Booksellers Association - Indie Book of the Month

Indie Book of the Month launched as 'Independent Booksellers Children’s Book of the Season' in Autumn 2017. The initiative proved so popular that it became a monthly campaign in January 2019, and a year later rebranded as ‘Indie Book of the Month’, with a stunning new logo designed by children’s author and illustrator, Sophy Henn. In March 2020, an adult fiction title was introduced to the campaign, to run alongside the children’s title.

Indie Book of the Month is designed to showcase independent bookshops’ power to drive sales as a sector. It aims to demonstrate the impact independent booksellers can make by working together to build readerships for the books they love.

The titles for each month are chosen by a panel of independent booksellers from publisher submissions. The panel read and rate each title, their votes are collated, and the titles with the highest number of votes are then discussed by the panel and the Booksellers Association. After this, selections for the Indie Book of the Month are confirmed.

If you are interested in being a member of the bookseller panels for the Indie Book of the Month (these change every quarter) then please email k [email protected] stating whether you would like to be on the Fiction or the Children’s panel.

Indie Book of the Month: November 2025

Fiction Book of the Month: Petty Lies by Sulmi Bak
Children's Book of the Month: Swanfall by Sophie Kirtley

Independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland will be promoting Petty Lies and Swanfall throughout October both in-store and across social media. The Booksellers Association will also support the Indie Books of the Month campaign with dedicated Books Are My Bag branded social media activity and promotional material.

From bestselling South Korean author Sulmi Bak, Petty Lies (Bloomsbury Publishing / Raven Books, publishing 11 November 2025) is a sharp, gripping psychological drama about secrets, ambition, and the delicate balance between truth and deception. Exploring the lies we tell to protect ourselves and the ones we love, Petty Lies is both intimate and unsettling — a portrait of how far people will go to preserve their illusions.

Sulmi Bak, author of Petty Lies, commented:
“Independent bookstores transcend time and culture, playing a vital role in connecting writers and readers. Whenever I visited independent bookstores, I am always happy, and they nurtured my literary dreams within them. The shining support of countless independent bookstores has given me a positive energy towards literature. As a writer, I feel immense trust and gratitude for the community they have built.”

Swanfall by Sophie Kirtley (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, publishing 11 November 2025) is a lyrical and heart-stirring story of courage, connection, and transformation. Set against a landscape of migration and change, it explores the bonds between people and nature, and the magic of finding one’s place in the world.

Sophie Kirtley, author of Swanfall, commented:
“WOW! I just can't even begin to say how thrilled and excited and honoured I am that Swanfall has been chosen as Children's Indie Book of the Month for November. Indie bookshops have held my heart since always — even when I was a wee girl I felt that stepping into a bookshop was like entering another, altogether better, more dreamlike world, one populated by kindred bookish spirits and folk who believed in impossible things.
And this feeling of treasuring indie bookshops has never left me — no matter where I go I will always find myself at home in an indie bookshop. Since my first book, The Wild Way Home, was published, I've visited so many wonderful bookshops with my author hat on and I'm so grateful for the warm welcomes I've received from booksellers, the chats, the wisdom, the giggles too. It makes me smile from ear to ear to know that my books are perched, ready to find their readers, in indies all over the country — and I am so delighted that Swanfall will be taking flight as Indie Children's Book of the Month. Maybe a copy will land in the hands of a curious, bookshop-loving wee girl of today and the cycle will continue!”

Fiction panel: Literary Cat Books, Bourne Bookshop, Fox Lane Books
Children’s panel: Pickled Pepper Books, Next Page Books, Literary Cat Books, Chocolit

Previous Indie Book of the Month titles
- Fiction Book of the Month
- Children's Book of the Month

Join in with the Indie Book of the Month campaign on social media:
Instagram
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Facebook
#IndieBookoftheMonth

Resources
- 2025 Monthly Social Media Assets
- Logo
- Poster A3
- Poster A4