“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Jane also discussed with Tam a number of points growing out of our last royalty statements; some of these are quite legitimate gripes that we’ve kept quiet about for some time. Her implications to Tam were clear enough—we hope: that for the first time she was thinking of alternate courses of action to being published by Prentice-Hall, perhaps trying other publishers, Eleanor Friede among them. I was all for that, I told her. During the week after the Dutch edition arrived, we received from Tam the contracts for God of Jane and Mass Events, both of which contain phrases and clauses in an effort to get around Prentice-Hall’s habit of withholding percentages of earnings against returns. She told Tam she wouldn’t sign them, nor do I want her to. Prentice-Hall even wants to apply any losses for God of Jane against Mass Events after 18 months, in an effort to make one book pay for another! As it is, Prentice-Hall is now applying earnings from the paperback Politics against the hardcover losses—a method Tam says is common in the trade, but which I think is ethically dishonest, to say the least. They did the same thing with Adventures; in this case, that action wiped the board clean for the hardcover Adventures, and even showed a small profit from the paperback sales. But still, it costs us. I view such tactics as the publisher’s way of guaranteeing their publishing costs with no risk to themselves. Instead of charging hardcover losses against taxes as a business expense, say, they charge the author for them; this means they do not have to pay the author any royalties on paperback sales, for at least several years. I don’t think Jane yet grasps the implications here.

In the dream they both stood for completely different attitudes of your own, and here you see them objectified in your separate parents—for you do indeed identify those different tendencies with your parents to a strong extent.

There are bound to be distortions—but the distortions themselves are meaningful. You have, again, a definite right to state your objections, and to change your contract accordingly in the future. You have every right to state your clear objections to Prentice about whatever issue you feel unfair. Regardless of all of that, however, and taking all of that for granted, if you will forgive me (whispering), I sometimes feel that you might perhaps both lack a certain trust (loudly) in the nature of your own intents, and in the activity of Framework 2 as far as it concerns you and that publishing house.

In Framework 2, for one thing, the probabilities concerning national economics are known, and your course is indeed being plotted, for your benefit, among multitudinous issues, of which you are not consciously aware. I tell you that such a mechanism does operate. Your characteristics, intents and purposes are taken into consideration, and constant readjustments are also made. You both wanted a year with lower taxes. That was indeed part of your intent, but then when this occurs we only hear cries of woe.

I really do not want you to think that I am lecturing the both of you. I am only trying to show you how you form the events of your lives.

(9:56.) A note: Ruburt has felt oddly, since his body has been creatively changing, both the head and eye areas, neck and knees. The knees are beginning to work more properly, and slowly beginning to mimic and adopt a more natural walking posture. The steps he has taken without putting his full weight on the table, for example, are highly important. He should look for that impulse each time he walks with the table.

The entire body is really being worked upon, with resulting looseness of tensions that become more apparent at certain points. Both of you try—try (whispering) to disconnect your creative work from the practical considerations of contracts, and have Ruburt play with his own book. He will find the results of such play excellent.