My name, according to Starbucks at Bristol airport. Where I spent way more hours than originally planned, en route to catching a flight to Belfast for a week of classes in art centres in Northern Ireland. Our two hour delay, it turned out, was because the plane had suffered a bird strike yesterday and they had to replace the nose cone. So that's a nice detail.
This time last year I did a six day run at Northern Ireland art centres and, as this blog records, I attempted for the first time to sell books to the parents of the kids in the classes. Then I was able to squeeze thirty books into an extra hold bag, a mix of my first 3 Shakespeare books.
This year I have Richard The Thirds and, because the second printing of the book has no Shakespeare script at the book, it is slightly thinner. So I am able to squeeze 40 Richard The Thirds into my bag, along with three Omnibusses. It would have been four Omnibusses, but the fourth has a slightly bent back cover, which I fear I may have just done by trying to squeeze them into my suitcase.
So, as I write this in my AirBnB room above a shop in Cookstown, I have more books available to sell then I had last year. Last year I had nearly sold out after two days. What will happen this time..?
Day 1 - Burnavon Arts, Cookstown - £91.91
11 x Richard The Third + 1 x Omnibus
After the morning session I was initially a little disappointed to have only sold 7 books. Then I realised, if I do that at every class, I'll have sold out after three days.
Day 2 - Ardhowen Arts, Enniskillen - £92.95
9 x Richards + 2 x Omnibus
That's the Omnibusses sold out already. And these sales were all after the morning's class. The afternoon group were the older teenagers, who have their parents meet them outside rather than coming in to get them, so there was no-one to sell to. I should complain, I'm more than halfway through my stock, with three fifths of the classes still to go.
I met up with Paul Trimble afterwards, who runs the Enniskillen Comic Festival, and he said once again that I should ship books over to him when I'm doing a trip like this. I must work out the cost of sending boxes of 40 books through the post. If I mail 80 books to Northern Ireland, (or mail 40 and take 40 on the plane) I'd be bound to sell 40 at least, meaning I could manage to take any remainder home. Next time.
Day 3 - Strule Arts, Omagh - £27.96
4 x Richards
The turnout was so low for these classes, only 3 in the morning and 12 in the afternoon, that I wouldn't have been surprised to sell no comics at all. Added to which the parents didn't come into the class and only picked up the kids afterwards, which is another recipe for zero sales. So one copy in the morning and three in the afternoon wasn't too bad. Leaving me 16 books still to sell across the next two days.
Day 4 - Flowerfield Arts, Portstewart - £55.92
8 x Richards
These were two more classes where the parents didn't appear till the end. Luckily the kids were persuasive. Eight books left to sell on the final day. Will I sellout and disappoint some kids, or have books left over and disappoint me?
Day 5 - Ards Arts, Newtownards - £55.92
8 x Richards.
All books sold, 4 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon. I'm sure I'd have sold more if I'd had them, but a most satisfactory result either way.
My Books and where to get them:
Shakespeare Omnibus Collection (all 3 books) - Paperback
Sweet Smell Of Sockcess - Putting A Show On At The Edinburgh Fringe -
Amazon -
ebook
Joseph, Ruth & Other Stories - Amazon
Colouring Books: Punk, Cult TV, Eurovision Vol 1, Eurovision Vol 2, Eurovision Best Of British & Irish, 1960s Pop, 1970s Pop, 1980s Pop, 1990s Pop, 2020s Pop, Bowie, Scottish Pop, Doctors Who
No comments:
Post a Comment