PUBLISHED NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
by Angela Bole, CEO, Independent Book Publishers Association —
 Angela Bole IBPA CEO recaps the challenges and successes the association saw during the year 2020.
It’s hard to believe it’s November and many of us are approaching year-end still under shelter-in-place orders with an uncertain outlook for our personal and business lives in 2021. What a year it’s been.
As your professional book publishing association, IBPA has been honored to stand with and assist you throughout the past year. Along the way, we’ve launched more online events and virtual programming and opened our phone lines to answer your questions and provide advice. This magazine has been a key resource in our commitment to service, as well, providing timely articles on your responses to COVID-19, practical business adaptations, and thoughtful programs aimed at diversifying your companies, books, and the industry at large. Special thanks to the IBPA Editorial Advisory Committee and, particularly, to IBPA Independent managing editor Alexa Schlosser for making this so.
Taking stock at year-end is a useful practice, particularly when the year is 2020! Looking back, I’m most proud of how you, the IBPA membership, found ways to remain positive and push your businesses forward. I listened to your challenges and successes during our biweekly member roundtable discussions, I read about your accomplishments in our weekly IBPA Member Spotlight articles, and I participated in problem-solving exercises with many of you during our monthly committee meetings. What an impressive and committed group you are!
I’m also proud of the way the IBPA staff—Terry Nathan, Lee Wind, Christopher Locke, Ilse Alva, and Francie Droll—rallied around new ways of serving members through IBPA’s programs and events. The team flipped previously in-person programs to fully virtual, added a dozen new member benefits (including the Book Industry Health Insurance Partnership—don’t miss open enrollment starting Nov. 1), hosted over 24 educational webinars, and launched a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Task Force … all while working remotely with an adjusted budget and operational plan.
As we all move into 2021 with hope for a more united and healthy future, I invite you to remain engaged with IBPA. There are many avenues in:
Regardless of what’s in store for us all in 2021, IBPA will be there to service with a steadfast commitment to our core values of service, leadership, independence, and inclusivity. So, let’s dig in and continue moving forward together. I look forward to continuing to learn about your publishing adventures and your thoughts on the future of independent book publishing at angela@ibpa-online.org.
As always, I remain at your disposal.
Listen to IBPA CEO Angela Bole in “What’s New and What’s Changed? How the Pandemic has Transformed Publishing” on IBPA’s official podcast “Inside Independent Publishing (with IBPA),” available from Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
Just before Angela Bole became IBPA’s Chief Executive Officer, she was Deputy Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG), which fosters conversation and consensus across all sectors of the book business. Before that, Angela served for two years as BISG’s Associate Director and two years as its Marketing and Communications Manager.
|
