Indie bookstores & what happens when your manuscript wins an award with Charlotte Guest

A five-way auction, a major literary award, and a debut novel about grief, care, and a wounded kookaburra - Charlotte’s path to publication is anything but ordinary. If you care about books, writing, or what it really takes to get a manuscript noticed, this conversation is full of hard-won insight.  I talk with Charlotte - a poet, writer, indie bookseller, and PhD graduate - about how bookshops build community, why independent stores can’t compete on price but can win on experience, and what actually makes an author worth stocking. Charlotte also opens up about her mentor’s (also a customer at the bookshop she manages!) role in her writing journey for her award-winning manuscript The Kookaburra and the moment it unexpectedly turned into a publishing bidding war. You’ll discover: Why independent bookshops survive by becoming destinations, not just retailers How booksellers choose what to stock when shelf space is brutally limited What makes events, salons, and pop-ups such powerful discovery tools Why self-published books rarely make the cut, and when they do How mentorship shaped Charlotte’s writing process in a way her PhD never could Charlotte shares the inside story of winning the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript, navigating agent and publisher conversations, and learning that patience, persistence, and community matter more than anything else. She also reflects on the reality of debut literary fiction, and why some manuscripts are best left in a drawer after they’ve taught you everything you need to know.  This episode is essential listening for aspiring writers, indie bookstore lovers, and anyone who wants to understand the real ecosystem behind books on the shelf. It’s honest, practical, and quietly inspiring - the kind of conversation that makes you see both writing and bookselling differently.