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 July-September are now closed. Please contact [email protected] if you would like to sign up to receive notifications of future submission periods.
 

Indie Book of the Month: April 2026 

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Indie Book of the Month: Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie
Indie Book of the Month (Children's): Ant Party by Ross Montgomery, illustrated by Sarah Warburton

The Booksellers Association and Bookshop.org, are promoting Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie and Ant Party by Ross Montgomery, illustrated by Sarah Warburton Indie Book of the Month and Indie Book of the Month (Children’s) for April.
 
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 Bring the House Down and Ant Party throughout April, via in-store and digital promotional materials.
 
Funny and thrilling, Bring the House Down gives you a front row seat to the downfall of the people who tell us what to think. It's about art, performance, female rage, and how while revenge may be sweet, it can also be perilous.
 
Charlotte Runcie, author of Bring the House Down, said:I’m so honoured that Bring the House Down has the support of independent bookshops. As a former indie bookseller, I know that independent bookshops are vital and magical places, uniquely brilliant at bringing books into the hands of the readers who’ll love them most.’"
 
In Ant Party, the ants must work together to save the day (and the dips!) in this charming, original picture book comedy that will empower even the shyest of us all to shine.

Ross Montgomery, author of Ant Party said: "I'm thrilled that ANT PARTY has been picked as the Indie Children's Book of the Month for April! There's nothing better than when someone who knows your taste, and who's opinion you trust, hands you a book and says, 'you know... I think you might love this'. It's what makes independent bookshops such an important part of the high street - they rely on that direct relationship between bookseller and customer, and ensure that people keep coming back for more. It's a bit like an ant colony in a way, albeit one that doesn't end up accidentally holding the birthday party to end all birthday parties."

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)