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Vol. 73/No. 41      October 26, 2009

 
‘Militant’ supplement on new
book aids subscription effort
(front page)
 
BY TOM BAUMANN
AND NORTON SANDLER  
As we pass the halfway point of the fall subscription drive, distributors of the paper are taking advantage of the Militant’s eight-page special supplement on the forthcoming Pathfinder book Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers Power to boost readership of the paper. Our distributors are also reporting good results selling subscriptions on the job to coworkers.

The supplement, which includes the introduction to the book by Jack Barnes, the Socialist Workers Party national secretary, and a selection of photos that will appear in the book, helped convince many over the past week to become new subscribers to the Militant.

Drawing on a number of positive examples detailed below, we urge distributors to map out a plan for how they can use the special Militant supplement and the paper’s ongoing coverage and analysis of major events in world politics and the stakes for working people to help meet their quotas and go over.

In New York distributors got a substantial boost toward meeting their quota. Using the supplement, they sold 32 subscriptions this past week, the majority in working-class areas of the city. Four of the subscriptions were sold at Hunter College. On one day distributors sold 13 subscriptions, 90 single copies of the Militant, and 11 books, reported Doug Nelson.

Distributors in other parts of the country are reporting similar results. “We sold six subscriptions on the Southside of Chicago to Black workers interested in how the ideas of Malcolm X can be applied to today,” said Alyson Kennedy. Five others from Humboldt Park, a predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood, also subscribed. A retired Filipino worker, who had been active in his youth against the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, bought a subscription and paid $10 on the promotional offer for the new book.

Supporters of the Militant in London joined a countermobilization against an ultrarightist and anti-immigrant group called the English Defence League. They met nine people who got subscriptions, some of whom picked up Pathfinder titles on sale with a subscription or renewal.

At the Wordstock Book Fair in Portland, Oregon, October 10-11, participants were attracted to the display of Pathfinder books. Twenty new readers signed up for the Militant. Four of those who subscribed prepaid for the new book. A total of $300 in Pathfinder books was sold at the event.

In Washington, D.C., supporters of the Militant met many gay rights activists at a national demonstration. Eight participants subscribed and “were attracted to the pull-out feature,” Glova Scott reported.

Other areas met new subscribers attending political and cultural activities. Supporters of the Militant in San Francisco sold 5 subs and 15 single issues of the paper at an Arab Cultural Festival, wrote Carole Lesnick.
 
 
Related articles:
Minnesota meat packers subscribe to paper company doesn’t want them to read
‘Militant’: subscription drive: Week 4 (chart)  
 
 
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