Derby Day hits 4000

20 November 08 Categories: Laugh it Off

Derby Day Rugby Book: Sales hit the 000 mark!

Derby Day, a whopping 400-page, full-colour book on the history of South African schoolboy rugby, has sold its first 3000 copies to rugby-loving South Africans all around the country – and all around the world – using newly-established sales channels, most notably online, as well as through the featured schools themselves.

Published by Laugh it Off, SA’s favourite shirt-stirrers, Derby Day has found its way into the hearts and homes of South Africans proud of their school by using somewhat unconventional methods of marketing, and retailing, the book.

Derby Day: Online Sales & Distribution

The website www.derbyday.co.za has proved to be a revelation in terms of online sales, with copies of the book being ordered and sent to all corners of the globe on a daily basis.

“A lot of books have gone out to Australia, Canada and Britain,” says Derby Day’s Bryce Hepburn. “The postage costs more than the book itself, but people are willing to pay for a nostalgic reminder of their school and rugby days.”

What is even more impressive about Derby Day’s online portal www.derbyday.co.za is that effectively the entire book is available for download, for free, in PDF format.

“We didn’t want to exclude those who couldn’t afford to buy the book, particularly school kids, from reading about the featured schools, as well as the history of the game of rugby in South Africa”, says Derby Day’s publisher, Justin Nurse (of Laugh it Off).

“We put a great deal of work into this publication and wanted to proudly flaunt SA schoolboy rugby’s rich illustrative history, page for page. We live in an age where valuable information should be shared and distributed freely. It has been very satisfying for us to hear that teachers are using some of the book’s as part of their history syllabus.”

Derby Day: Incentivising the schools to sell

Derby Day was launched on Supersport’s ‘Boots ‘n’ All’ rugby show, and word of mouth quickly spread around the country’s rugby-loving nooks and crannies, in pubs and classrooms, Old Boys gatherings, as well as at the local schoolboy rugby derbies themselves.

After the book’s launch, the Derby Day team embarked on an ambitious three-month national roadtrip to visit all 101 of the schools featured in the book, to present the schools’ headmasters with a copy of the book. A book about schoolboy rugby also deserves to be seen next to the rugby field of a big local derby and the Derby Day team did just that by traveling up and down the country promoting the book. Schools were offered a percentage commission to sell the book through their established school networks as both a marketing tool as well as to earn money for the school. Many are doing so, from schoolboys and secretaries to the rugby coaches and the head of the OBUs. As a result, of the first 3000 copies sold of Derby Day, over 2000 have come from the schools themselves.

Derby Day: Booksales in Bookstores

4000 copies in English and Afrikaans have been sold of Derby Day thus far, with no indication of a slowdown in sales. So, while national retailers are bemoaning a downturn in sales, Laugh It Off is convinced there is fun to be had in these lousy times.

National stockists thus far include CNA, Exclusive Books, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bargain Books. Several independent bookstores are stocking the book too. Potential stockists (from pubs and clubs, to sports shops and secondhand bookstores) are invited to contact Laugh it Off on (021) 788 3226, or e-mail info@derbyday.co.za to find out more about stocking this summer’s big seller.

Praise for Derby Day: From Rugby Players to Men’s Magazines

“If you go back to any rugby player’s memoirs, he talks about the fun and enjoyment of schoolboy rugby… And this book…  that I got a couple of weeks back… it brings out the fun in schoolboy rugby, it’s not just a statistical history of rugby in South Africa. It’s a fun book. I reckon it’s a must on anyone’s shelf in South Africa.” ~ Mornè du Plessis, ex-Springbok Captain

“…Nurse must be commended for driving his vintage Alfa Spider convertible across South Africa, visiting one hundred plus Springbok incubation tanks and compiling all of it in 400 pages. This lively, loose ruck is filled with photos, anecdotes, insights, rivalries, pride, history, old boys and traditions; and like a leggy librarian at an all boys’ school, Derby Day is sure to get rugby players reading.” ~ GQ, September 2008

“Genius!” ~ Bob Skinstad, ex-Springbok Captain

“We have all at some point stood around a fire debating whose school is the oldest, which player came from which school and which school has produced the most Springboks? This book answers all those questions and more. Do yourself a favour and go out and get it now!” ~ Graeme Wepener, Rugby 365