According to Bernard Shaw, when he published his first book, of course, there was no demand for his books. No one had heard of George Bernard Shaw. How can you demand, “I want the book of George Bernard Shaw”? So what did he do, he wandered around all day… He printed his book, procured the necessary money, and printed it himself. And then, going from bookstore to bookstore, he started asking, “Do you have any George Bernard Shaw books?”
“George Bernard Shaw? We have never heard of this name”.
“So strange. You run a bookstore and never heard of such a great writer? Or are you behind the times? Be sure to buy the George Bernard Shaw book at the first opportunity.” he was saying. He had only published one book, but was promoting several books. Because why advertise just one book when you’re already circulating bookstores? After all, a single book does not make a person a great writer.
Changing clothes; sometimes he would wear a hat, sometimes glasses and go again. And people started calling George Bernard Shaw’s house. He had to do all this advertising and demand generation himself. That’s how he sold his first book. He was asking people on the street. “Did you hear? Because I hear a lot about a book by an author named George Bernard Shaw. People say it’s great, it’s amazing. Did you hear?”
People were saying, “no, we haven’t even heard of it before.” “So strange. I thought London was a cultured society.” Then he created that demand by going to libraries, book clubs, and wherever he thought would create demand. He sold the book – which is what he is still doing – and eventually became one of the greatest writers of his age. He created the demand himself.
Osho
