“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Notes: Today Jane called Tam about the continuing hassles over the disclaimer for Mass Events, and learned several important things—among them that the legal department is now “drafting” a letter to us, explaining their position in the matter. Discussed also were the memos the legal department has been sending to the board of directors at Prentice-Hall. Many of these have been derogatory; we now plan to ask Tam for the names of the individual board members, and we want to learn how to write to them to be sure they personally receive our messages. We would like to eventually tell our side of the story, and resent being treated like children in the interim. According to Tam, we’re not supposed to know anything about much of what he’s been telling us of the fuss over the disclaimer.

(All of this began when at break this morning I asked Jane is she knew her true feelings about the Mass Events affair. We had a long discussion—which helped, finally, clarify many things for us. I started it because of a couple of questions I had about our relationship with Prentice-Hall. Both of us are in conflict between getting the Seth books out, not caring about any disclaimer, and on the other hand saying no to the disclaimer and letting the chips fall where they may, to coin a phrase. Of course, we don’t want to get sued, as the legal department fears we might. I personally resent a great deal the poor connotations that now have attached themselves to Mass Events; if the material has any validity, this has happened, and would be picked up by readers, even if counterbalanced by other good feelings. The fact that such ideas do not occur to entities like the legal—or even the editorial—departments at Prentice-Hall shows, I think, the great gap that exists between our own views of life and theirs. It’s wider than I thought.

(I suppose we don’t know what our response to the legal department missive will be. My best guess at the moment is that the disclaimer matters not at all, but the idea of it doesn’t bode well for the future, I’m afraid, and there may be the real rub. Jane has God of Jane and her book of poetry well in the works now, and both involve Mass Events, or material in it. We want those books published. A cutoff point is reached after these three books have been taken care of; then we would be free to try something else if we choose to.

(Coupled with all of these things is the three-part article we’re reading in The New Yorker on the travails of publishing these days; the large sums involved, books being treated as “products,” etc. According to that information, we’re so far out of it in any meaningful way that we’re left feeling quite inadequate. On the other hand, we haven’t forgotten Seth’s recent material about our being protected—and I for one really think that’s true. It does take an effort to keep it in mind at times, though. It’s also made it quite difficult for me to whip up any enthusiasm about getting back to work on the notes for Seth’s Dreams. I’d just gotten nicely into that project when the disclaimer business started over Mass Events—it seems like months ago; actually, this may be the third month following the interruption, an incredible gap in creativity, for which I blame Prentice, no doubt about it.