Plain Talk
By Mursi Saad El-Din
Egyptian writers, it would seem, are not the only ones who face difficulties in finding a readership for their books. True, large publishers in Egypt, like everywhere else, enjoy huge book shop displays, print and broadcast advertising, but with small and medium publishers this is more difficult to manage.
The sale of books is also accentuated by favourable reviews and book clubs -- like the Oprah book club, sure to turn any release into a best seller. Some chains of book shops in America and England introduce attractions with the potential to draw many customers, however. I have visited in both countries a number of book shops where you can pick up a book and relax in an easy armchair with a cup of coffee from the book shop canteen. They also have special lecture rooms where authors are invited to talk about their books and sign them for purchases.
Recently, however, more creative marketing innovations have emerged: the free give away of books being a case in point. Commuters on New York subways found books on the seats by authors trying to create a word of mouth buzz. It has been proved that, in the words of a publisher, "recommendation by a friend is the surest way of finding the next book you read -- and a publisher can kick-start that process."
An interesting article in The Independent by Rhodri Marsden deals with this issue. Titled "I'm Robert, read me", is the story of Robert Chalmer whose novels "failed to leap off the shelves, so he resorted to giving them away in the street". The writer traces his adventure from the moment he thought of the idea in a small town hotel. Chalmer has published two books which drew favourable reviews, and yet sales have been slow -- and so he decided to promote his new novel East of Nowhere by giving free copies away.
He chose Otley, a Yorkshire town of 25 000 residents, because "when my novel was serialised in a newspaper, there was a credit card hotline number. Only three people called, but all of them were from Yorkshire. So Yorkshire seems to be lucky for me." And off he went to Otley with a thousand copies of his novel. According to Marsden, he "is hoping that handing them out to four per cent of the residents will give him a slightly more realistic chance of local fame than he has had in London or New York".
During his crusade he was met with all kinds of responses. In one instance, he stood in front of a bank and, upon offering the book to a passer-by, the conversation went as follows:
-Hello. Would you like a book?
-No, you're alright mate.
-It's free.
-No. Really I don't want it.
-I wrote it. Go on, you might like it.
-I don't really read books, so it's a bit of a waste of time.
When the author entered to a pub called The Rose and Crown, the landlady was forthright: "There is no readers in here," she asserted. Chalmer comments "It might all end up in tears. But on the other hand, I might get invited back to open fetes and supermarkets."
He then decided to go a step further and enlisted the help of a local musician who, in turn, recommended a helper and four local teenage recruits who, in a back room, decorated the books with such phrases as 'read this, it's good for you' and 'pick me up'. The youth stuffed as many copies as they could and went off to target premises with waiting rooms.
So now, all of them went a- hunting, trying to find favourable responses from ordinary residents. Chalmer and his musician friend made their way to the post office when a number of customers were queuing. A woman snapped a "no, thank you" to their offer, while a grey-haired man answered "what, free? Aye" and slipped the book "into his bag with the oven chips".
The musician walked into town with a ukulele and a triangle. He started playing and "instead of people giving him money, they take a book." The distributors returned with six empty bags, having given away their contents. Chalmer comments: "I many not be a name in London or New York, but I've got a feeling I'm going to be massive in Otley."
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/750/cu3.htm