“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(A hassle began developing last Thursday, involving Pat Golbitz at Pocket Books, Grace Bechtold at Bantam, and Tam, John Nelson, and Jane at Prentice-Hall. Nothing serious, but still somewhat upsetting. Also educational. There’s no need to go into all the complicated details here; it’s enough to say that the photos Bantam used in Seth Speaks were involved, especially the cover shot of Jane; as well as bids for Oversoul Seven between Pocket Books and Bantam; Jane’s fears that she’d end up committed for two more Seven books she hasn’t written yet; and various misunderstandings concerning ethics, expired option, and an offer to Jane to go to work for Simon & Schuster-Pocket Books, and to take Tam with her.

Now about Pocket Books. Interesting and amusing. The woman there (Pat Golbitz) picked up all of your own negative ideas—yours and Ruburt’s—about Fell and Prentice, and aimed them at John (Nelson). This confirmed John’s belief that he is not understood. He would not feel it safe to be understood in an unsafe world.

(Pat called John unethical because he told Bantam that Pocket Books was interested in acquiring Seven. Bantam, who had the original option on Seven, then bid higher for the three projected Sevens than Pocket Books has so far—the latter has until this Wednesday to bid against Bantam’s $50,000 offer.

(John, in turn, called Pat unethical because she called Jane about the details of all of this, and then offered to take Jane away from Prentice-Hall. Both John and Grace are upset also because Pocket Books thought about using the same photo of Jane on the cover of their book—The Coming of Seth—that Bantam had used on the cover of their issue of Seth Speaks.)