Independent bookshops sponsor the 2023 Book of the Year (BOTY) Award
The Small Press Network’s Book of the Year (BOTY) Award is an annual award that highlights authorial and publishing excellence by small and independent publishers. Open to any book released by an SPN member during the previous calendar year, the BOTY Award provides significant recognition and promotional opportunities to both publisher and author.
A huge thanks to our four independent bookshops who have helped sponsor this year’s BOTY Award!
All great bookstores come with a story. Bookoccino is no exception. The original Northern Beaches bookstore in Sydney, New South Wales, Bookoccino was founded in 1992 by Margaret and Roger Hutchings, who promised that it would be ‘More than just a bookstore’. Now owned by Raymond Bonner, a Pulitzer prize winning former foreign correspondent and author, in partnership with local bibliophile Sally Tabner, their vision for a sophisticated cultural space has come to fruition. Enjoy some of life’s great pleasures at Bookoccino – story, song, great coffee, and fine wines. Bookoccino is one of the most unique venues in Sydney. A community of world-class musicians perform over the weekends, and they regularly host events with some of the finest book authors from Australia and abroad.
Fullers Bookshop is an award-winning independent bookseller in Hobart, Tasmania, replete with café. Drop in for a visit to meet masterful recommenders and curious readers. Over 100 years young, the bookshop is one of the oldest in Australia, and has confirmed its status as Tasmania’s leading bookseller and a fundamental component of Tasmania’s cultural landscape. Fullers hosts a wide range of author events, readings, discussions and book groups, as well as publishing books on Tasmanian history and flora. Fullers continues to actively contribute to Tasmania’s literary community. To that end, over the next five years (2023-2028), Fullers is aiming to give away $100,000 worth of books to help promote literacy and the love of reading in their community.
Avid Reader, based in Brisbane, Queensland, opened in 1997 when Fiona Stager, Kevin Guy, Verdi Guy and Colleen Mullin decided that West End needed a bookstore specialising in quality fiction and non-fiction. Since then Avid Reader has grown from strength to strength with the help of their valued customers and great staff. They have frequent in-store events including book launches, signings, various book clubs and introductory nights for fledgling and established book clubs. Avid Reader was named Australian Bookshop of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards 2021, and they contribute and donate to a range of local, state and national community organisations. Avid Reader is a bohemian and cosy gem of a bookshop with shelves of books both eclectic and popular. They hope to see you soon!
Readings is an independent retailer of books and music, with eight shops operating in Melbourne, Victoria. Each Readings shop retains its own individual character and strong ties to the local community. Their shops continue to be at the centre of the local literary scene, both as meeting places and via their exciting calendar of events. As a cornerstone of the Australian literary landscape, Readings takes seriously its role in growing and sustaining local industries; since 2009 10% of their annual profits have gone towards The Readings Foundation. Readings also support new and outstanding Australian voices through The Readings Prize. The prize supports emerging Australian authors through annual awards covering three separate categories of fiction, including Children’s, Young Adult and New Australian Fiction.
Let’s continue to support and celebrate our independent bookshops!