Bookmark bookkeeping

They’re done!  And here!  I have now taken delivery of 250 thick card bookmarks, printed in colour on both sides – quite the Rolls Royce of bookmarks, my dears:

I have already given ten each to the two Cambridge bookshops that stock the Sam Plank series – Heffers and G David.  I know that sounds a bit mean, as we imagine that bookmarks should be given away by the fistful, but – and I know plenty of you are interested in the commercial side of things – let me give you the figures.

The design of the bookmarks cost £79.  The printing and delivery cost £25.74, making a total of £104.74 for this first batch of 250 – which works out at 42p per bookmark.  Goodness, that’s a lot: perhaps I should have done those calculations before ordering!  But for subsequent orders – i.e. without design costs – it comes down to 10p per bookmark, if I order the same quantity each time.  The tricky thing, of course – all but impossible, I fear – will be to gauge whether they pay off in terms of extra sales.