By Anton Miroshnichenko, Kyiv, Ukraine
The Urantia Association of Ukraine posted an announcement on their website, www.urantia.org.ua [2], that The Urantia Book is for sale. The announcement was also posted on all other free resources on the Internet: for example the OLX (ex slando) free classifieds kiev.ko.olx.ua/obyavlenie/kniga-urantii-IDcr3DR.html [3] and the Prom.ua online marketplace kiev.prom.ua/p28379988-kniga-urantii.html [4]).
Book orders can be placed by phone or by e-mail. Payment may be made online or through a bank card. Also, a buyer can pay for the book by cash on delivery when he picks it up at the delivery office. Shipping is done through Nova Poshta (New Mail) commercial delivery service. This delivery method is very convenient because in Ukraine there is a network of delivery offices. Customers only need to travel to the closest office to pick up their purchased book. The average delivery time is one to two days. The postage for one book costs about $2 US to any city in Ukraine.
There are many small bookstores in Ukraine that usually work directly with publishers of books. Unfortunately, putting The Urantia Book on the shelves of these kinds of stores is very difficult because The Urantia Book was not published in Ukraine. The book is not promoted by major publishing houses. So it cannot be found by buyers for small bookstores; it is neither in the directory of books nor in the catalogues of publishing companies.
Some of these shops are willing, however, to take a book on consignment. Usually, these are small shops that sell mostly esoteric books. We have given several books to one of these bookstores in Kiev.
The disadvantages of this method of book placement are: 1) They always mark up the price of the book by 100%, and 2) you have to work individually with these shops. Then you must call the stores and monitor the sales. It is inconvenient and time consuming.
It is the same with book bazaars. In Kiev there is a very large book bazaar called Petrivka where you can find any book. Book sellers sell The Urantia Book there, marking up the price of the book by 100%.
We signed a contract for the sale of books through one popular Internet book store: yakaboo at http://new.yakaboo.ua/kniga-urantii.html [5].
In three months this shop has sold only one book.
In Ukraine there are two major bookstore chains that carry books: Book Club www.bookclub.ua [6] and Bukva bukvashops.com.ua [7]. Book Club sells through the postal service and we were eager to have The Urantia Book in their catalog because it would have offered us a wide audience of people who love to read. Unfortunately they denied us a place in their mailing directory.
Stores in the Bukva chain are usually located in shopping malls or in a central area of the city. In Ukraine we have thirty-nine such stores. In the summer of 2014, we decided to put the books into the Bukva chain. In order to have the Bukva chain carry the book, one must have a formal contract with the company. In December 2014, I, as a legal entity (an entrepreneur) signed a contract and the marketing manager proposed that we choose the “presentation” of the book. For example, the book can be placed on special promotional pedestals near the cashier. Signs advertising the book can be placed near the books in the storefront. A special promotional audio clip can be played with some frequency in the store. All of these services cost money. We chose to place The Urantia Book in the Bukva stores in Kiev.
The cost of this advertising campaign for two months was 4,100 hryvnia. At the exchange rate at the beginning of February 2015, this was about $245 USD; as of today it was $190 USD.
We placed three books in each of the stores. They marked up the price of the book by 100%, which we negotiated down to 50% by discounting the cost of the books to Chitay Misto by 33%. Fortunately Chitay Misto is selling the book at the same price for which we sell it on our website.
I am confident that we should use all modern marketing tools available to us in trying to distribute The Urantia Book. As is stated in the book in the parable of the shrewd steward:
“If you were so diligent in making gains for yourselves when in the service of self, why should you show less diligence in gaining souls for the kingdom since you are now servants of the brotherhood of man and stewards of God?” (1853.5) 169:2.2
Kiev Bookstore
Urantia Book in Kiev Bookstore