Hyla Brook Books // Plan With Me

I had this post written on Sunday but it was unfinished, and now I need to rewrite it entirely because I have a major life update. Yesterday I found out that I will not be returning back to work. It’s more important now more than ever to make my vintage book shop work.

Before I got the news, I had a whole day dedicated to art. It was finally sunny after a week long rain. I made watercolor bookmarks to go with orders and a poetry wall hanging out of resin. That day I got my first etsy sale  which was the last sale of the month of June! Not to mention my first book sale on etsy since June 15th.

I feel strangely like I’m in shock. I can’t believe it happened that I lost my job due to the plague. It also felt strangely like a force was pushing me out of my comfort zone because that’s what I really wanted, deep down.

My shop was low on shipping supplies so I spent $ 47.71 50 padded envelopes – 25 kraft envelopes that are  9.5 X 14 and 25 kraft envelops that are  8.5 X 11. THe order I placed for bookshelves on June 18th should be delievered tomorrow. Those were a total of $95.70. Looking back I’m sure if I had a car I could’ve thrifted the bookshelves but I am happy they will be white and new. And if I want to save on packaging but make it more timeconsume to package I could buy a roll of kraft paper for $20. I like the envelopes for the simplicity. I also think the kraft paper goes well with my shop identity.

Also in June I upgraded and got a printer I just need to get ink next which I plan on getting soon. There is an advantage to using my typewriter and manually putting the addresses in – if I see an address through Paypal or Etsy that looks incorrect, I can message the buyer and confirm their address. When you start printing labels you can’t change the address they put in Paypal.

I surpassed 50 sales on Depop as of Sunday. I’ll be okay for a few more months but after that? Honestly I’m done with 2020 it’s just been one thing after another in the world and in my personal life.

Books have helped me through that though.

How has COVID affected you? Are you working on anything? If your comfortable leave a comment below. Also don’t forget to follow my facebook page to not miss out on my shop updates :  Hyla Brook Books

Thank you for reading! I’ll have a post later today with all the books that sold last week on Depop if you’re interested. Bye Bye!