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<\/center> <\/p>\nBy Madhava Smullen<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n For BBT Marketing, Communications and Innovations Department<\/p>\n Since 2012, when ISKCON North America\u2019s leaders unanimously agreed to work as one book distribution team with a collective goal, sales of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s books have seen a dramatic increase. <\/p>\n Remittance to the BBT grew 20% in 2012 and 2013, and 10% each year after that, from $700,000 in 2012 to around $2.1 million in 2016.<\/p>\n The 2017 marathon was yet another major success, with nearly $2 million again remitted to the BBT in North America. In the U.S. and worldwide, devotees worked closely together, implementing ingenious strategies like Motel Gita, Monthly Sankirtana Festivals, and full set sales with the Go Matsya project. <\/p>\n But with all this success, book distribution leaders are reminding us that it\u2019s important not to forget the most essential building block of successful book distribution \u2013 daily sadhana, and in particular reading the very books we distribute. <\/p>\n \u201cThe devotees\u2019 desire to share Krishna consciousness expands in direct proportion to the taste they themselves have received from their practice of devotional service,\u201d writes book distribution strategist Vaisesika Das in Our Family Business<\/i>. \u201cAnd the more they attend to the details of their practice, the more their taste for devotional service grows.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds: \u201cTo distribute books effectively one must read them and follow what they teach. Rooted firmly in daily sadhana, a devotee not only remains enthusiastic to distribute transcendental knowledge but also becomes spiritually empowered to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n Srila Prabhupada himself was adamant about this daily practice. \u201cEvery day you have to read, study, and learn my books just like a lawyer learns the law books,\u201d he told Tamal Krishna Goswami and Bhagavat Das in a June 1974 conversation. \u201cYou must know everything, chapter and verse. If you do not know, how will you preach?\u201d<\/p>\n And in a 1969 letter, he wrote, \u201cI thank you so much for having nicely appreciated the Bhagavad-gita As It Is. This book should be read by all of my students at least one chapter per day. Practically, we have tried to explain in this book all of the basic principles of Krsna consciousness. If you can simply cram Bhagavad-gita, then you will surely become a very good preacher.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, today many ISKCON book distributors may not only be busy with a variety of services, but also balancing a 9 to 5 job, children and family responsibilities. Reading the whole Bhagavad-gita may seem daunting, what to speak of absorbing the entire multi-volume Srimad-Bhagavatam and Chaitanya Charitamrita. Such a task may at times seem insurmountable.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n Which is why devotees have come up with systems to break the task down into manageable bites and make it easier \u2013 and more enjoyable. One of these is the Chapter-A-Day Club (CHAD), started by Vaisesika Das in 2007 after hearing of Srila Prabhupada\u2019s direction to read a chapter of the Bhagavad-gita every day.<\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n CHAD is now a worldwide community of close to 1,200 members. All kinds of demographics are included. Many are local devotees at Vaisesika\u2019s base in Silicon Valley, who have their own reading groups in the area. Some of the most enthusiastic members are children. Others are corporate men and women who are gradually taking up the Bhagavad-gita\u2019s teachings.<\/p>\n People register to join CHAD at www.readchad.com<\/a>, where they can also follow a suggested calendar, and can download the current chapter to read on their mobile device wherever they are. <\/p>\n Members read either all the English translations in a chapter, chant the Sanskrit verses, or both, which doesn\u2019t take more than 7 \u2013 10 minutes. Many read in the mornings as part of their daily routine — either on their own or as part of a group for support. These groups meet via conference call, and every morning they read and discuss one purport after the daily chapter. <\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n
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By BBT Marketing, Communications and Innovations Department<\/strong><\/p>\n