Here's some more news we've been waiting to share! We could not be more proud of Roy!

The Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and Midwest Independent Booksellers Associations have jointly announced, ahead of the Heartland Fall Forum next month:

“We grant the Voice of the Heartland award to outstanding individuals who uphold the value of independent bookselling and who have made a significant contribution to bookselling in the Midwest. This year's Voice of the Heartland award goes to Roy Schonfeld.

“Roy Schonfeld began his life in books after a stint in the Peace Corps and graduate school at Ohio State. After some years as a bookseller and a book buyer, Roy was one of Stu Abraham's first hires when he started Abraham & Associates in 1992.

“Covering a huge swath of the Midwest representing over 20 publishers, Roy was named Publishers Weekly Rep of the Year in 2008. He has served multiple terms on the board of the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and continues to contribute to the education program of the Heartland Fall Forum.

“Cary Loren of The Book Beat in Oak Park, MI, a longtime customer and friend, says "Roy is that rare creature in the book rep world able to endorse what he believes in, take orders without padding them, and leave an appointment before rush-hour traffic. We will miss Roy and remember dearly all those multiple trips to his car lugging hundreds of catalogs and samples from the bottomless list of publishers he represents."

“Thank you deeply to Roy for his years of service to booksellers all across the Midwest.”

We couldn't have said it better ourselves. Congratulations and thank you to our friend and colleague, Roy.