Saturday, July 22, 2006

Distribution coming in Netherlands and Australia

We've had more good news today from friends on other countries who want to help Celia's book get wider distribution.

From Amsterdam, José has written to order a bundle of books, adding that two bookshops there have agreed to take the book. We'll add their details when the books are on the shelves.

In Sydney, we've had news today that our namesake, Resistance Books, will also be taking some copies of the book. We distribute quite a few of their affordable Marxist books and pamphlets here in Britain, and it's great to have their support in bringing Celia's ideas to a wider audience.

If you're in Britain and want to get hold of any of their books, let us know. We can keep down your postage costs, and allow you to pay in pounds. I am an especially big fan of their 'Resistance Marxist Library' and their books on Cuba (£6), the environment (£9) and on Marxist economics (£3).

Friday, July 21, 2006

Amazon.co.uk sells our book

Celia Hart's book is now available at www.Amazon.co.uk. The link here - http://tinyurl.com/j5w3q - should take you to the page where you can buy it. The good news is that you can buy from that British website no matter where you are.

However, the book is only at amazon.co.uk. It is not at their US, French or German websites, not yet anyway.

Our other distributors do not advertise our book on their websites right now. However, they all have copies of the book and will be very happy to sell it to you. You can write to them or telephone them to get your copy. It just takes them a little time to post the details of the book. Our French distributor might never list the book since they sell very few books in English.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Booksellers retail our book in the US and France

Friends in the US and France have publicised our book on leading Cuba solidarity information lists over the last week. As a result, we now have booksellers in both countries who are able to supply the book by mail order. It costs $15 or €12, plus shipping.

From the US, you can order the book from:
Alex Chis Books
P.O. Box 2944
Fremont, CA 94536-0944
Phone: 510-489-8554
Email: achis at igc dot org
http://www.tomfolio.com/mall/AlexChis/
http://www.abebooks.com/home/AlexChis/
Alex Chis Books is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA). Alex will be on vacation next week, so he won't be advertising the book on his site until he gets back; however, you can email him orders,

From France, the book is available through:
Librairie La Brèche,
27, rue Taine, 75012 Paris
Phone: 01 49 28 52 44
Email: librairielabreche at tiscali dot fr
http://www.la-breche.com
Having a French distributor is especially useful; a reader in Marsailles write to us to explain the the paypal.com system did not accept as valid his email address which, of course, ends .fr rather than .com.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Second printing for Celia's book

The response to Celia Hart's book has been so positive that only six copies remain from the first printing.

The second printing will arrive on Monday next week, in time for copies to be taken to the International Revolutionary Youth Camp.

We're making two slight changes to the second printing. In the first printing, citations of Leon Trotsky were translated from the Spanish; in the second printing we have checked these against the translations from the most commonly used English editions of Trotsky's works (It doesn't make a substantial difference, but it makes it easier for people wanting to consult the full texts). We have also increased the type size a little in the second printing: there's a growing fashion for larger type in books, especially in the US, and we want to reduce the barriers that might exist to win wider distribution.

With the second printing, we will also be asking bookshops and distributors to handle the book. We'd appreciate your help on that point: if you can recommend distributors or bookshops in your country or city, then we will follow up with them. Just drop us an email at [resistance at sent dot com].

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Truth, Love and Appetite

Last week we shipped off copies of Celia Hart's book to leading academic, and activist, libraries in Britain, Cuba, Ireland and The Netherlands. We're also starting to get powerful feedback from readers who took us up on our pre-publication offers. In particular, comments come under three forms: about truth, love and appetite.
  1. Truth is an important aspect of this book. Of course, Celia speaks for herself when she discusses the challenges facing revolutionaries around the world. However, her book is a partial antidote to a lot of the misunderstandings, confusion and propaganda being spread by both the enemies of the Cuban revolution and some of its more critical friends. This book allows a Cuban revolutionary to speak in her own words to an English-speaking audience. That's a powerful contribution for Socialist Resistance to make to the left and that approach is reflected also by our recent dayschool, which allowed comrades from Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela to speak in their own words.
  2. Love was also a parent of this book. The care and thoughtfulness put into the translations and design of this book is all the more important because that work is done by volunteers. The translations were done by friends at CubaNews, and checked and reworked by comrades of Socialist Resistance here in Britain and the US. The design and the wonderful cover image of a Cuban flag flying against a blue sky really mark it out as a book that is a real pleasure to read.
  3. Appettite is also important. Socialist Resistance is produced by a pretty small network of people. It's important, I think, that this is our first book. It says something about priorities. It's a major investment, and we've put in the effort needed to get this book the access it needs. We've produced this book in the Demy Octavo format most widely used by bookshops around the work, rather than the A5 format most commonly used by European socialist books. It's printed on classy cream-coloured paper, which so many mainstream publishers use now, and which makes the book easy and soothing to read. We've also made it available to booksellers around the world through Ingram's book wholesaling system.
There are three ways to get the book.
  • 1] Use www.paypal.com to send a payment for 8 pounds [that is around 15 US dollars] to resistance at sent dot com. Send an email to that address as well to give your mailing address. The price includes international airmail.
  • 2] Send an international money order, or a UK bank cheque, made payable to 'Resistance' for 8 pounds to PO Box 1109, London, N4 2UU, Britain. The price includes international airmail.
  • 3] Bookshops and libraries can get the book from Ingram, the world's largest wholesale book distributor. You'll need the ISBN number: 978-0-902869-99-8.
Resistance is making the book available at cost to groups and booksellers ordering more than five copies. Six copies cost 30 pounds rather than 46 pounds, also including airmail shipping to a single address. Each extra copy added to the bundle is 5 pounds.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

No need to scribble down our contact details

From next month Resistance Books will be able to supply supporters with 'business cards'. These are useful for passing out contact details on to people who we meet at our bookstalls. It's especially good to give people the web addresses for our free monthly email update, and for our website.

Click on the picture of the card to see a larger image.

To get your cards, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Resistance Books, PO Box 1109, London, N4 2UU. As well as your envelope, include one loose first class stamp for each packet of 25 cards.

If you want to order 250 cards then you can select your own text; for example you could add a local contact number and email address. Send us your own text, plus a cheque for £3.50 payable to Resistance.

Please allow up to 28 days for delivery.