ok so by a complete fluke on the last day of ISNA some african american brothers came to my dad’s booth to talk to him and one of them makes a little rhyme like “give me your card, if its not too hard, and-something-i-cant-remember-that-rhymes-with-‘ard’” - anyway i sort of laughed a bit at that and he turns and goes, oh, i see she got it - you see, im a poet - so when i told him i was too, we started talking
i am always looking for artists for IN Production, but i have a pretty high standard (please dont confuse this with a PRETENTIOUSLY HIGH STANDARD) - i insist on both originality and competence - and he did some of his stuff for me and it was GOOD subhanallah
now this bro is a classic, classic gentleman from a sadly-passing generation - old-school, southern, with manners and compassion, but with a righteousness that is very down to earth
unfortunately, he lost everything he owned in katrina and although people know OF him, its never materialized into anything steadily - he had a chance to perform for nelson mandela even based on one of his writings, he has hundreds of poems, he’s gone all over america, etc. yet let me tell you again - there are virtually no modern day emily dickinsons - i mean no one’s gonna come up to you, go wow, you’re really talented, and drag you into the spotlight - talent is talent, but to get somewhere takes the “necessary evil” of marketing
now i believe i have a balance inshallah - i dont want to become a monster like the really commercial, solely money-making ventures in the “entertainment” (versus art) world - but i dont think artists should have to starve either
so i told the guy i am like 90% ready to sign him to work with me (i dont like leading people on so i wanted him to know its not set in stone or anything) but i am pretty excited - i mean the guy is intelligent, but very simple too - and has strong presence - a classic all the way
anyway, when he told me to meet him at denny’s in the 3rd ward, LOL, i was like that’s perfect!
again, not sure if i will really go through with it, but he’s definitely a possibility, may Allah grant him long life and eternal success…

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ok so day 2 was AWESOME - obviously, more people - i sold twice as many as the first day at full price, another twice as many at a promotional price (to vendors and volunteers) and got picked up by dar-us-salam! alhamdulillaah also someone who runs a bookstore said that a partner had reviewed it and had some criticisms (which was sort of expected) but she says to me, “i disagree, i think it’s charming!” - so she says when she opens her physical location inshallah she will carry it - i had a few “golden moments” where literally some teenage guy would see it, look at it for a second, say, “cool”, and plop down the money and be on his way, but overall it was still a lot of hustling on my part - i started getting even more active - offering vendors a chance to read it and if they liked it offer them a discount, going out into the crowd and seeing groups of kids and telling them about it, etc. - again, i got some more insight into marketing - as i mentioned, if you dont put in people’s faces, they dont notice it - and even sometimes they would be looking at it and then you STILL have to go - its a comic book! and THEN they say “ooooh” - so i dont know why its like that, but its just the reality of life - i do have to admit, i dont like marketing in this manner - i feel pretty bad actually trying to get people to buy something on a personal level (as opposed to having a store or something out which they come to on their own) - so i pretty much just got some thick skin, and was almost robotic in my professionalism - simply coming up with
like a 30-second, pressure-free informative line - my MAIN goal (more than sales even) was to make it KNOWN - i really cant thank allah enough - for such a small conference, for being stuck in the back, sharing a booth, not having fliers, etc. and being the first days with a single product, it was beyond expectation

the last day was a half-day of course (sunday) and pretty dead, but i made some really cool contacts alhamdulillaah - i’ll write about that under IN Production…

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OK, as an “artsy fartsy” person, I HATE marketing and dont really have a knack for it. Yet I recognize it is one of the “necessary evils” of getting something out there. So today we picked up the first NM books - they were not exactly how I imagined them (every step of this process teaches you something new), but I was still really happy with the results, alhamdulillaah. So it was the Friday of the ISNA Houston conference and I was fortunate enough to have my father (Abdul Hye) let me use his booth. That’s good since we’re just starting lol and I have no money, but at the same time, I learned a lot about marketing (ok more than with a few of the other things I had to help with in the past). I mean, I thought I had such a great product that it would “sell itself” ha ha. Well, I learned no matter how great something is, it takes a lot to run the “marketing machine” which puts anything out there (oh, don’t let any “modest, humble” type sit and act like it doesn’t take hustling - either they’re doing it or someone else is doing it for them). So here was my learning curve for the day:

1. ISNA regional is not as many people (of course) so the crowd was already not too packed -> If we were spending money on this we’d have to look at if it’s worth the exposure.

2. The layout of the bazaar was “bizarre” and there was like a main hall and a side hall - and we were in the side hall (not as many people) -> Sign up early but also have a marketing campaign ready to go.

3. The fact that I was with my dad, who had most of the table (it was his after all) led many of the youth to pass by the table since at one glance it was all “grown up” or “educational” stuff -> You only have a few seconds to make an impression.

4. At first, many people from a quick glance also thought it was a children’s book (like for 3 year olds or something) -> Things have to be spelled out for people.

5. I finally started being more active - I made a long stack of blue books and laid one open so people could see it was a comic book -> The more flashes you can give of the product without giving it away (think trailers), the more effective at “reeling them in” (you need bait).

6. I also started standing up/walking out to meet people I knew or seemed interested (as opposed to doing what comes natural to me - sitting there minding my own business and letting people find it on their own - I guess when I shop I HATE people staring at me or even talking to me, so I feel like doing the same thing, but most everyone else seems to either enjoy or at the least be happy you called their attention to something they may have missed) -> You can’t just sit back and watch the money roll in - you have to make stuff happen.

7. Obviously, I gave a few promotional copies out to book vendors, but I also noticed a lot of the bored youth at booths sitting there so I loaned them copies for the convention - this caused them to read them, laugh, have people ask them what they were reading, and tell their friends, etc. -> You have to think of stuff no one else is doing to stand out - there are a lot of simple, hidden opportunities. Also, sometimes exposure is more valuable than sales.

So after ALL this, I sold a few copies. But the good news is, people really LIKED them - I mean I had some kids stand and read for a long time, even some college guys, reading and laughing. It seemed many enjoyed a chuckle but either didn’t want to buy it or wanted to come back with money to buy later. One girl left reading the book while walking! It’s not bad for a first day of a first conference with a first product with no advertising, etc. alhamdulillaah.

But I think the best part was I met Zuhair’s cousin, who happens to live in Houston! She bought the first copy enthusiastically and gave more - she introduced me to her mother (Zuhair’s aunt), said she’d help how she could, is trying to set me up for ISNA National (in Columbus), and took a copy for Zuhair’s mother (I was going to mail her one myself), whom she will visit this August inshallah. I could tell her and her family were touched that we were doing this for Zuhair (part of the proceeds go to his mother and a masjid he wanted to support) and I was not expecting such a pleasant surprise!

Alhamdulillaah, overall a good first day…

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OK, I’ve had people review the book (so far so good), and now I am desperately trying to find an agent (or at least a contact of some sort in the publishing industry)! I intended this book for the mainstream American audience, but guess what - it seems lots of Muslims need this book too. It’s confusing for many nowadays with the issues on faith, allegiance, secularism, state obedience, loyalty, brotherhood, etc. I’m also revising bits due to my sister Aisha, who told me that I write like Gabriel Garcia Marquez lol - the guy who writes sentences a page long (literally). Anyway, a sister told me that she worked for some think tank and they had a million applicants but they just ended up going with a friend of a friend - you know, the whole networking thing I’ve always heard about. Seeing as how I haven’t heard back from agents (at the unknown entry level) except for a few who said NO, I freaked out and was like yah I need to contact all my old professors (I’m a total dropout though) and anyone else in the media I know, etc. (I admit, I’m impatient - it’s been like a few weeks) - but I don’t know, every time I think about it I get a headache lol - plus some people are like can we use parts of the book and I’ve passed it on to so many already - I feel like paranoid or something - that by the time it’s out someone will just use the title (it CAN’T be called anything else!) or something similar etc. So any one of you, please, I suck at networking - I have enough contacts, but I’m too antisocial frankly to be really good at it - if you have any leads let me know!

Thanks!

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