🐿️✨ Our June Wrap-Up: First Month, Big Wins, & Beautiful Beginnings
What a month it’s been!
June 2025 marked the official launch of Squirrel & Sparrow Bookstore, and honestly? It’s been equal parts thrilling, chaotic, and deeply rewarding.
We dove in headfirst, and we’re already feeling the magic of what we’re building - page by page, author by author, and spreadsheet by spreadsheet (so many spreadsheets!!).
📚 Welcoming Our First Authors
We kicked off our very first month by welcoming a truly stellar lineup of indie authors. Their stories have already begun capturing the hearts of readers, and we’re honoured to have each of them in our little corner of the bookish world.
Say hello to our incredible June 2025 authors:
Carlisha Powell – Falling Confetti
Em J Bakker – Blindsided
Melanie Jade – Roman
Jess Fuller – Echoes of Fate and Shadows of Fate
Havelah McLat – A Forever Summer
Nicole Bazley – Return to Sender
Courtney Leach – He Answers to Grief
Courtney Merritt – Embers of the Fallen
Marina Gabriela – Eltaris
Drako – Bewitched Souls
Everleigh Miles – Sin: Bone Deep
We’re endlessly grateful for the trust these authors have placed in us and so excited to help share their work with readers across Australia.
💡 The Learning Curve Is Real
There’s no guidebook for starting your own indie bookstore (although if there were, we’d sell it).
Instead, we learned by doing. This month brought:
A crash course in website design, and how many things can go slightly wrong before they go wonderfully right.
The joys (and occasional frustrations) of social media growth, especially when algorithms feel like a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an Instagram Reel.
The sudden and undeniable need for more spreadsheets than we ever imagined. Sales tracking, inventory, author info, upcoming releases - if it can be colour-coded, we’ve probably spreadsheeted it.
🎓 Big Milestones
We also completed our Certificate IV in Small Business and Entrepreneurship through the Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) program, previously known as NEIS. It's been such a valuable foundation, giving us not only the practical tools to run the business, but also the confidence to back ourselves. (And the occasional reminder to breathe.)
Amid the whirlwind, Kris also moved house, and scored a surprise bonus - our cosy new office space in Murray Bridge, which has quickly become a dreamy little hub for all our stock, planning, and spontaneous dance breaks.
👯♀️ Sisters in Storytelling
Building this bookstore as sisters has been nothing short of beautiful. It’s come with its late nights, big feelings, and creative tangents, but also a deep joy in knowing we’re doing this together. Our strengths complement each other in just the right ways, and there’s no one else we’d rather be on this wild bookish ride with.
🧡 A Heartfelt Thank You
We want to thank every author, reader, and supporter who’s come along for the ride so far. Your encouragement, enthusiasm, and trust have meant the world to us. We’ve got big dreams, big ideas, and even bigger bookshelves to fill.
Here’s to month one - to soft starts, bold ideas, and the stories that bring us all together.
With love and endless gratitude,
Kris & Jade
Squirrel & Sparrow Bookstore 🐿️📚✨
