The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.20           May 20, 1996 
 
 
Let's Sell More Books, More `Militant' Subscriptions  

BY HILDA CUZCO

In April, supporters of the socialist press went over their goal of selling 1,550 copies of Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War by Ernesto Che Guevara to workers and others in the United States and internationally. That month also registered progress in selling Pathfinder titles to commercial bookstores, and signing up new members to the Pathfinder Readers Club. This puts Pathfinder supporters in a good position to move ahead to sell socialist books as they begin a five-week drive to win new subscribers to the Militant, and its Spanish-language sister publication, Perspectiva Mundial.

From May 11 to June 16, supporters of the socialist press around the world will be campaigning to sell 1,100 introductory Militant subscriptions, 350 Perspectiva Mundial subs, and 400 copies of the Marxist magazine New International. This effort can help step up the sales of books and pamphlets through Pathfinder bookstores, which slipped a little in April to 90 percent of the monthly goal of 1,800. To sell both subscriptions and books, supporters will be getting out more on the streets, the factory floor, at political events, on campuses, and door-to-door in working-class neighborhoods. The combined sales effort will be a central part of the Socialist Workers election campaigns now under way, and for election campaigns by other communist leagues around the world, as they reach out to workers on strike, protesters against anti-immigrant attacks, defenders of affirmative action and abortion rights, and others.

Sales in the unions
Socialist workers who are members of industrial trade unions are taking goals for the subscription drive, as a supplement to their ongoing goal of selling 400 Pathfinder books and pamphlets to co-workers each month. "We can build on the fact that nearly 300 co-workers bought copies of Episodes, and many have bought other Pathfinder books in the last couple months," said Dennis Richter, a member of the United Transportation Union and leader of the Socialist Workers Party's work in the trade unions. "While we fell short of our goal in that campaign, we have made real progress in talking socialism and selling books on the job. Many of those who have been reading the books can now be convinced to subscribe to the Militant or Perspectiva Mundial."

Socialist workers will also continue to encourage people to join the Pathfinder Readers Club, so they can get a discount on all Pathfinder titles. The number of readers club members grew by 400 over the last two months, including new members in the unions. The Militant will continue to report the number of readers club members each week, so supporters internationally can keep track of this important figure.

Joyce Fairchild from Manchester, England, described how a team of three Pathfinder supporters combined sales of revolutionary books and the Militant at an April 27 demonstration in Dublin. The all-Ireland rally, called by Sinn Fein, commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Easter Rising. "Almost immediately the table was surrounded by youth, students, and others thirsty for information on the international class struggle," said Fairchild. A student of Irish history from South Korea bought several books including Ireland and the Irish Question by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Problems of Women's Liberation by Evelyn Reed, and Palestine and the Arabs' Fight for Liberation, a pamphlet by Fred Feldman and Georges Sayad.

Pointing to The Communist Manifesto a young man from Lurgan, in British-occupied Northern Ireland, said, "I want that book, my mate thinks it's great!"

Fairchild reported that the team sold a total of nine Militants, a copy of the theses of the Central Organization of Cuban Workers (CTC) published in a series by the Militant, Genocide Against the Indians, On the Jewish Question by Leon Trotsky, Che Guevara and the Fight for Socialism Today, Abortion is a Woman's Right, the pamphlets Why is Mark Curtis Still in Prison and The Frame-up of Mark Curtis, and two Pathfinder catalogs. The next day they sold 6 Militants at University College Dublin.

Commercial sales
More than 1,000 books were sold to commercial distributors and libraries in April, a big advance from March. With continued attention and more supporters learning the ropes, this figure can continue to rise.

Pathfinder supporters Priscilla March and Vanessa Knapton from Los Angeles wrote the Militant about a successful day of sales to bookstores and libraries May 1. The buyer at one college bookstore ordered 28 books, including Episodes and two Spanish-language titles. March and Knapton also visited a professor of Chicano studies who expressed interest in The Politics of Chicano Liberation and Episodes, and took a catalog.

At the campus library, the Pathfinder supporters showed a set of books and covers to the collection development librarian for history, who took a few catalogs to share with the librarians for other departments.

March and Knapton also stopped at a private bookstore in Los Angeles, where they received an order for 16 titles, including Fascism: What It Is and How to Fight It, The Bolivian Diary of Ernesto Che Guevara, Cointelpro, and The Assassination of Malcolm X. In another visit the day before, one university bookstore ordered 51 titles.

Reviews of `Episodes'
Reviews of Episodes appeared in the Sun-Sentinel of southern Florida on April 7, and in the Irish republican weekly An Phoblacht/Republican News April 18. Both reviews agreed on Guevara's honest account of the Cuban revolution. "Guevara gives his own account of the revolution in a series of letters, essays and memoirs, proving himself in the process to be a fine observer and a writer of uncommon gifts, even though the prose is rough at times. Guevara seems intent on telling the truth of what it was like on the ground, outmanned, underarmed, desperate, yet confident of victory," says the Sun-Sentinel reviewer.

"Most of the articles were first published in the early 1960s and Guevara could have easily airbrushed out the many mistakes he and others made. Instead he leaves us with an invaluably honest account. This is real history," notes An Phoblacht, which also comments on Guevara's Bolivian Diary. The article concludes, "These books provide an unrivaled introduction to both the Cuban revolution and the work of Che Guevara."

Beginning next week, the Militant will be reporting subscription sales results, in addition to sales of Pathfinder books. Subscriptions received with payment by noon Eastern Daylight Time each Tuesday will be included in the chart. Reports on sales of Pathfinder books and readers club memberships are due by 8:00 a.m. Mondays. Remember that sales of New International should be included in the overall book total, as well as reported separately for the subscription chart.  
 
 
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