Executive Director
Jennifer Baum
Chair, Midwest Book Awards
Executive Director, MiPA
Scribe Publishing Company
Email: Jennifer
Board of Directors
Suzzanne Kelley
President
North Dakota State University Press
701.231.6848
Email: Suzzanne
Paul Nylander
Vice President
illustrada design
612.325.1228
Email: Paul
Ron Peterson
PTB Books
Email: Ron
Nayt Rundquist
Treasurer
New Rivers Press
218.477.5870
Email: Nayt
Pat Morris
Past President
Book Architects
651.797.3801
Email: Pat
Sybil Smith
Program Chair and Past President
Smith House Press
651.490.9408
About MiPA
Founded in 1984 in Minneapolis, the Midwest Independent Publishers Association exists today as a vibrant professional association that serves the publishing communities in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
MiPA aims to create an inclusive publishing community that shares educational resources, fosters networking connections, increases the quality of independent publishing coming out of the Midwest, and helps its member publishers grow. MiPA is also a regional affiliate of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA).
MiPA founders organized the first Midwest Book Awards in 1989, and today the Midwest Book Awards is one of the longest running literary recognition programs in the country. Judges for the prestigious literary program are booksellers, university staff and librarians who are subject matter experts and collectively hail from each of MiPA’s twelve states. Finalists and winners are celebrated in a virtual gala, and winners receive exclusive perks and promotional benefits, including the opportunity to participate in our Virtual Reading Series. The books recognized by the Midwest Book Awards are also available for purchase at MiPA’s affiliate shop at Bookshop.org, which directly supports independent booksellers.
MiPA membership is free and open for the 2020-2021 program year, and meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month on Zoom. Sign up for our email list on the home page to get the meeting notifications, or follow us on Facebook or YouTube for extra content and highlights!
Mailing Address
Midwest Independent Publishing Association
P.O. Box 580475
Minneapolis, MN 55458
Contact Suzzanne Kelley, president, at 701-231-6848 for more information.
About MiPA Members
- National award winners
- Publishers of regional and national books
- Experienced book designers, editors, indexers, and publicists
- Innovative entrepreneurs
- Publishers and authors of fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, food, travel, inspiration, and many other topics
- People who love what they’re doing, want to share what they know, and want to learn more

MiPA’s Mission
Midwest Independent Publishing Association serves the Midwest publishing community in a collaborative sharing of publishing, production, promotion, and marketing information.
Through educational programming and other cooperative efforts, MiPA assists members in their publishing initiatives and ongoing endeavors. MiPA also provides networking opportunities for publishers, both new and experienced, to learn from each other.
To advance the understanding and appreciation of related professions and trades, MiPA’s members include printers, distributors, editors, indexers, artists, designers, and others who contribute to the vitality of the industry.
MiPA provides support, encouragement, and information to authors who want to learn about the myriad publishing options emerging in this dynamic digital world.
Tell us your programming needs
Membership is open to all publishing professionals in the Midwest. Tell us what you’d like to get out of it!Â