Our thirty-first year, now coming to a close, has been one of progress in which we can all take pride.
One of the biggest events of this year was the publication of the Seventh Printing of The URANTIA Book which numbers some twenty-three thousand copies. This means there are now about 135,000 copies in print, with more than 112,000 copies sold. This year sales are anticipated to be approximately 10% over last year. It would appear that The URANTIA Book can be considered a confirmed best seller. However, unlike most best sellers which come and go, The URANTIA Book promises a sustained increasing popularity both in the United States and abroad in English, and in other languages as authorized translations become available. The inherent worth of the teachings of The URANTIA Book have been and will continue to be its best recommender with no need for advertising or other attention-getting methods of sale. The person-to-person spread of The URANTIA Book continues to be the most productive means of its dissemination.
This does not mean, however, that we should not reassess our methods of distribution so as to make The URANTIA Book as widely available as possible. It appears that the entire book publishing industry is going through significant if not fundamental changes and two committees of URANTIA Brotherhood are looking into the impact on the distribution of The URANTIA Book. It will take some time for a full assessment to be made and a program to be proposed. If you have comments or suggestions, please write them to us.
To assist in realizing the sustained availability of The URANTIA Book, URANTIA Brotherhood undertook an international fund raising campaign to provide contributions for a perpetual book fund, described in previous issues of our newsletter. The fund basically provides that as each copy of the book is sold, a certain amount will be set aside to insure readily available funds for future printings of The URANTIA Book. Originally, we sought $210,000 for twenty-five thousand copies but as the press run was only a little over twenty-three thousand copies, our need was $177,000. To date we have received ninety-seven percent of our revised goal. Many, many of you assisted us in reaching this figure and the significance of your efforts is highlighted by the generally difficult world economic conditions. In addition, thanks to those who volunteered their services, our actual fund raising costs amounted to about two percent of the amount raised--a highly respectable figure.