A Telugu book buying club?
V. Chowdary Jampala (cjampala@quark.dayton.net)
Tue, 23 Dec 1997 10:39:41 -0500 (EST)
From time to time, particularly when I mention or review a new
book, I am approached by people regarding the establishment of some kind
of mechanism for distribution of Telugu books in US (this may apply to
people in other countries as well). Though I volunteer for distribution of
books from TANA and some other writer friends for fund raising purposes, I
do not have the aptitude to do it as a business and have only a limited
anount of time to volunteer.
However, if there is really enough of an interest and commitment,
I can work with my contacts in the book publishing and distribution
business in AP to interest them in setting up some kind of a 'book-club'
scheme whereby those interested can order directly through a simplified
mechanism. Currently, the booksellers are not really that interested in
serving our needs because it is a sporadic low volume business and taking
care of overseas orders is a hassle that is not worth the trouble. I
think, if we can show them good faith and commit to a certain volume, they
may be interested in setting up the mechanisms to do it efficiently. This
way, they can profit while we can get the books that we want.
I do not have any definite proposal; but, one of the ways it can
work is: A dependable and reputable AP bookseller will set up an NRI book
club. There will be an initial non-refundable fee for joining the club.
Also, a refundable deposit (say $100) will be required. The bookseller
will send periodically a catalogue to all the members from which the
members can order any books (or special order those that are not on the
list for an extra fee) and choose the method of shipping (air/sea) with
the total cost not exceeding that of the refundable deposit. The book
seller will send an invoice to the member that will include the book
costs, shipping costs and a modest handling fee. The member will pay the
bookseller directly. At any time, the member can withdraw and get his
refundable deposit back, probably in Indian rupees at that time.
There may be other ways to do this as well. But, the important
thing right now is to see if there are enough number of book lovers out
there that are interested in a scheme like this. From my past dealing with
publishers, they will need a substantial assurance before they commit to
something like this.
If you are interested in joining something like this and are
willing to commit to about $100 worth of book buying over a year, please
let me know through a personal mail. I will repost this message on a
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weekly basis two more times. If there is enough interest, I will proceed
with contacting the AP publishers. If there isn't, that is OK too.
Regards -- V. Chowdary Jampala