On the one hand I recently discovered kids in schools could buy books, as per this blog. On an additional finger of that same hand, last summer I tried selling books on a trip to Northern Ireland and did so well I ran out of books, as per this blog. And, if the fingers on hands metaphor can stand it, this week I'm about to do five days of classes in schools in Ireland. So, place your bets, am I going to sell lots of books or not?
On the other hand, the kids who bought books in schools recently were all in primary schools, and this week will be all secondary schools. So will we discover secondary school kids don't buy books? On an additional finger of that same hand, in Northern Ireland it was all the parents of kids in my classes that were buying the books, whereas this week I'm working directly with kids, who need forewarning before they'll come in with money. Added to which, on another one of these fingers, we've just had the Easter holidays which means the kids most likely haven't even been told about my visit let alone about the chance to buy books.
And, to add to the variety of variables in this situations, I've only been able to squeeze 20 copies of Richard The Third into my bags anyway, see photo above. (How I fitted 30 into my bags last summer, I don't know. Is Richard that much thicker than the other books?*). So I'll be selling a maximum of 20 books, which would be a marvellous thing and would pay for a night and a bit in one of these hotel rooms I'm forking out for.
Or a minimum of no books, which will lead me to re-examine how much extra I paid in order to have a bag in the hold so's I could bring those 20 books. What's the betting it's about the same as the potential profit from 20 books?
*NB Last summer it was copies of three different books I was selling, so one punter could actually buy all three and regularly did. That already limits this trip's sales potential. That said, the primary schools last month were only buying Richard The Thirds.
It's Sunday as I type this. Let us see how Monday to Friday in five different schools in Dublin and County Kerry pans out.
Day 1, Monday in Finglas. Ciaran the librarian buys 4 books. And we discover my iZettle credit card reader won't work in Ireland so we'll add it to my invoice.
Day 2, Tuesday in Tallaght. Linda the librarian buys two books, added to invoice.
Day 3, Wednesday in County Kerry. She tells me they're getting rid of books and going digital. No sales.
Day 4, Thursday in Dublin, Annie buys five.
Day 5, Friday in Dublin, Lorna says "I'll take ten", and I only have nine left. A complete sellout and a fine end to the week. Even better, she displays them. Result.
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