The Booksellers Association

The Booksellers Association The Booksellers Association is a membership organisation for booksellers in the UK & Ireland. Campaigns | Events | Policy | Member Services.

Supporting bookshops The Booksellers Association supports, represents, promotes, and celebrates bookshops and booksellers in the UK and Ireland.

✨ Cover Reveal! ✨Introducing the July/August issue of Booktime!Featuring children's book Believe by Catherine Doyle and ...
02/07/2026

✨ Cover Reveal! ✨

Introducing the July/August issue of Booktime!

Featuring children's book Believe by Catherine Doyle and Freya Hartas (Magic Cat)

Step inside a book that takes you back to the very beginning; to a natural world where trolls, fairies and dragons roamed, untouched by humankind. Each section of Believe features the origin stories of these magical creatures, from cheeky trolls to shape-shifting fairies, fire-breathing dragons to singing sirens, as well as a comprehensive guide to each species.

Read our interview with the Catherine Doyle in the forthcoming new issue of Booktime, and find more inspiring reads, exclusive author interviews, and sneak peeks of some of this year’s must-reads. 📚
📍Soon to be available from your local independent bookshop.

Your next favourite read is waiting!

We know summer has barely begun... but your Christmas Books Catalogues are available to order now!📔💫If you are a member,...
26/06/2026

We know summer has barely begun... but your Christmas Books Catalogues are available to order now!📔💫

If you are a member, please visit the Booksellers Association website and search 'Christmas Books' to access the order form, or contact [email protected] for more information 🎄

The deadline to place your order is 31st of July. Please note, no additional copies of the catalogue will be available via the member shop this year - order all required copies in advance to avoid disappointment!

📚 1,114 BOOKS.That’s the EXTRA number of books the average independent bookshop will need to sell every year just to cov...
08/06/2026

📚 1,114 BOOKS.

That’s the EXTRA number of books the average independent bookshop will need to sell every year just to cover rising business rates.

Huge thanks to for hosting us and bringing this story to life so powerfully in their shop, and the on Sunday for covering the issue (link in bio).

New analysis shows the scale of the pressure facing independent bookshops in England:
• Over 400 shops (those not eligible for Small Business Rates Relief) facing average annual increases of £4,563
• Total aggregated business rates burden on bookshops rising by 45.1% by 2029/30 (from £4.14m to over £6m)

On average, this means a bookshop must sell over 1,100 extra book sales every year just to stand still - a major challenge on already tight margins.

This risks reducing investment in shops, community outreach, and high street vibrancy, with bookshop businesses potentially at risk.

We’re calling for:
✔ Permanent business rates relief
✔ Reform of the SBRR cliff edge
✔ Index-linked thresholds
✔ Better Resourcing of the Valuation Office Agency

Independent bookshops are vital to our culture and communities - they deserve business rates that allow them to thrive, not fight to survive.

📖Announcing our for June!In 1960s Italy, young Edith is sent to help her pregnant sister Lydia through the birth of a ...
01/06/2026

📖Announcing our for June!

In 1960s Italy, young Edith is sent to help her pregnant sister Lydia through the birth of a baby destined for adoption. Decades later in Ireland, a phone call from a man searching for his family forces Edith to confront the secrets of the past.

Ripeness is a sweeping, engrossing novel about familial love and the communities we create, about migration and new beginnings, and about what it is to have somewhere to belong, and has been chosen by independent booksellers as our 🌊

Available now from your local independent bookshop and via Bookshop.org UK!

📖Announcing our (Children’s) for June!A story about taking your shot and being brave enough to change the game.Eleven-...
01/06/2026

📖Announcing our (Children’s) for June!

A story about taking your shot and being brave enough to change the game.

Eleven-year-old Owen dreams of becoming a professional footballer, when he is offered a place at a Premier League academy, he thinks his dream might be coming true. But as he discovers the darker side of the game, Owen must decide whether to speak out or stay silent and protect his future.

The perfect read to the start of a World Cup summer, Strike has been chosen by chosen by independent booksellers as our , and is available to purchase from your local indie, and via Bookshop.org UK now! ⚽

“I’m an independent bookseller, but now as the president of the BA I represent all booksellers, not just indies but chai...
08/05/2026

“I’m an independent bookseller, but now as the president of the BA I represent all booksellers, not just indies but chains, radical bookshops, specialist bookshops, genre bookshops, children’s bookshops, everyone who is a member of the BA. I’ve heard perspectives from all of those bookshops and booksellers regarding change, and the most live issue and a potential existential threat to high street bookselling is business rates.”

Thank you to The Bookseller magazine for interviewing our new President Debbie James of Kibworth Books and for discussing the pressing policy issues impacting bookshops today.

Bookshops play a vital role in their local communities, and despite repeated calls from the Booksellers Association, the government has not reconsidered business rates for bookshops in England.

Bookshops contribute significantly to the local and national culture, and to the reading for pleasure mission – yet are being penalised with the hiking of business rates, at the time of a government-backed reading campaign.

During the National Year of Reading 2026, more needs to be done by governments across the UK to support our members so they can continue to serve as important cultural hubs within their communities.

🔗 Read the interview in the link in the comments.

📚 The wait is over!We’re delighted to share the Books Are My Bag 2026 Shortlist — the only awards curated exclusively ...
08/05/2026

📚 The wait is over!

We’re delighted to share the Books Are My Bag 2026 Shortlist — the only awards curated exclusively by independent bookshops.

Celebrating the very best paperback reads for summer, the shortlist includes four categories:

✨ Fiction ✨
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
Muckle Flugga by Michael Pedersen
The Names by Florence Knapp
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

✨ Non-Fiction ✨
Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work by Sarah Wynn-Williams
Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture War by Ash Sarkar
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal: My Adventures in Neurodiversity by Robin Ince
The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny by Laura Bates

✨ Children’s Fiction ✨
Donut Squad: Make a Mess! by Neill Cameron
Finn’s Epic Fails by Phil Earle, illustrated by AL Murphy
Like a Brother by Nathanael Lessore
Crow: Thief of Magic by Fiona Dixon
Quill and the Last Generation by C. M. Lewis, illustrated by Marina Vidal
Tiny Hercules by Jon Lock and Nich Angell

✨ Picture Book ✨
Fox and the Mystery Letter by Alex G Griffiths
Frank and Bert: The One Where Bert is Scared of Frogs by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros
Hank Meets Frank by Maudie Powell-Tuck, illustrated by Duncan Beedie
Mouse by the Sea by Alice Melvin
Seven Babies by Forest Xiao
We Grew a Dragon by Emma Chinnery

Each title highlights the vital role independent booksellers play in championing the stories they love.

🔗 Find out more about the shortlisted titles via the link in our bio.

📍 Available from your local independent bookshop.

🏆 The winners will be announced on Thursday 18 June, during (13–20 June).

Huge congratulations to all the shortlisted authors, illustrators, and publishers!

Photography: Emma Matthews

📖Announcing our for May!What if being a bit weird is actually entirely normal? What if sharing our internal struggles ...
01/05/2026

📖Announcing our for May!

What if being a bit weird is actually entirely normal? What if sharing our internal struggles wasn’t a sign of weakness, but strength?

Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal by Robin Ince has been chosen by independent booksellers as our ⭐

A powerful, personal exploration of anxiety, ADHD and neurodiversity, Normally Weird and Weirdly Normal reminds us all – no matter how weird we feel – that it’s okay to be a little different. We all are.

Available now from your local independent bookshop and via Bookshop.org UK



Pan Macmillan

📖Announcing our (Children’s) for May!Seahorse is having a bad day, in a terrible week, in an awful ocean. He woke up w...
01/05/2026

📖Announcing our (Children’s) for May!

Seahorse is having a bad day, in a terrible week, in an awful ocean. He woke up wrong and stubbed his tail and everything is wet!

So don't tell him funny stories or give him a hug, and DEFINITELY don't give him his favourite snacks on his special plate…

Because Seahorse is furious and there is NOTHING you can do about it. Or is there...?

Seahorse is Furious by Morag Hood is available from your local independent bookshop and via Bookshop.org UK now! 🪸

Simon Kids UK; Morag Hood - Author & Illustrator

The Jhalak Prize has announced the shortlist for its tenth anniversary year. Across three categories – Children’s & YA, ...
17/04/2026

The Jhalak Prize has announced the shortlist for its tenth anniversary year. Across three categories – Children’s & YA, Prose, and Poetry – the awards celebrate the creativity, imagination, and scholarly excellence of writers of colour in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

For the sixth year, the awards are proudly partnered with National Book Tokens, providing booksellers with support to showcase these exceptional titles to their local communities.

Find out how you can support the in your bookshop, including a free point of sale kit, digital assets, and printable posters by clicking on the link in the comments.

Plus, find out how you can become a Jhalak Prize Bookshop Partner. ⬇️📚

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