The summer of 2025 marked a major investment behind-the-scenes in infrastructure for MiPA — a new website back end, new info-sharing tools for the board, a new banking and accounting system — in ways that were a bit less visible to members. The summer of 2026 focused on strategy questions for MiPA as a whole, and that strategy has been informed by talking to publishers and authors at events including the GenCon Writers’ Symposium and the Holland Literary Festival.
We are convinced that there’s a benefit to (a) celebrating the Midwestern literary tradition, however it’s defined, and (b) being “independent, together.” To that end, we’re making changes to MiPA’s rhythm and flow that will be more obvious to folks in the world.
Some of our changes include:
- Midwest Book Awards. We’ll send more info this month in a dedicated message, but for now, take note that the Midwest Book Awards will be open for submissions from Nov. 1, 2026, through January 30, 2027. Pricing will not change. We’ve developed a few enhancements, including a new category for nontraditional storytelling and a special-distinction award for game design and game documentation. (Thank you, GenCon attendees!) We’re also enhancing the judging process — including, we think, at least a few categories with publicly named judges — and will be separating pure art books from comics and graphic novels. Stay tuned!
- Retention Election. I’m pleased to share that the members present and voting offered unanimous consent in this summer’s election to retain Michael Braun of Orange Hat Publishing as a member of the MiPA Board of Directors. Congrats, Michael!
- Personnel Update. Last year’s Midwest Book Awards marked the final programming season for Jennifer Baum as book-awards chair. This year, that role is performed by Allison Hawkins, who supported Jennifer last year. Allison had been our administrative coordinator; with this new responsibility, she is taking a larger role in managing MiPA and so, going forward, is now the Administrator. Congrats, Allison!
- Programming Calendar. You veteran members may have noticed that we have not been scheduling monthly “second Tuesday” sessions. That’s not an oversight. Going forward, we’ll be offering a mix of virtual and in-person education and networking opportunities, plus quarterly virtual mixers. We will still offer educational webinars (aiming for six per year!) but they’ll be scheduled as topics and presenters arise. We want to offer more scheduling flexibility so that late-evening meetings aren’t the only option for our members.
- Catalog. We’re bringing back a print-and-PDF copy of our independent publishing catalog! But, in an exciting twist, we’re going back for two years’ worth of Midwest Book Award winners. More info to come, including options to get your own books into the next year’s edition of the catalog.
- Twin Cities Book Festival. On Saturday, November 7, we’ll staff a table at the Twin Cities Book Festival in St. Paul, Minnesota. At TCBF we’re extending authors an opportunity to schedule an hour block to set up their books and do in-person signings, for a small cost-sharing fee. Please reach out to info@mipa.org for more information about joining us at TCBF.
- Mastermind Circles. We’ve been teasing it for quite a while, but now we’re excited to share that MiPA will convene at least one Mastermind Circle starting January 2027. These circles are small groups of peer professionals guided by an experienced facilitator, organized around one or more problem to solve or goal to attain with the support of your colleagues. They will run from four to six months with frequent, brief meetings and incur a separate cost assessed to defray the facilitator’s charges. Stay tuned later this year for full program details. If you’ve already reached out to us about your interest, we have that info on file and will be contacting you directly as we finalize first-cohort plans.
- Membership Fees. Starting January 1, MiPA will begin assessing annual membership fees. We had suspended dues with the pandemic, but … well, 2027 draws nigh. Every member will see a renewal notice on their normal anniversary date, so you won’t be invoiced in January. More info will come, but for now — we’re planning a $40/year individual membership that includes access to the back catalog of educational activities, no-cost access to upcoming member-only activities, a private networking community, and member badges in the annual catalog. A $250/year benefactor membership additionally includes special recognition at the Midwest Book Awards annual gala plus one-on-one calls with the MiPA president to discuss strategy, feedback, or other topics. We’ll keep a $0 associate fee that includes access to our member emails; associates can buy (at low cost) access to individual events.
- Peer-to-Peer Networking. Being “independent, together” means more than just listening to MiPA push information to you — it also means you can access each other to share best practices. We’ll have more to share about a new P2P infrastructure later in the year.
Whew, that’s a lot. All for now. Thank you for being independent together with MiPA!