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(I asked Jane to hold this session so that we could get information on
two questions: 1. The sales of her books, both hardcover and paperback. 2.
Her status concerning her symptoms.)
Good evening.
(“Good evening, Seth.”)
The session to cover the points you requested.
Now, you mentioned some important issues pertaining to the books
yourself this evening, having to do with their particular nature.
When you publish a paperback of ours, this is like publishing a new
book for the first time. I am speaking of our books only—not, for example, of
novels or other “occult” tracts.
If you remember, it took a while for The Seth Material , with Prentice, to
do well. It was distributed to bookstores and areas specifically involved with
the conventional occult field. Even though such people are familiar with the
general area of our work, still the book did not fit into a general mold. It took
a while, then—though not too long— before the book began to sell well. The
other books quickly followed with, to that degree, a now built-in sales
advantage.
The general public, however, has been obviously largely ignorant of
the books. Publishing them in paperback presents a different picture. Again,
they do not fit into the overall occult picture as even the general public
understands it. There is no position, no God from the mountain top, and no
dumb or docile medium to be taken advantage of by the spirits or otherwise.
The work is not simplistic.
It will take longer then for the general public than it did, for example,
with The Seth Material hardcover, for several reasons.
As you mentioned, you are outside, not fitting into any acceptable
mold. The general public, moreover, in those terms does not know how to
respond. Many, picking up those paperbacks, do so on impulse, and are
unfamiliar with any such books. They cannot laugh the matter off. The books
require personal questioning. Some people are frightened. They are also
intrigued. But many put off spending more money, say, for a hardcover book,
because this would involve a commitment involving the ideas themselves.
The books are immediate in a way, for example, that the Castaneda
books are not. Castaneda speaks of what is really exotic behavior from your
cultural viewpoint. We are saying that changes can be made from within the
culture. You do not have to be an Indian guru, or appear and disappear at
will, so the books invite instant challenge. People do not feel silly buying
such a paperback, but many of these people, in the general public now, have
to make certain mental adjustments before they will spend more. Spending
more means that they consider the ideas to be worthwhile.
The three paperbacks are like balloons sent up with news items written
upon them. While there is a lag, therefore, the overall picture is as I have
given it in the past. (That the books will do well. RFB.)
The paperbacks are important, regardless of sales values, because they
appear in the ordinary marketplace, out of esoteric cubbyholes. You have a
loyal core of readers who were already acquainted generally with “occult”
books—but to a larger overall extent, that is a steady but dead-end road. It
can be counted upon, may grow slightly, but will not affect the overall culture
to any considerable degree.
Moreover, from this other general (paperback) market, you will
consistently pick up a newer group of readers. To some extent you have been
“hitting the underground movements.” Well and good, and important. You
are competing now, as you were not before, however, in that general market
with all of the conventional cultural goodies. As mentioned, you are not
packaging our material either in such a way that it builds upon the cliches of
the occult field believed in as the public sees it.
Many of these people also are generally not book readers. Ruburt (Jane)
mentioned that. Many are not culturally advantaged. They do not naturally go
into bookstores—but they will.
The paperbacks will not go out of print
except for short periods. They will not build up quickly in sales, but they will,
and they will provide a dependable income. In ways the entire picture will
change.
The paperback Personal Reality will be highly important in the ultimate
changes that do take place. You are in an in-between period. If you went out
in a grand manner, publicizing the books, appearing on shows, you could
indeed quicken the pace—but in so doing other intangibles would also be
altered. There is a great difference between keeping the people always in
mind, and playing to the crowd for whatever reasons, but there would be a
tendency for purposes to be altered.
It is not that those challenges would not be met, but in meeting them
you would end up with a different kind of work and experience.
I have nothing against bestsellers, and as I predicted the books will
succeed financially beyond anything you would have thought—but over a
period of time, in a dependable fashion, and in a way that will also best be
suited to the temper of the times. That is, the books will have a strong active
part to play over the period of your lifetimes, rather than for example selling
in the millions in a year or two, then vanishing from the scene.
We are hopefully educating people, and this does not give you a
bestseller overnight, even when my humor is added to amuse people. You
will be more than financially comfortable—far better off in the future—
though not necessarily in the near future, like next year, than you are now.
To be an overnight financial sensation, however, would present a
reality that does not fit into your joint plans and purposes. This does not mean
there is anything wrong with such an overnight sensation. Most likely, Ruburt
will do some teaching in the future, not immediately, with a different format
entirely. Your purposes and the purposes of the three publishers all mix and
merge, with unconscious knowledge of the importance of the books, and the
ways in which they are to be presented—not that there won’t also be some
“natural” misunderstandings here and there, also.
Issues operate so clear to me it is difficult for me to understand that
they seem to escape your notice. It is hard for me to separate them. They are
minute to me. The two Bantam sales, for example, Material and Seth Speaks,
served purposes for you and Ruburt, and Prentice as well.
The immediate money resulting with the contracts served as financial
reinforcement at a time when you and Ruburt needed it. This was more
important than you seem to remember. (Although I do keep this in mind. So
does Jane, I think.) Ruburt was worried about money in the bank then—not
six months or a year hence with royalties. Prentice wanted to set up a
paperback mass connection, for to them this means that a book is good and
has value financially. They also wanted quick cash. It was a poor year
financially speaking for them. They also needed financial reinforcement. You
and Ruburt also wanted the books to be in the general market.
The paperbacks have not cut down the occult market that you had
secured. Those people have already read the books, and are waiting for more.
There would have been a lag in sales until the next book, which then triggers
the loyal to pick up any of the others they might have missed along the way.
The paperbacks in the meantime are picking up new readership that
will broaden your base. Saleswise, then, you would more or less be in the
same position now, whether or not the books had been sold to mass markets.
The advantage, however, has not yet shown; for the people are still immersed
in the books they have.
[... 2 paragraphs ...]
The books require far more on the part of the reader than most books.
Therefore our readers feel a sense of accomplishment when they are done.
On the other hand their ideas are so challenged that it takes them a
while. They read one book several times. “Unknown” Reality will do far better than even Personal Reality did.
Prentice knows that the hardcovers will continue to do well over the
years. They also understand that the general market paperbacks do not last—
that is, they come apart. The people who really enjoy these books will buy
Prentice editions as their own wear out, using hardcovers to make notations,
etc.
Many also will not spend money for a hardcover unless they have first
found the book valuable enough through reading the paperbacks.
The Personal Sessions: Book 3 of The Deleted Seth Material, DELETED SESSION JULY 4, 1976
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FAQ: What did Seth dictate in his letter to correspondents?
The following long quote was dictated by Seth when Jane Roberts and her husband Robert Butts began to be bombarded by correspondence that became impossible to handle.
Dear correspondent:
Ruburt has read your letter. So has Joseph. I am aware of its contents.
We have no organization yet of an exterior kind, so there are no secretaries to
take dictation, no middlemen—or—women to write flowery, prepackaged
replies.
Ruburt and Joseph, or Jane and Rob if you prefer, are private people.
They also have a kind of one-to-one relationship with the universe. This
particular quality means that they resist forming any kind of organization,
even though such an organization might help in answering the mail. I am,
therefore, dictating this letter, while it will be sent to many of you, it is
written to each of you, and I only regret that I cannot go into your aspirations,
challenges and problems on a more individual basis.
Some of you have written in joy, some in sorrow. Some of you have
written to tell of answers you have found, and some of you have written
requesting answers. In any case, energy is being sent out to you with this
letter.
That energy will arouse in you your own abilities. It will lead you to
insights and solutions that can be yours alone. It will put you in touch with
the ground of your being—from which, eventually, all exultation and answers
spring. My purpose is not to solve your problems for you, but to put you in
touch with your own power.
My purpose is not to come between you and your own freedom by
giving you “answers,” even to the most tragic of problems. My purpose is to
reinforce your own strength, for ultimately the magic of your being is wellequipped (?) to help you find fulfillment, understanding, exuberance, and
peace.
Your problems are caused by your own doubts. These doubts arise
because you have been out of touch with the validity of your own existence.
Let me here reinforce that validity. Let me reinforce faith in your innate
ability to find joyful acquiescence, and to rise above any problems that you
have.
If I presume to solve problems for you, then I deny you your own
power, and further reinforce any feelings of powerlessness that you have. I
know that you can grow tired, however, and that sometimes a gift of energy
can be quite a boost; so, again, with this letter I send my joyful recognition of
your existence—and energy that you can use to reinforce your own vitality
and strength.
All mail does not come from the postman, so each of you should have
your own kind of inner response from me to whatever letter you have sent by
mail. I serve in many ways as a speaker for your own psyche, however, so the
inner message will be from your own greater being to yourself, and at that
multidimensional level of reality I salute you.
Seth
The Personal Sessions: Book 3 of The Deleted Seth Material @2016,
DELETED SESSION, APRIL 29, 1975
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Jane Roberts: Modern Medium
by C. C. Chambers
Jane Roberts sits in her pleasant
living room. She talks animatedly,
and suddenly, almost at the snap of
a finger, she goes into trance. The
lights have not been dimmed, nor
have any elaborate breathing exercises preceded her trance. Her
voice lowers to a male register, the
pupils of her eyes darken and dilate perceptibly. The personality of
Seth has come.
