“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

First of all, you do not realize or appreciate our joint accomplishment to date in that regard. You have induced a reputable, well-known publishing firm to accept highly unconventional material. It was not delegated, if you will forgive me, to Parker’s “crackpot” catchall. Even in the beginning, in that regard, the work was appreciated. A difference was seen between it, and the catchall, do-it-yourself manuals.

Our books, and I am including Ruburt’s, fall into no such neat category—presenting publishers with problems. In the beginning, particularly, and for that matter now, Ruburt has no accepted credentials. He is not a doctor of anything, for there is no one alive who could give him a degree in his particular line of research, or in yours.

Tam instantly saw the quality in our work, and Ruburt’s. In the beginning only his enthusiasm sold our first book. Prentice would have taken it had you allowed another writer to report the experience. Tam’s boss did go along with him, however. It was Tam who saw in Ruburt’s original manuscript the importance of his work, and the way in which Ruburt was trying to hide it by playing down his relationship with me.

Publishers deal with the culture that you know, with people who follow it. Prentice does not understand why the books have sold. Castaneda does not become Don Juan. He holds himself clearly apart from the reality he explores. If our material was not excellent it might have found its way to some spooky underground publisher.

He hides behind no other credentials, or social system, or dogma. It is important that our books make their way, and as unhampered as possible by the commercial distortions that would automatically be applied by men interested in advertising a product.

(Jane, as Seth, paused. As I commented after the session, it seems that we’ll have to pull in our horns as far as our feelings about advertising and Prentice are concerned; it may be a relief to do just that. But I think that Seth’s material here is the best we could possibly come across on our publisher, Castaneda, etc., and I’m sure that Jane will agree.