Pink Shorts Press + Ramona Books

A chat about indie publishing and bookselling

We love indie booksellers, and Katie at Ramona Books in Northcote is no exception. Katie opened Ramona around the same time that we started Pink Shorts Press. We’ve enjoyed following her progress on Substack, and thought it would be nice to compare notes from either side of the book-making and book-buying boundary. The conclusion? We’re all mad. And wouldn’t have it any other way.

Emily: What has been the biggest surprise of running an independent bookshop?

Katie: On a daily basis, everything still surprises me. The thing that surprises me most is how little I knew, and how little I still know, and how steep the learning curve is. But I did it because I love being around books – and because there was a bookshop going in the local community. The other surprising thing is that when I’m passionate about a book, that’s the book that sells. You’re asking someone to spend eight hours, ten hours with something. And they’re trusting you from a two-minute exchange. The magic of bookselling is a real thing. 

Margot: Consistently, the best way to get a book recommendation is word of mouth; nothing compares to that at all. And what is that except community? 

Katie: That’s how we all read – as communities, in a way. It’s the ancient art of storytelling, but it happens to be a recommendation. We know we can all get books for a fraction of the price online, but without that connection. I’m genuinely interested in the answer to, ‘What have you enjoyed reading recently?’ My local customers are far better read than I am, far more literary. I also see it as really important to stretch further and bring other communities in. Footfall is not going to sustain the business. So what I can apply with my background in marketing in terms of creating community and becoming a destination is going to be critical. 

Margot: We are in awe of your social content. TikTok is scary.

Katie: That has been the scariest part in the whole journey. On content days, I use my husband’s deodorant; my natural deodorant is not cutting it. Even my palms go sweaty. It’s uncomfortable, but it’s also necessary – even if bookish people aren’t really cut out for it.

Emily: You bought a bookshop and then had a baby. Margot, we started this and then you had a baby. You’re both mad.

Katie: Madness. How is your reading going? That’s the thing that I'm most struggling with. I did a chunk of reading a couple of weeks ago because I just got a babysitter. And if a book is selling very well, I don't need to read it. I'm desperate to read James, but I don’t really need to read James. It’s quite annoying.

Margot: It’s really hard. Especially when you ask someone to send you their work and then you just can't get to reading it. I have to kind of trust that I can do some in work hours, and I can do some in the middle of the night.

Emily: I also think you having a baby has been a positive, because it’s imposed structure around what we’re doing right at the start. I can see how tempting it would be to work all the time to try and reach a point where it feels ‘sustainable’, but that is not in itself sustainable. 

Katie: Compared to other industries that I’ve worked in, like tech or fashion, the pace of books doesn’t feel so frenetic and constant. Yes, we’ve constantly got new arrivals, but when things don’t meet deadline, it doesn't really matter. I might not get around to ordering from every single rep list right now, but what I miss, I’ll pick up at another point. And we might move twenty copies of a bestseller this week, but that doesn’t compare to the copies of books that I genuinely love and will keep selling for years. I don’t get that same kind of overwhelming, drowning feeling that I did in a tech workplace compared to running my own business in this gorgeous book world.

Emily: There’s something inherent about making books, reading books, selling books, that is long tail. We also love the way that you’ve used colour in your shop and your branding. There’s such a tendency for publishers and bookshops to go really neutral and push the books forward.

Katie: Turns out that books pop on aubergine! Colour is an important part of the brand, because it's a differentiator and it is also representative of who we are. Your branding and covers are gorgeous. What's the story behind that?  

Emily: Thank you! We worked with a book designer in Melbourne called Akiko Chan. We specifically said when we briefed her, ‘No pink and no shorts.’ But the designer knows best. Akiko also set us up with a template for the covers. We considered going full Fitzcarraldo, but it's nice for books to have their own personality, so hopefully we ended up somewhere in the middle. What do you want from publishers when you are ordering a booking – apart from excellent books with great covers? 

Katie: For the person talking to me about the book to have actually read it. The majority of my conversations are with reps and of course there’s no way they can get through an entire list. But I love people that are genuinely excited about a book. The journey of the book gives us some anecdotes to hand sell. And it’s so dumb, isn’t it, but great covers do sell.

Margot: People who say don't judge a book by its cover have not worked in publishing.

Katie: Yes! And what would you like booksellers to know?

Emily: Mainly how much it means to authors to see their books on shelves. The sale and return system has its difficulties, but it does mean that independent booksellers can take a chance on smaller books. Especially because, as you were saying, hand selling means that independent bookshops can actually make their own bestsellers, especially when the Australian industry is still so reliant on independent booksellers.

Not all pink

What are we reading?

• Katie has been recommending Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly to everyone that comes through that bookshop door.

• Margot was lucky to read an advanced copy of The Rot, a gut-punch of a second book by Stella-winning Evelyn Araluen, and has already pressed it into Emily’s hands.

• Emily has bookmarked so many treats in The Baker’s Book, edited by Ruby Goss, and will be baking for Margot’s baby first birthday this weekend.

Some fun shorts

What are we reading online?

• Katie has got us onto the newsletter of London indie bookshop Backstory, also started by someone without a books background (mad).

• So much we do and don’t want to emulate about this Canadian publisher, and the most lovely piece about human creativity.

• Browsing the events for Libraries SA’s Firstival – this Kaurna language workshop looks wonderful.

Behind the press

What are we doing for Pink Shorts?

• Delightedly receiving our newsprint poster books, printed by the good people at the Murray Pioneer. Folding a poster jacket is true satisfaction.

• Planning our 2 August open day in Adelaide Arcade, in partnership with Brand SA, which will also act as an opening for our SALA show as well as a backdrop for a beautiful reading event curated by Olivia De Zilva.

• Trying to decide if a Netflix show filming in SA is enough of a local justification for us to do a new Pink Pony Club edition of My Brilliant Career for Christmas, or if we should just stick with pink totes. Please cast your votes.

A little end matter

RSVP for our winter launch party here; it’s at Clarence Gardens Bowling Club at the end of July and there will be a band and frog cakes of course.

Pre-order our new books – from us, or from your favourite local bookshop.

Send this newsletter to a friend, and let us know if there’s another bookish person that you’d like us to have a chat to.