BY MEGAN ARNEY
In the second week of the Militant renewal drive, an effort to broaden the number of regular, long-term readers of the communist press, supporters sold 75 more Militant renewal subscriptions and nine more for Perspectiva Mundial - doubling the total to date. During the February 8-28 campaign, Militant readers and supporters have taken on a real go-get 'em attitude to contact readers and sign them up to keep getting the paper.

This campaign is an important opportunity to follow up initial contact with readers of the working-class press by selling them Pathfinder books and pamphlets, signing them up as members of the Pathfinder Readers Club, and asking for a donation to the Militant Fund Drive that started February 22 and runs until April 26. It will also help distributors get in gear for an international drive to win new subscribers that will kick off March 8.

In Toronto, Susie Berman reports that as of February 19, two Militant readers renewed their subscriptions, and two renewed for Perspectiva Mundial, the Militant's Spanish- language, sister magazine. "When we visited one of these subscribers she also bought the Farsi-language edition of Socialism and Man in Cuba by Ernesto Che Guevara for her father-in-law. Two others asked to be on the Militant Labor Forum's mailing list. We have another two Militant renewals promised."

In many areas, class-conscious workers have prioritized reaching out with the paper to new readers along with making their goals. Sales teams have stayed out selling the paper longer, set aside certain nights of the week to call subscribers, and done consistent renewal work on a daily basis.

Connie Allen in Philadelphia, where Militant supporters are ahead of schedule, reports that they "went back about a year, and systematically did phone calls. We've reached 90 percent of former Militant and Perspectiva Mundial subscribers. Now we have some 20 people who say they want to renew - we just have to get back to them."

Where socialist workers have organized renewal work on the job, it has paid off with sales of other literature as well. Socialists in Birmingham have led the way in signing up co-workers for renewals, selling nine subscriptions and seven Pathfinder books and pamphlets over the last couple of weeks.

"Displaying flyers on the bulletin board at work with book specials from Pathfinder has helped us sell 14 books so far this month at work," reports steelworker Betsy Farley. "Three to coal miners and 11 to steelworkers in two different plants. The special offer during Black History Month helped."

Young Socialists have also been a part of the renewal campaign. Ryan Lewis from the Cleveland YS wrote, "Even when the subscriber decides not to renew right now, the calls have helped us get to know the readers in this area, and to clarify any questions they had about the Militant."

Supporters of the socialist press in Cleveland set a goal of winning 20 percent of those who subscribed last fall to sign up again that is six renewal subscriptions from readers in their area.

As of February 20, four readers had renewed and five more plan to do so. Roni McCann, a socialist steelworker in Cleveland, reported, "Ty Moore, a student at Oberlin College, decided to renew his Militant subscription at a Militant Labor Forum on the Korean labor strikes. A reader in nearby Painesville first saw the newspaper leading up to a successful counter-mobilization against the Ku Klux Klan three years ago and decided to renew again."

McCann also reported that a high school student and several trade unionists plan on renewing. Going into the last week of the campaign, supporters in Cleveland plan to redouble their efforts to contact each and every reader to get all renewals promised in hand. "We're sending the Militant a package Fed-Ex on Saturday!" McCann added.

All renewals received at the Militant business office by Noon EST on Tuesday, March 4, will be counted in the final chart for the drive, which will be printed in the next issue, no. 11. The Militant encourages readers to send in anecdotes on the last week of the renewal campaign, along with plans for the upcoming subscription drive for new readers.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home