PUBLISHED APRIL 2016

by Angela Bole, CEO, Independent Book Publishers Association

Angela Bole

Over the past year, a team of IBPA board members, staff, and professional consultants have been working hard to refresh and reshape this magazine. Our goal has been to create an updated look for a valued member benefit without losing the thoughtful content and practical analysis that has made this publication central to IBPA’s culture and branding since our founding in 1983. The magazine you hold in your hands is the result of this work: a clear extension of IBPA’s superb legacy, newly designed to guide the growing independent publishing community into the modern age.

The NEW IBPA Independent

We modified nearly everything. You’ll notice a revamped banner, along with new typefaces and contemporary page designs. You’ll also notice a clear rhythm and structure throughout the magazine, which was developed to create a sense of familiarity by using clearly branded sections, allow readers to intuitively navigate the publication from cover to cover, and permit flexibility and the element of surprise.

The renovated structure will feature new departments like “The Help Desk,” “Innovators,” and “Advanced Track;” distinctive columns from thought leaders; two in-depth features each month; and a thoughtful design that allows for readers to distinguish departments from features. On top of all this, each issue is now focused around central editorial themes like sales and distribution, marketing, design/production, and legal issues.

We’ve made these changes to address key reader recommendations that we focus on practical, how-to articles on the business of independent publishing, diversify article lengths and formats, and create specific, recurring departments and columns.

We believe you will now find the magazine much easier to navigate and read, richer in content, and a great deal more attractive. It also, by the way, has a slightly different name and a shiny new tagline.

The Name

After rounds of discussion about the possibility of changing the publication’s name, the team decided to formally add “IBPA” to “Independent” and include a prominent tagline. This move reinforces the brand equity of the magazine’s long-standing name—Independent—while tying it closer to IBPA as an organization. It also creates a stronger sense of the magazine’s purpose within the independent publishing community through the addition of the tagline.

With that, we proudly present: IBPA Independent: Helping Publishers Achieve and Succeed.

Special Thanks

It takes a village to rebrand a magazine, and we’re eternally grateful to those who donated time and insights to this effort. They include our Redesign Committee: Ian Lamont (i30 Media), Mark Suchomel (Perseus Book Group), Karla Olson (Patagonia Publishing), and Jim Milliot (Publishers Weekly). They also include our expert advisers Lynn Rosen, Darhiana Téllez, Dennis Coyle, Steve Biernacki, and Stephanie Yanecek.

We hope you enjoy the newly redesigned IBPA Independent. Contact me at angela@ibpa-online.org or 310-546-1818 with any feedback.

Just before Angela Bole became IBPA’s Executive Director, 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. Angela also serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of IDPF, the International Digital Publishing Forum.