Publishers’ Reports by E. R. PALMER

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Dec 21, 1905

Publishers’ Reports

By E. R. PALMER

THE Publishing Department of the General Conference has undertaken to furnish monthly reports to the REVIEW AND HERALD of the publishing work throughout the world. Evidently a little time will be required to get our reporting system into good working order again, for we find from correspondence with various parts of the field that our reporting system has not been kept up sufficiently to enable us to get complete reports promptly. Therefore we will furnish reports as paragraph items in the REVIEW from week to week as they are sent in, and in the meantime will continue to work up the reporting system until, we trust, we shall be able to furnish accurate reports from all parts of the field. We will endeavor to build up the reporting system on the following plan:—

1. Canvassers should send a complete report on blanks provided for that purpose at the close of each week, either to the State agent or to the tract society secretary as may be arranged by these workers.

2. State agents or tract society workers should make up a summary of these reports each week, and send the same to the union conference agent.

3. At the close of each month the union conference agent should make a summary of these reports, and send them to the secretary of the Publishing Department, E. R. Palmer, Box 65, Mountain View, Cal.

4. Publishing houses and their branches should prepare a report once in six months, and send it to the address given above. This report should give the retail value of subscription books, trade books, and tracts in separate items, and also the average circulation per issue of periodicals. The periodical statistics should cover the entire circulation of these periodicals in all the world. The book and tract statistics should cover the sales to individuals and retailers within the territory of that publishing house or branch. It should not include, unless it may be as a separate item, sales to other publishing houses or branches, for in that case the reports would be duplicated. The reports from publishing houses should be for the six months ending June 30 and December 31. These reports will be valuable to the General Conference, to union conferences, and to the publishing houses for reference; and if they are supplied once in six months, it will save the laborious task of preparing statistics for long periods of time previous to union conference or General Conference sessions.

5. We wish to receive a monthly report from every foreign country, including even our most isolated mission fields. We do not know who will be able to furnish these reports most readily, but we suggest that the superintendent of mission fields take personal responsibility for arranging for these reports; and when we learn who is to provide them, then we can communicate directly with that individual or society. In sending these reports from foreign fields will the workers kindly express values in United States money, as the foreign terms in many cases would mean nothing to us?

We earnestly invite the co-operation of all canvassers, State agents, union conference agents, publishers, and mission field superintendents in establishing this system. Our publishing work is surely gaining ground, and by having reports from all parts of the world at hand, we can do much to encourage and strengthen the workers. Let us all work together for the building up of a splendid reporting system. E. R. PALMER, Sec. Gen. Conf. Publishing Dept.