Sabih Mohsin is a veteran humorist and journalist. He remained associated with Radio Pakistan for decades. An author of several books, he has experienced the usual difficulties one has to face while trying to get one’s works published. As a rejoinder to the piece that appeared in these columns last Tuesday, he has reminded me of the troubles a writer in our society has to go through once he/she has finished writing a book.

Here are some excerpts from his letter, with some editing for privacy’s sake: “This is with reference to your column ‘Hypocrisy in the name of literary criticism’ (Dawn, March 18, 2008). I fully agree with you that book launching ceremonies are nothing more than a ‘promotional gimmick’ which gives rise to a ‘nauseating feeling’. I also share with you the view that most of the critics who speak at such gatherings are ‘fake’ and ‘flatterers’. But you should also realize and recognize the predicament in which even a genuine literary writer is placed these days.

“To begin with, the number of writers, such as Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi and Mukhtar Masood, who get their books published in the normal way, is so small that they can be counted on the fingertips perhaps of only one hand. Others have to publish it themselves, or, even if their book carries the name of a well-known publisher, they must bear from their own pockets the cost of paper, printing and binding. In both cases, the share of the publisher/distributor from the sale of the book is at least 60 per cent. And even after that, the book reaches only a few local bookstalls. It is hardly ever sent outside Karachi as that would involve expenses on freight charges.

“For the book launching ceremony, too, it is the writer himself, and not the dummy organization whose name appears on the stage banner, who has to run for advertisements for funding the event. And it is the writer again who has to use his PR to get press coverage.

“In the absence of literary magazines with respectable circulations and regular literary forums, the writer has to resort to such launchings, although he might find it mortifying, because this is the only way in which he can at least inform the people that he has written something that might interest them.

“For your personal information, when I was on the lookout for a publisher for my book, ‘Dastaan Kehte kehte’, a number of well-known publishers-cum-booksellers offered to publish it as they considered me to be ‘a good writer’. But they said that all expenses would have to be borne by me.

“However, I decided to publish it myself. I had received some money as royalty from a daily newspaper where the book had been serialized earlier as weekly columns. Adding some more money to this kitty from my own pocket, I got 500 copies printed. It was after great persuasion that a bookseller accepted 75 copies and another one 40 copies. They charged a 60 per cent discount. Another one, a good friend of mine, very graciously offered to take two copies.

“Incidentally, I went to Canada and the US last summer. I had somehow managed to carry with me 50 copies. Friends and relatives organized an ‘evening’ with me in New York, Toronto, Houston and Dallas. The functions were well attended and 25 copies were sold at $10 each, the rest being distributed complimentarily. After the sale and free distribution, I still have almost 200 copies lying under my bed. So, this is the fate of a writer who is made to believe that he is ‘a good writer’. Sabih Mohsin.”

While we sympathize with him, we might ask a question or two: if there had been a launch for the same book, would the sales have improved dramatically? And, more importantly, as it involves ethics, admitting that the critics who speak at these so-called launches are ‘fake’ and ‘flatterers’ and their remarks would turn the stomach of any self-respecting writer, is it ethical to arrange such gatherings? How can a writer employ unethical means to introduce a book that intends to promote moral values? Why do the pseudo-intellectuals who furiously argue in favour of morals and social justice for everyone forget the poor readers and students that may be misled and disappointed by their rhetoric in favour of a particular book? I ask these questions because recently a girl student at Karachi University’s Urdu department complained that the recommendations made at the book launches by ‘phoney’ critics are misleading and when students spend their meagre allowance on such books they are disgusted as the recommended books are nothing but trash. She also stated in a matter-of-fact tone that some of the ‘busy’ critics would even charge an amount -- something between Rs5,000 and Rs10,000 -- for such ‘phoney’ appearances.

What I was trying to say in my previous column is that these fake critics are part of the problem and are only bringing a bad name to literature and scholarship. In future it may force many readers to decide not to buy any book for which a launch is ‘staged’ as it would confirm its uselessness. So, in fact these launches are counterproductive and have become a butt of many jokes among the literati.

My final question is: Did Ghalib and Iqbal ever arrange any book launches? No, but their books sell even today. Why? And in the answer lies the crux of the matter.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com