This is Part 5 of Caro and Susan’s foray into the land of bookselling. Here are the earlier segments:
I like books. I like beads, too and I somehow discovered these metal hook bookmarks. They have a loop on the end from which to dangle beads, charms, and chains, and a shank which you slip between the pages of the book, so the cascade of pretty beads trails down the spine. As a former librarian I must tell you that I cannot approve of these bookmarks. No, I just can’t. They are not flat enough. They are not good for the book, especially if you set a weight, such as another book or a cat, on top of the book while using the bookmark.
But…they are sparkly. Book bling, I call them, and I always tell the folks to only use them on their non-expensive volumes, the ones they would risk taking to the beach or
camping. Last year I sort of got…addicted to making them. It was soothing. It had a pretty result. We can sell them in the bookstore I said, as I finished the tenth one. I can give them to friends at Christmas, I thought as I finished the second dozen. I am out of my freakin mind, I decided, when I had a hundred of the things hanging around my computer area.
So I decided to get a table at the craft show. If you have book bling, you might as well haul along some books to sell, right? So I had stacks of books on the table, with bookmarks artfully posed on them. As I sold the bookmarks, I chatted to each person about the book store we hoped to open. Most people just sort of nodded and went on. They had serious shopping to do, because this is THE retail event which kicks off the holiday shopping season in our town. But, about one in ten people paused. They got this look on their face, of anticipation, or even happiness. They pressed for details. It warmed my heart to realize that there was actually interest, that there might be actual customers out there.
A few people bought books, but the books were props to advertise the store and display the bookmarks and I didn’t expect many to sell. Used books were not exactly what people are looking for at a craft fair at Christmas time. If I were doing it again I’d get some new books designed specifically as Christmas presents. I first wondered if the word of mouth I was trying to generate was worth the rather expensive booth rent, but at least I sold enough bookmarks to cover the costs and even made a little profit. Which I used to buy more parts, and made more bookmarks. I did mention I was sort of…hooked?
Ah, and did you know you can make bookmarks out of string or ribbon? I am also thinking of getting a little laminator and making bookmarks out of the illustrations of vintage readers that are missing pages or are so trashed I would otherwise throw them away.
So at Christmas time we had about four or five thousand books, and a few hundred bookmarks. What we didn’t have yet was an actual store! T. thought it would be about three more months. There weren’t any auctions to go to so I went back to making bookmarks during the long and cold winter months.
Book Bling! I love it.
Hey! Can you hook a clapper on it? So when you clap your hands or give a shrill whistle a light would flash or a siren go off. That way one could find the book after it was so carefully placed where it could be easily found again? I seem to spend hours looking for whatever book(s) I’m currently reading.
Currently my system for finding my book is to wander about the house with a glazed look on my face until the wife says, “What color is the cover?” I reply, “Red.” (or blue or green etc.) – In a few words she will then direct me to the ‘carefully placed’ book’s location. – – – But then if I get a clapper on the book our communication would drop off by 60-75%. Communication is important in a marriage so maybe I should forgo the clapper idea.
By the way Caro. I hear too that some addictive type behaviours have some psychologistical/analytical names but so what! Who wants to cure ’em if you are making money from them?
Duck makes a perfectly nice little work horse hot & cold laminator that takes sheet lamination. it’ll run around $25-$40 depending on where you get it form, whether you need to ship it, etc. I’ve had the same one for at least 6 years, no problems. Use it all the time to make signage for the store. (particularly near the kids section as grabby toddlers tend to be rough on shelf signage)
If you’re considering laminating paper, use at least 3mm lamination film for stiff stock, 5mm for thin stock. 1mm is dirt cheap… but may wrinkle in the machine and cause a jam. 3mm generally won’t wrinkle but may not provide enough stiffness for a light paper stock. 5mm will probably be a better choice for thin paper stock.
I normally get sheets intended for 8.5X11 as they’re generally the most economical. They’re almost always cheaper to buy online in a large pack. Most office supply stores only like to carry lamination packs with 20 or less sheets… which are a lot more expensive per sheet than buying a box of 100 online, even with the shipping. (also, frequently buying a box online will be just expensive enough that you can use a promo coupon to get free shopping for orders over X or $5 off, or whatnot. Try Retailmenot.com for online coupons)