Kalistan

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Empress launches Book Tour in Kalistan
"History of the Anantos" sells modestly well on First Week
Sulari, Duchy of Suldanor
June 18, 5656


Her Imperial Majesty autographs books at The Literate Leaf in Sulari

As she continues her multi year campaign to make contacts with Kalistani Citizens, Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress Mary I Ananto has launched a tour to promote her recently published first book titled The History of the Anantos: Imperial Rule in Kalistan, 5140 to Present. The book has been on shelves for about two weeks and has sold modestly well. The book was authored primarily by Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress, as a sort of family history, but it was edited by Melvin Clarke, an historical novelist in Kaliburg and a personal friend of Her Imperial Majesty's socialite mother the Princess Monica Ananto-DeLaurentis.

"The consensus is in that 285 page manuscript is a very readable and very factual personal history of the Ananto family from its founding by Fredrick Guerra, the son of Gaduri Immigrants-turned Philanthropist up to the present date," read one review. "The most interesting thing about the story of the rise of the Empire is the unintentionally bad light it paints the Institutional Party in. The book unequivocally states that the Institutional Party more or less organized a legislative coup and eliminated the old Republican Constitution to establish the Empire, ignoring, and then ultimately locking the opposition out of the Congress while they passed two very controversial enabling acts to establish what we now know as the Empire. The Initial monarchs were more or less figureheads who gave cover for the Institutional Party to run the nation as a democratic dictatorship during the first few reigns, but Nicolette I knew the power that she could have, having served as the last President of the Republic, and as a condition to her accession, she insisted that the Institutional Party adopt a subservient role. As Her Imperial Majesty says, it was the price the Institutional Party was willing to pay to eliminate internecine political struggle."

The institutions of the modern absolute Monarchy can therefore be traced to Nicolette I Ananto, and according to the Empress, this is the main reason she earned the moniker "The Great". "We owe all of our political institutions, our peace, and our prosperity to the resolve, tenacity, and brilliance of Lady Nicolette. Without her, Kalistan would look like a very different country." The book explores efforts by various democrats to unravel the Imperial Power, as they did in 5299, when resurgent socialists forced William I Ananto to abdicate. "While William sought to be a man of the people, it was eventually the people who turned on him. He thought he could have popular government and retain his title. He was ultimately wrong." Though the early monarchs were very well loved, according to the Empress, they were not powerful, leading her to conclude that there is a tradeoff. "Some Emperors and Empresses will just never be popular. It all depends on how much dissent within their own government they are willing to accept."

The price of the book is on the low end for histories of this size and this degree of veracity. At The Literate Leaf, an independent book seller in Sulari, where Her Imperial Majesty was signing copies of her book for readers in a personal appearance earlier this week, hard copies were selling for ₭2.75 Imperial and paperbacks were selling for a very reasonable ₭1.87 Imperial. Compared to most books, most of which start at ₭8.50 for a hardback, the price was more or less to cover printing costs. "Her Imperial Majesty does not intend to profit from the sale of this book," said Lady Marian Southern, Her Imperial Majesty's spokeswoman who accompanied her on the first leg of her book tour in Suldanor. "Her goal is to try to illuminate the history and evolution of her family, to improve understanding about not only the institution of the Monarchy, but also to illuminate the more human side of the various monarchs throughout Kalistan's History. Profiting from telling these very personal stories would be exploiting her own family." Lady Southern also says that people may download a full, proofed copy of the book online and print their own copy freely if they like.

Despite the candidness, the factuality and the low price, sales were modest through the first week of the book's life. "Her Imperial Majesty's book sold about 100 copies here," said Wand Edwards of The Literate Leaf. "Given our normal volume for best sellers, that might feel a bit disappointing, if her goal was to sell a lot of books. We made a large order, and to help us with sales, she agreed to add our store to her tour, and say a few words about supporting independent books stores, but she was primarily here to meet people, sign autographs and pose for photos. This event itself quadrupled our total first week sales, because she was here."

"Her Imperial Majesty hopes that people will read the book and share it with their friends, or recommend that they get a copy of their own," said Lady Southern. "We can let the book speak for itself, but an Empress writing a book of solid historical research is pretty impressive, and even if people check it out, she would just prefer that people read her work. She's very proud of it, even if it does have modest sales."

The reviews of the book were generally positive, with the few flat out negative reviews coming from the liberal Press. "This book stinks of hagiography," said Liberal columnist Martha Ibanez. "Of course she tells the story of the demolition of our democratic institutions in this Nation. She can tell that story, because she is on the winning side. But I am quite surprised that Her Imperial Majesty is so willing to give most of the facts of the case. It certainly lays it on the doorstep of the Institutional Party, but the Anantos have benefitted from this for centuries, and there is almost no acknowledgement of the singular Ananto privilege that she possesses. There is no self-reflection, because if she had reflected, even a little bit, she would agree that this monarchy is toxic for Kalistan and needs to be abolished, restoring full democracy."

Others noted jarring stylistic changes that occur in a few locations that throws the reader out of the moment. "You can tell where Mr. Clarke's most significant edits are," said Morris Donnelly of the Sulari Free Press. "The Empress has a much more honest and genuine tone in her writing. It's almost conversational in a way. When the language switches up and begins to sound like a lawyer's writing, full of jargon and suddenly exhibiting three syllable words, its pretty clear that is the edition of her co-author, rather than Her Imperial Majesty. Its pretty jarring for instance."

Reviews aside, Lady Southern says Her Imperial Majesty will continue touring the Empire as she hosts book talks with various civic groups in Kalistan and Ananto and book signing events at local bookstores across the entire nation. "We'll probably stay out for about 6 weeks," said Lady Southern. "Her Imperial Majesty is just a phone call away meanwhile. And during this time, Her Imperial Majesty will have more time to directly meet with people and put her book into the hands of potentially tens of thousands of Kalistanis.

@TheRepublic