One of the sources of the success were the initial large orders for the 51 books and pamphlets offered on steep discount through November 7 as part of the Pathfinder Supersaver Sale, which started in August.

Taking advantage of the sale, socialist campaigners from around the country who came here to take part in the protests surrounding the Republican National Convention sold 853 of the discounted books and pamphlets in 14 days of campaigning in the demonstrations and activities throughout New York City.

The top five sellers during the 12-day effort were: The Working Class and Transformation of Learning: The Fraud of Education Reform Under Capitalism with more than 130 copies sold; Malcolm X Talks to Young People and The Communist Manifesto, with more than 50 copies sold; and By Any Means Necessary and The Second Declaration of Havana, with more than 40 copies each.

The sale’s strong start has given a boost to efforts by the communist movement to increase distribution of Pathfinder books and pamphlets this year. The goal adopted at the 42nd Constitutional Convention of the Socialist Workers Party in June was to increase total sales by 10 percent in the last six months of 2004 compared to the first half of the year.

In the first six months, Pathfinder sales amounted to $112,200. The 10 percent increase means the goal is to reach a minimum of $235,600 by the end of the year. With just under $49,000 sold in July and August, $74,500 remains to reach the annual goal—or a monthly average of $18,625 between September and December.

“Key to the success of this campaign will be the leadership attention by SWP branches in the United States and communist leagues in other countries, working with supporters of the communist movement in each area to get orders from independent bookstores, libraries, and campuses,” said Norton Sandler, who leads the SWP’s work with party supporters around the country.

A couple of SWP supporters set an example on how to reach out to libraries, selling books to 10 branches of a public library in Oakland, and a number in the Detroit area as well. The two have constituted a “library task force” to help others around the country to follow their lead.

The goal by SWP branches to increase their book sales by 10 percent will be a challenge, and will require close attention and consistent, diligent campaigning.

In July party branches fell short of their goal of $9,460, with a nationwide total of $6,341.

Statistics are not yet complete for August. With half the areas reporting as this issue went to press, including New York that netted nearly $3,600 in sales last month, the total for August stood at just over $5,600. The New York figure for August includes the sales during the 14-day campaigning around the Republican convention, which involved volunteers from across the country.

Maggie Trowe from Boston, one of the few cities where socialist workers made their local goal in July and August, said, “We went over our monthly goal of $500 the last two months. In July we took advantage of the protest activities around the Democratic National Convention and the transit authority’s crackdown on democratic rights, which we campaigned against with a statement from the local SWP candidate.

“In August we took books to New York that we sold during the events around the Republican convention, campaigned in Boston workers’ districts that we haven’t been to before, and used Militant Labor Forums to promote Pathfinder books.”

Tom Fiske from the Twin Cities reported that 14 Pathfinder books were sold at the last Militant Labor Forum, which was well attended. Jacob Perasso spoke on the U.S. rulers’ assaults on democratic rights and gave a first-hand report on the Republican convention and the protests surrounding it.

Janice Lynn from Washington, D.C., said that although socialists there sold 100 books and pamphlets in August, they fell short of their goal of $726, reaching just $458. “We plan to go over $1,000 in September to make up for the shortfall,” said Lynn in a September 3 interview. “We are going to sell books at a hotel workers rally this week and the Baltimore bookfair the following weekend.”

Campaigners in Los Angeles sold 90 books, including a large number of titles in Spanish, at the 17th Constitutional Convention of the United Farm Workers, held August 28-29 in Fresno, California. Sixty-one of the books sold were on discount as part of the Supersaver Sale. They included 17 copies of The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning, 9 copies of The Second Declaration of Havana, and 5 copies each of Malcolm X Talks to Young People and 50 años de guerra encubierta.

Along with the decision last June to increase book sales by a minimum of 10 percent, volunteers involved in various aspects of the production of Pathfinder books and pamphlets set out to increase their overall efficiency and speed. “This is essential in order to make the Supersaver Sale and broader sales efforts a success,” said Maceo Dixon, an SWP supporter in Atlanta.

Ruth Cheney, who is part of the Printing Project steering committee that oversees work of more than 100 volunteers around the world involved in various stages of the production process of Pathfinder books, said that the average number of books and pamphlets produced used to be eight per month. “But in July, we sent 15 titles to the print team, and 20 titles in August,” she said. “We are working to shorten the production cycle, which used to be from five or six months, down to about two months. Since June, we turned around six titles in less than a month.”

“This week, we really started to see results at the end of the production chain,” said Daryl Drobnic, who is in charge of receiving and quality-checking books at the Pathfinder distribution center in Atlanta. “We usually get about two newly printed books each week at the distribution center. This week, we got eight books, including the new Spanish-language edition of We Are Heirs of the World’s Revolutions by Thomas Sankara and the second printing of The Stalin School of Falsification. The first printing came out in June, but sold so fast that we had been out of stock for more than two months.”  
 
 
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