I’ve just had confirmation from Amazon that my "Author's Page" is set up and ready for me! I don’t feel any different from yesterday, but if Amazon think I’m an author, then presumably I must be? They, of all people, must know.
Plus, I’ve had a hard copy of my book, Zen and the Art of Mediation, delivered in the post. It’s a really strange feeling to open a proper book and to find words that I wrote inside it. How on earth did they get into a book? And what possessed me to write them in the first place?
It wasn’t the money, I can tell you that. I’m pretty confident that my wife will buy a copy (thank you, Karen!) and maybe I have a dozen really good friends or close family who might also invest £19.99 in a copy. But beyond that, well, I have no idea how many copies a book on Zen and the Art of Mediation might sell but I’m guessing that the answer is: not a lot. I’m not exactly J K Rowling, and the book isn’t exactly “Harry Potter and the Mediation of Doom” (film version coming shortly). And 15% (which I’m told are the royalties a new author can expect) of not a lot amounts to, well, not a lot.
And it wasn’t the thought that everyone would like my book and tell me that they agree with what I’ve written either. Quite the reverse, actually. There’s some stuff in the book that flies in the face of mediation orthodoxy – about joint sessions, for example, or about “Reality Testing” in mediation – and if anything I’m expecting a backlash from the mediation establishment. And anyone who knows the mediation establishment in the UK will know that they’re not to be messed with.
Actually, that stuff is the reason I wrote the book. Mediation has been very kind to me. It’s paid for the season ticket to watch Norwich City, and the other essentials of life, for the past fifteen years. And over the course of those fifteen years, and over the course of all those mediations, I’ve learned that some of the things that are taught as orthodoxy on mediation courses in the UK just don’t work, at least for me. And that in some cases, doing something else, does work, at least for me. Now, you may say, that’s just because I’m a stupid bear. And that’s so. Obviously. But I couldn’t escape the thought that there might be others out there – mediators, would-be mediators, mediation advocates, negotiators – who, even though they’re not stupid bears, would nevertheless be helped by the things I’ve learned. And since mediation has been kind to me, I felt I owed it to mediation to share what I’ve learned with anyone who might find it helpful. So, in a sense, it doesn’t really matter how many copies it sells: by writing the book, I’ve shared what I’ve learned on the mediator’s path, which means I’ve paid my debt to mediation. Beyond that, whether anyone wants to read it or not, well, that’s up to them.
Which doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be delighted if you bought the book. A fat cat, seventeen camels, and a man with 83 problems, a dose of quantum physics, some linguistic theory, and the latest research on risk aversion, sprinkled with fifteen years’ of mediation experience, and a touch of Zen wisdom as well, and all for £19.99! Or £15.99 on Kindle! Is that a bargain or what?
