The Booksellers Association of the United Kingdom & Ireland Limited
Indie Book of the Month logo - Orange illustration of four upright books with stars above, next to the text “Indie Book of the Month” on a white background.
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.

Throughout 2026, we are fully integrating our Indie Book of the Month and Indie Book of the Month (Children’s) campaigns with Bookshop.org. Aligning our Book of the Month campaigns with Bookshop.org for the entire National Year of Reading will give bookshops more visibility, support reader discovery and spotlight exceptional books – all within the context of bookshops being at the epicentre of expert curation, community value and the promotion of reading for pleasure.

Titles are submitted by publishers, reviewed by the Bookshop.org and Booksellers Association teams, and then voted for by participating booksellers on Edelweiss, and finally passed to a selection panel of booksellers to review and make the final decision for which title to select. If you would like to be on a panel to help select future titles, please contact [email protected].

The BA and respective publishers create free point of sale items and offer signed copies, author events and social media assets to help members hand sell the titles. Participating members are encouraged to order a minimum of six copies from their usual supplier, create in-store displays and support the titles on social media. It is free for booksellers to participate in the Indie Book of the Month initiative and you can sign up at any point in the year. Members can participate in the Indie Book of the Month and/or Indie Book of the Month (Children’s) campaign.

Publisher submissions for October-December will open on Thursday 4th of June. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to sign up to receive notifications of future submission periods.
 

Indie Book of the Month: June 2026 

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Indie Book of the Month: Ripeness by Sarah Moss
Indie Book of the Month (Children's): Strike by Mitch Johnson

The Booksellers Association and Bookshop.org, are promoting Ripeness by Sarah Moss and Strike by Mitch Johnson as Indie Book of the Month and Indie Book of the Month (Children’s) for June.
 
The year-long partnership brings together the Booksellers Association’s Books Are My Bag consumer campaign and Bookshop.org’s online platform to champion monthly Indie Book of the Month titles, supporting reading for pleasure and driving readers towards independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland.
 
Each monthly selection benefits from coordinated promotion across the combined reach of the Booksellers Association’s and Bookshop.org’s social media channels, newsletters and digital platforms, ensuring independent bookshops remain central to reader discovery. Independent Bookshops across the UK and Ireland will also promote Ripeness and Strike throughout June, via in-store and digital promotional materials.
 
Ripeness by Sarah Moss (Picador) is a compelling and beautifully written novel exploring memory, desire and the complexities of human relationships with Moss’s trademark insight and emotional precision.
 
Sarah Moss, author of Ripeness, said: “I rarely pass an indie bookshop without going in (why would you?), but even when they’re closed I smile to think of a high-street portal to thousands of other worlds, and expert guides to magic doors. A writer’s career like mine, built slowly book by book, depends on booksellers’ enthusiasm and hand-selling, and thus on readers’ and customers’ hard-earned trust in those booksellers. I don’t take this good work for granted, and I’m honoured that Ripeness will receive such special support this summer.”
 
Strike by Mitch Johnson (Usborne) is a powerful and thought-provoking children’s novel that celebrates courage, activism and the importance of standing up for what matters.
 
Mitch Johnson, author of Strike, said: “Independent bookshops are magical, marvellous places: they champion new voices, reflect the communities they serve, and offer readers a unique experience on the high street. The Indie Book of the Month campaign is a brilliant way for booksellers across the land to unite and start a conversation about the books they love, and I'm so excited that Strike has been chosen as the Children's title for June.” 
 
The Indie Book of the Month and Indie Book of the Month (Children’s) titles are selected by panels of independent bookshops from publisher submissions.

Adult panel:
  • Rossiter Books, Monmouth
  • Village Books, Dulwich
  • Kenilworth Books, Kenilworth
  • Ullapool Bookshop

Children’s panel:
  • Children’s Bookshop, Huddersfield
  • Browser, Dartmouth
  • The Book Stop, Halifax
  • O’Mahoney’s, Limerick

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

Resources
-2026 Monthly Social Media Assets
Logo
- Poster
- Sticker

Previous Indie Book of the Month titles 
Indie Book of the Month
Indie Book of the Month (Children's)