By Nila Khurana
The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, Srila Prabhupada’s prized institution for distributing spiritual literature for the betterment of society, has had an impact on the world in a tremendous way, the full measure of which we will likely not know for quite some time. Most devotees who have joined the movement owe their commitment and beliefs to reading one of his transcendental publications. Many even joined solely from a book that was given to them by a friend or that sat on someone’s shelf for years before being read.
Although on-foot book distribution will likely forever be one of the most powerful ways to impact someone’s life, in today’s world most respected authors and published works deal through the online marketplace and bookstores, with preview readings and target marketing to inform the public on the value of the books. To date the BBT has not had a department responsible for learning and implementing modern marketing practices to distribute our literature to the world. We are looking for an individual or team of individuals who have the inclination and ability to help in this area.
If you have experience or knowledge in marketing and publishing books, that would be ideal. Otherwise, there’s a current project in which a new person could quickly develop by working with the BBT. Jayadvaita Swami has written a book intended for a nondevotee audience and set to be released at the end of 2014. Working alongside Maharaja, you would gain a great amount of insight into the book-production process. The new ground for the BBT is marketing. You’d need to get up to speed on that. (The BBT is ready to invest in resources to help you.)
The position needs a person who is goal-oriented, thorough and organized, but, above all else, keen to work in this field with enthusiasm, and help the movement get greater results in our book-distribution efforts. Maharaja would like someone who is available for 3 to 6 hours per day to work alongside him in this initial effort. The work can be done anywhere in the US where there is a decent internet and phone connection.
Please contact Nila Khurana for further information at Nila@ufl.edu or (352) 234-4699.
Hare Krishna