A few words
About Us
the herstory
Are you feeling nosy about your local bookstore’s story? We’re happy to spill the tea! Natasya and Annie here, the ladies behind Bright Ink. We met at our former workplace and used to hang out after work and on the weekends enjoying our beautiful home – Queenstown. As fellow RuPaul’s Drag Race super fans, we always had something to chat about.
In mid-2020, we started taking home-tutored Spanish classes. Following one of these classes, we were chatting about our next steps in life. Natasya said, “Annie, maybe we should come up with something. Let’s brainstorm business ideas. Make our own money”. Annie replied in Spanish “Chica. Yo tengo una idea” …
“A mobile bookstore. Buy a van, fix it up, sell books, hold little book clubs or classes. Have authors and speakers. A place for community”
Annie Buscemi, 2020
The bookshop conversation started in August and we had our first meeting two weeks later. Like many curious potential start-ups, our biggest questions were how and where do we start? We pinned down our purpose, mission and goals.
By September, things were in full business mode and we decided to take a leap of faith and hire an accountant, fill out a lot of paperwork and get incorporated. We then purchased domain names and hosts to build this website. As excited as we were to have shiny, new and completed business proposal a week after coming up with the whole idea, we knew from the beginning that we needed an extra layer of support. So the search for funding platforms in New Zealand began.
By November, we decided to turn to crowdfunding and ran a 4-week campaign via PledgeMe. Within 24 hours of the campaign going live, we received more than half of our minimum target amount. The tremendous support and love shown by family, friends and strangers were beyond what we could imagine. In December, we brought home our Nissan Caravan hailing from Dunedin. The funds from the PledgeMe campaign were used to turn our van into a bookshop and buy our first lot of books.
Like most start-ups, we have had our own set of challenges, one of which being the fit-out and designing of the van. But we were and are convinced nothing can stop us. We are happy to accept “learns” as much as we love our “wins”. We want to give a huge shout out to our peers and fellow local business owners who helped us get things moving. We were determined to get on the road before Summer ended so we set an opening date. Bright Ink mobile bookshop was launched in February 2021 at the Remarkables Market, Frankton, Queenstown.
Bright Ink has now expanded and added a brick-and-mortar shop in Cabin 3 at 26 Hansen Road, Country Lane, Frankton, Queenstown.
bright reviews
“Thank you for providing this bookshop!”
“This is officially one of my favourite places in Queenstown now. This is such a smart idea!”
“Like a magic carpet ride on wheels! Love your concept”
“Great Idea! Thanks for making Queenstown even nicer!”
“We love this idea and are so excited to see how the the community rallies around amazing ideas like this”
“You guys are amazing!! This is the cutest and most amazing bookshop ever”
“Absolutely made my day. Thanks gals! Love the Charles Dickens book with a note from Doris in the front cover from 1941!”
“the prettiest bookshop I ever did see”
“A decked out converted van with a beautiful selection of books inside! I am in love!!!”
leave us a review
Annie Buscemi
Co-Founder
Annie has made Queenstown her home. Born in the U.S., she always knew that there was somewhere she actually belonged and New Zealand was it. She enjoys hiking, cooking (well eating, mostly) and reading. Her professional and personal experiences have brought her to the realisation that selling books is her passion and what she wants to do every day when she wakes up in the morning.
Natasya Zambri
CO-FOUNDER
Natasya hails from a small town in Malaysia and came to New Zealand to pursue her studies. An Auckland Uni graduate with an Accounting and Commercial Law background, she has always aspired to be a businesswoman. Natasya specifically enjoys baking & writing poetries and so believes New Zealand has given her exclusive exposure, perspectives and endless possibilities.
Bright Ink Mobile Bookshop
feature
Oprah’s Book Club is an interactive, multi-platform reading club bringing passionate readers together to discuss inspiring stories. OBC featured Bright Ink on its social pages.
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Free Malaysia today is an independent online news portal. Written by Reena Sekaran in Malaysia, this article unfolds a glimpse of herstory behind Bright Ink.
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