The Kristin Keith Sales Rep of the Year award nominations are accepted up until May 1, 2024. All nominees will then be placed on the voting form and the bookstore members of NAIBA will vote for their favorite rep of the year. If there is a tie, both reps will be declared winners.

The New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association renamed the William Helmuth Sales Rep of the Year award to the Kristin Keith Sales Rep of the Year award in 2017. The award was first given to Bev Chaney in 1987, and named after the beloved William Helmuth of Book Travelers. At the inception, NAIBA wanted to recognize the sales rep “who is the sort of person who does their homework all the time, is patient and tolerant of customers and colleagues, who makes mistakes from enthusiasm, then owns up to them.”

In 2013, Kristin Keith won this award for her dedication and enthusiasm for the book industry and book people. Sadly, we lost Keith to cancer in 2017. In kind, this same industry wants to immortalize her dedication, enthusiasm and heart to a new generation of book people through the renaming of the Sales Rep of the Year award.