A warm welcome to DISSENT PINS!

June 12, 2019 by John Mesjak

We are very proud to announce that Abraham Associates are now the midwest sales reps for Dissent Pins, makers of inspiring pins, jewelry, stickers, and other gift items.

Created by a team of experienced grassroots activists and progressives, Dissent Pins was founded after the 2016 election to honor and recognize Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s famous “dissent collar” that she wears on days when she dissents from decisions being handed down by the Supreme Court, and her message of respectful dissent.

After an initial run of replica “dissent collar” enamel pins were given away as gifts, the company’s founder was inspired to do more, to raise funds in support of the lawyers and organizations helping people trying to come to the US in the face of the administration’s attempted ban on immigration. Now Dissent Pins donates 50% of the profits to organizations that are directly engaged in fighting for better lives for fellow citizens.

In 2018, Dissent Pins donated $170,936.22 to organizations including The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Bronx Freedom Fund, Planned Parenthood, Black Girls Code, DIY Girls, ChickTech, Trans Lifeline, Transgender Law Center, and the ACLU.

Each group of products that Dissent Pins makes has its own set of organizations that are supported by these donations. For more information about which organizations are supported by which products, check out the product pages on Dissent Pins’ web site. For instance, their new Orlando Ribbon Project Pin supports The LGBT+ Center Orlando.

We’re very happy to be aligned, and indeed, allied, with Dissent Pins in their efforts to support these excellent organizations.

Here’s a gallery of some of the very cool products we are looking forward to talking about this summer!

Collar 24k and Pinsburg - on sweater.jpg

Reproductive Justice pins - collection displayed.jpg

You can download a copy of their Fall 2019 catalog here and see the whole line of gifts they have to offer. Contact your favorite Abraham Associates rep to place an order!

Congratulations to Sandra Law, and to all the Chicago Lit 50 honorees!

May 23, 2019 by John Mesjak

We are so proud of Sandra Law, our Chicago-based rep, for her recognition this year in New City’s annual survey of the LIT 50 – “Who Really Books in Chicago”.

Sandra is featured alongside our rep colleagues from Penguin, Random House, and Macmillan: Brian Wilson, Bridget Piekarz, and Anne Hellman.

Sandra Law, Brian Wilson, Bridget Piekarz, Anne Hellman/Photo: Monica Kass Rogers (New City)

Every year, New City seeks out and features some of the most interesting and hard-working literary people around Chicago. Also among this year’s featured 50:

multi-talented educator and writer Eve Ewing
poets H. Melt, José Olivarez, Chris Abani, and Reginald Gibbons
Haymarket Books’ co-founder and publisher Julie Fain
GLIBA executive director Larry Law
booksellers Jason Smith & Rachel Weaver from the Book Table and Javier Ramirez (also from the Book Table), Rebecca George & Kimberly George from Volumes, Jeff Deutsch & Alex Houston from the Seminary Co-op Bookstore, and Sarah Hollenbeck & Lynn Mooney from Women & Children First.

We could not be more proud to know that so many of our friends and colleagues are among the top literary people in the Chicago scene.

Well, this site will be even more valuable to us in 2019. (See ya, Facebook! 👋)

December 20, 2018 by John Mesjak

After all the news about Facebook’s privacy fails, we’ve been feeling more and more queasy about continuing to remain active on the site. And the latest news yesterday about Amazon and Facebook having a secret data-sharing agreement was pretty much the last straw.

So we’ll be closing down our Facebook group page over the holidays and focusing more and more on our blog here and our email newsletters to share updates out to our customers and friends. I’m shutting my page down shortly, and Stu already has.

Squarespace just released a new iOS app that makes full-featured web site management, and posting, even easier. We’re definitely going to take advantage of it in 2019 to keep updating here while we’re on the go. (I’ve already started, writing half of this post while in a carwash, under the suds!)

You’ll still find our group posts under the handle @abrahambookreps on Twitter and Instagram. And you can check out our individual posts for Stu, Emily, Sandra, and me on Instagram and/or Twitter. (Check out the links in our menu above to see where you can find us.)

And yes, we’re sticking with IG, despite the fact that they’re owned by Facebook themselves. We’re hoping that the straight-up photo sharing network is somewhat less privacy compromised than the mothership has been. There’s just too much good book stuff and great booksellers on there for us to walk away right now.

Heck, Vox just reported that Instagram helped save indie bookstores. So, there ya go. 🙄

If you’ve got suggestions about anything you’d like us to cover, or feature, or talk about here, we’re happy to hear them. Let us know by email or tweet. Our DMs are open, as they say.

– John

Herb Lester Is Back!!

September 24, 2018 by Sandra Law

HERB LESTER

Do you want to spruce up your travel section? Give Herb Lester a try! They have themed city maps, menu helpers, travel guides and awesome travel accessories. Check out this great review in the New York Times for their Brooklyn Mom & Pop guide book.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/dining/brooklyn-mom-pop-book.html

Click here to check out the Catalog