Strategies for Book Distribution

Door to Door Book Distribution

• Distribution of transcendental literature going door-to-door is a Vaisnava tradition. Lord Nityananda and Haridas Thakur went door-to-door in Nadia, tolerating all insults and attacks, distributing Krishna's message.
• Srila Prabhupada carried forward this mission distributing BTGs door-to-door in Delhi before coming to the US. After he founded ISKCON, devotees all around the world have been going out and distributing his books at peoples' doors. 

Monthly Sankirtan Festival

• The Monthly Sankirtana Festival (MSF) is a fun way to do book distribution that gets everyone, including the congregation, involved. These festivals are based on the strategy that it’s best to have a lot of devotees each doing a little bit.
• ISKCON Silicon Valley(ISV) has pioneered this strategy and now averages about 500 books and $3,000 each festival. Just two and a half years ago they were sending nothing to the BBT.
• The festivals are best when they last three days, Friday to Sunday. Devotees chant near each book table, which features a professional display of books and is accompanied by several devotees who are specially trained to meet and greet people and to distribute cookies, invitations, and books.
• In ISV festivals every cookie or book that distributed is labeled with the temple’s contact information. The Hari Nama performance draws lots of people over who naturally want to find out more. These people happily buy books and go away with prasadam and an invitation to the temple.