SIBA has developed the Okra Picks program in response to feedback from its bookseller members who wanted the opportunity to promote current and upcoming southern titles.

The SIBA Book Awards are designed to give longer legs to books that have already been published. SIBA’s Indie Stores and SIBA want to recognize those authors and thank them for the books that have added to the bottom line and to see those titles continue to grow in popularity and readership.

The Okra Picks are a whole new crop just hitting bookshelves that SIBA stores know their customers are going to love. The first dozen Okra Picks will be for the fall and will be displayed at the SIBA Trade Show in Greenville, SC, for the first time.

I spoke with Wanda Jewell, executive director of SIBA, and asked her how she'd cooked up this plan.

"I've had the title in mind for a long time," she said, "trying to figure out how I could use it." In fact, she's been cultivating Okra Picks since she first heard of Oprah's Book Club. "With a good name and good tag line, you can go far."

How does a book get on this new list?