reps when possible.

Will some BIPOC authors/editors only be coming to IGNITE and not the entire Winter Institute conference?
Possibly. But our hope — and this has been confirmed by many publishers — is that IGNITE will be an opportunity for BIPOC authors, editors, and sales reps who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend Winter Institute to meet booksellers and present their work. And in some cases, these industry members may be able to attend both the pre-con and the conference. We are working with publishers to make this happen as much as possible. 

Why are the details of the program still pending?
Each year, we work with publishers, booksellers, and others for months publishers, booksellers, and others to finalize authors, speakers, panelists and rep picks for Institutes. This same process is taking place for IGNITE. We will announce all of the participants in both the pre-con and the conference in Bookselling This Week (BTW) in the coming months.  

Is this the only programming at Wi2025 with BIPOC booksellers in mind?
No. Our commitment to antiracism, equity, access and representation has been a priority in planning the entire conference. More time between sessions allows the kind of time that’s necessary for inclusiveness, thoughtfulness, and connection. Music during keynote events creates a more authentic, more welcoming environment. Session content is reviewed to ensure that diverse perspectives and experiences are considered. Racial representation benchmarks were set for rep picks publisher titles — a minimum of 25% BIPOC authors and/or BIPOC characters. Affinity meetups are scheduled daily during the conference. Black booksellers were given priority for Wi2025 scholarships.

Why is ABA not doing separate pre-cons for Black, Indigenous, AAPI, Latinx/Hispanic/Chicana/o/x, and/or booksellers from other historically marginalized communities? (acknowledging the intersectionality throughout)
Piloting a BIPOC pre-con seemed to be the best way to balance our resources with the goal to support as many BIPOC booksellers as possible. We recognize that the BIPOC community itself is diverse and that booksellers of different racial identities face different obstacles, have different needs, and experience the industry differently. We hope that some of that is addressed through our programming. 

Why is IGNITE not incorporated into Winter Institute? (I.e., schedule during the rest of the conference instead of prior to the conference.)
We’ve received requests from BIPOC booksellers to develop programming for BIPOC booksellers that is not scheduled during other programming so that it is easier to attend. We have also received requests from BIPOC booksellers for programming featuring BIPOC booksellers, authors and speakers to be available for all. ABA has designed different programming to meet each of these requests.