All we have to do is sell them

Try the local bookseller/wholesaler. He wanted a discount which would swallow our projected profit and then some. And, "I'll pay you in six months time for copies sold, if any." No way, Giorgos.
So, it was face to face with the owners of tavernas, gift shops, cafes, mini-markets, museums and any other likely outlet catering for tourists. We would stroll in with some books and a poster and attempt to strike a deal in very pidgin Greek/English. "We'll leave you some books and check back in a month when you will pay for copies sold." We pulled it off and didn't suffer a single bad debt. Losing face with a foreigner over a few thousand drachma is not in the Kalymnian's makeup.

I drew on my experience with Express Newspapers to promote the book but it was a struggle. The idea of actively selling copies, rather than just stacking them on a back shelf with everything else, was novel to local traders. I usually finished up sellotaping the poster somewhere prominent myself. Later, I discovered some empty garlic boxes from Brazil outside the greengrocer. Very nice wood from which I cobbled display racks. And one dark night we drove around town with a jar of wallpaper paste, fly-posting as extra publicity.
Amazingly, Bitter Sea started flying off the shelves and stockists were phoning us for top-ups. We were getting instant reader response from holiday-makers.


Faith was stopped in the street to sign the book and sought after to give talks to tourist groups.
When a reprint was needed we enjoyed the warm glow of success for our efforts.
To date 5000 copies of Bitter Sea have been sold. It's out of print at present but we are open to offers from publishers or sponsors for an English reprint - or even a Greek translation . . .