On prophecies + publishing
And announcing our August books
Recently, my partner, three-month-old and I moved interstate into a house that had been empty for a few weeks. The day we arrived, we opened the front door to find the hallway full of dead bees. Piles of them.
Given we’d just gone through the most stressful week of our lives, we decided we weren’t going to read too much into the whole thing. We’re not superstitious people. Dead bees don’t mean anything. We played with the word portentous. It doesn’t necessarily have to denote a positive or negative element. Right?
That interstate move was triggered by the decision to officially launch Pink Shorts Press, the brand-shiny-new publishing venture Emily Hart and I had been discussing for years. The week we sent out our press release came the news that Don Dunstan’s micro pants, the inspiration behind our name, had gone on display at AGSA. Splinter, the new SA-based literary journal, launched the week after. It felt like all these creative threads were coming together, and we were in exactly the right place.
But, the bees. Then Pantera was bought by Hardie Grant. Affirm by Simon & Schuster. And last week, Text Publishing, that grand dame of the indie scene, announced it had been acquired by Penguin.
Portentous. Ominous. Auspicious?
Either way, there’s definitely change in the air.
Pink Shorts Press is not setting out to be a traditional publishing company. We have a traditional advance and royalty system, and the backing of an incredible traditional distributor in Simon & Schuster. But we want to think differently about the way we do things.
That includes our training arm, holding workshops to help people wrangle words better. We have the skills, and we’re keen to share them with authors and companies alike.
And this gives us the freedom to publish the books we want to publish. Like our new editions of unbelievable work by South Australian icon Barbara Hanrahan. Like our first original releases, coming in August: Olivia De Zilva’s Plastic Budgie, autofiction with the sharpest tang; and Alex Cothren’s Playing Nice Was Getting Me Nowhere, satire that goes to the bone (then a bit further). Like the incredible books we’re lining up for 2026. Auspicious has nothing to do with it. We moved back to Adelaide and landed in a sea of talent.
We’re also keen to share our journey with anyone who is interested in books, publishing, creative work, writing, editing or just South Australia in general. And we’re not very good at social media. Which is why I’m writing this newsletter (you’ll hear from Em next time).
And the bees? Well, portents can be hard to read in the moment. But I’m typing this at my kitchen table, the lorikeets chattering in the tree outside, the baby asleep in his cot, the neighbour’s kids playing basketball next door. I’ve never felt so at home.
And I’ve never been so excited about everything that’s coming next.
– Margot
Not all pink
What are we reading (apart from Pink Shorts books)?
Em is emerging from the precious summer-holiday-silly-series feeling of devouring Elizabeth Jane Howard’s Cazalet Chronicles, and is now reading the very inventive Happy by Celina Baljeet Basra.
Margot has just finished the brilliant Detachable Penis by Sam Elkin (which has maybe the best cover of 2024, from our friends at Upswell), about burning out as a queer lawyer and advocate. She’s now diving into Michelle de Kretser’s Theory & Practice.
Some fun shorts
What are we reading online?
Always, always Anne Trubek’s newsletter, Notes from a Small Press. We know this is mostly behind a paywall, but Anne’s our inspiration and deserves a very big shout-out.
A romantasy copyright infringement case has forced an interesting discussion of literary tropes in the New Yorker.
Do endorsements from other authors influence your decision to buy a book? There’s been a lot of discussion of the practice in the US this week.
Behind the press
What are we doing for Pink Shorts?
Working on covers for our new August books from Olivia De Zilva and Alex Cothren, just announced this week. We also have a new website coming soon, so we’re in full design mode.
Visiting Griffin Press to see the first copies of Sea Green printed. Even though most of Australia’s publishing industry is clustered on the eastern seaboard, a large portion of Australia’s books are printed at Griffin in Salisbury, SA. We couldn’t have been more excited if we’d been invited to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.
Looking at venues for our launch party in March, planning our Adelaide Writers Week and Adelaide Fringe calendars, and celebrating our first full PSP work day with flan de queso at La Popular Taqueria in Port Adelaide.
Three ways you can support us
Pre-order Sea Green from your local bookshop or online.
Ask us about Wordshops.
Forward this email to a friend who likes books or words.
You need a copy of Dancing with Bees by Anna Maynard (released in April)!