# Australian Booksellers Association

The Australian Booksellers Association (also known as BookPeople) promotes the interests of booksellers in Australia. The association has its origins in state associations formed early in the 20th century, which later amalgamated into a federal association.
In 1985 the association was incorporated in Victoria and now acts as the national body representing Australian booksellers. Members range from independent bookshops to chain and franchise shops, as well as specialist, second hand, academic and educational booksellers. The ABA is governed by a Statement of Purposes and Rules, which is available on request.
The purposes of the ABA include providing a range of training and educational programs for members; establishing bonds between booksellers all over Australia; enhancing the unique role of books in our society; fostering and encouraging the selling of books; providing a national forum for member booksellers; providing technical advice and information to booksellers;
The association has a management committee elected by the membership. Members of the committee have a 'stewardship' role towards the membership as a whole and are expected to apply their skills to this task. The management committee assists in improving the association's policy, activities and administration to help the association achieve its objectives. The ABA has a permanent staff under the responsibility of the chief executive officer. The ABA is represented on most book trade councils and committees.
In 2023, the association went through a rebranding to establish a more consumer-friendly persona that would tie in with their modernisation of the Australian Book Voucher scheme which became the BookPeople Gift Cards.
The new name, BookPeople, was another evolution for the association as the place where Bookselling Business meets Bookselling Culture. They are a sustainable and strategic retail partner for their members, representing the booksellers’ uniqueness, individuality, and expertise. They nurture positive relationships with all their stakeholders and promote professional and ethical practices. They are a not-for-profit and exist exclusively for the benefit of their members.
They have been advocating for bookshops, books and reading for over 100 years, and has evolved with their members along the way.
BookPeople undertakes numerous major projects each year for the benefit of members: the annual national conference in June, three seasonal Reading Guides (Spring, Summer, Autumn) and two Kid's Reading Guide each year, and their annual 'Love Your Bookshop Day' which generally falls in October. The Reading Guides are full-colour lists of recommended new releases and classics reviewed by booksellers and specialist children's booksellers who are passionate about literacy.
BookPeople also manages the annual BookPeople BookData Book of the Year Awards which more recently has expanded to include three different categories: Adult Fiction Book of the Year, Adult Non-Fiction Book of the Year, and Children's Book of the Year, given to the Australian new releases that booksellers most enjoyed reading, marketing and hand-selling during the previous year.
In 2024 (the 100th anniversary year of the association), the winners were as follows:

## 2024 BookPeople BookData - Adult Fiction Book of the Year

Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko (University of Queensland Press)

## 2024 BookPeople BookData - Adult Non-Fiction Book of the Year

Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder (Hamish Hamilton)

## 2024 BookPeople Kids' Reading Guide - Children's Book of the Year

If I Was A Horse by Sophie Blackall (Lothian Children's Books)

## Previous winners

* 2023 Winners (TBC)
* 2022 Winners (TBC)
* 2021 Winners (TBC)
* 2020 Winners (TBC)
* 2019 Winners (TBC)
* 2018 Winner (TBC)
* 2017 Winner (TBC)
* 2016 Winner (TBC)
* 2015 Winner (TBC)
* 2014 Winner Burial Rites, Hannah Kent (Hachette)
* 2013 Winner The Light Between Oceans, M.L. Stedman (Random House)
* 2012 Winner All that I Am, Anna Funder, (Text Publishing)
* 2011 Winner The Happiest Refugee, Anh Doh (Allen & Unwin)
* 2010 Winner The Kitchen Garden, Stephanie Alexander (Lantern)
* 2009 Winner The Slap, Christos Tsiolkas (Allen & Unwin)
* 2008 Winner Girl Stuff, Kaz Cooke (Penguin Australia)
* 2007 Winner Salvation Creek, Susan Duncan (Random House Australia)
* 2006 Winner The Secret River, Kate Grenville (Text)
* 2004 Winner Joe Cinque's Consolation, Helen Garner (Picador)
* 2003 Joint Winners Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin | Death Sentence, Don Watson
* 2002 Winner Diary of a Wombat, Jackie French & Bruce Whatley
* 2001 Winner Dirt Music, Tim Winton (Picador)
* 2000 Winner The Blue Day Book, Bradley Trevor Greive
* 1999 Winner Stravinsky's Lunch, Drusilla Modjeska
* 1998 Winner The Sound of One Hand Clapping, Richard Flanagan
* 1997 Winner Burning for Revenge, John Marsden
* 1996 Joint Winners Night Letters, Robert Dessaix | The Cook's Companion, Stephanie Alexander
* 1995 Winner The First Stone, Helen Garner
* 1994 Winner The Orchard, Drusilla Modjeska
The ABA has strong links with other book industry organisations, including the Australian Publishers Association and the Australian Society of Authors and their international counterparts Booksellers New Zealand, the Booksellers Association of Great Britain and Ireland and the American Booksellers Association. ABA is a member of the International Booksellers Federation.