Advertisments

Much Ado About Publishing

PUBLISHING'S BEST KEPT SECRETS

By Nina L. Diamond

I’m going to tell you Publishing’s Best Kept Secrets:

THERE’S A CRAZY PERSON AT EVERY BOOKSIGNING. Six years ago, my friend, Gary, an independent bookstore manager, first clued me in on this sometimes unsettling Best Kept Secret.

Of course, I thought he was joking or just exaggerating. He was doing neither.

I’d never heard this before, but that was probably because I didn’t need to be in on the secret yet. When my first book was about to be published, I qualified for such hush-hush info.

Yes, indeed, there was a crazy person at every booksigning I did for that book. And for my second one, which came out three years later.

Interestingly, the crazy people came solo. One per event. There were never two or three, or even none. Exactly one crazy person per booksigning. Maybe it’s some union rule they have.

A couple of years ago, to continue the tradition I’d been initiated in, I warned a first-time author friend, Darleen, that there was a crazy person at every booksigning. I told her in great detail about mine, adding that they could be young or old, male or female, but that it was always just one.

The next day, she called me back.

“I just spoke to the events coordinator of the chain bookstore where I’m going to do my first booksigning this weekend,” Darleen said. “And you’re never going to believe this, but she warned me that there’s a crazy person at every booksigning!”

“What?” I gasped. “You mean, this is official?”

“I guess so,” Darleen laughed.

Since that conversation two years ago, I’ve asked around. It’s official, all right. And nobody ever hears about it unless they’re authors about to do their first booksigning.

A few months ago, I asked another author friend, Carl, who’s out promoting his umpteenth book, about his crazy person experiences. Sure enough, he always had only one per booksigning.

“And the last one,” Carl said calmly, “was a guy in a pink tutu.”

A PRIEST AND A NUN WROTE A REALLY GOOD BOOK ABOUT SEX. I admit I was just as skeptical about this as you are when I first heard about it. Scouting about for interesting people to interview, I asked an editor friend, Roy Carlisle, what books the independent publisher he worked for, Crossroad Publishing, had coming out.

“I edited a book about sex, written by a priest and a nun,” he said, with absolutely no trace of irony in his voice.

“Yeah, right,” I said. “That’ll be the shortest book in the history of publishing. One page. And it’ll say: Don’t have any.”

“No, really!” he protested. “I’m not kidding. They’re very well-respected therapists who’ve also written other books. They counsel in particular about these areas – sex, love, and relationships. And they’re in demand all over the world by clergy, church groups, and educational seminars as speakers and workshop leaders. They’re real pioneers.”

I still thought he was kidding. I was waiting for him to say, “Gotcha!” So, I didn’t believe him.

“Send me the book when it comes out,” I said, figuring that would put an end to the practical joke.

Except it wasn’t a practical joke.

A few months later, the book arrived. With a press release and catalog. I read it immediately, cover to cover.

Then I called Roy and gushed, “Oh, my God – pardon the pun – I can’t believe what I’m about to say, but this is the best book about love, relationships, and sex that I’ve ever run across, that’s probably ever been published. This is so strange, I have to interview them.”

In their very first sentence of Tender Fires: The Spiritual Promise of Sexuality (Crossroad Publishing, 2002), the authors acknowledge the irony.

“Why would a nun and priest write a book about sex?” write the authors Fran Ferder, PhD, a clinical psychologist, and John Heagle, a licensed psychotherapist.

Well, certainly not just to give columnists something unusual to write about.

Ferder and Heagle are on a mission, so to speak, and they write that people “have to struggle continually for a more liberating vision of human sexuality and support the natural connection between sexuality and spirituality. We have to heal our tendency to make them enemies and allow a friendship to flourish between them.”

They write for people of all faiths, since issues about sex affect every religion, but focus in particular on their own, and how it has approached sex over the last 2,000 years.

“God created sexuality and sexual pleasures in order that human persons might share in their delights in the context of responsibility and care,” they write.

Not what you usually hear from a priest and a nun. And that’s what makes their work so important, say their supporters, including Tom Fox, publisher of The National Catholic Reporter, which has published Ferder and Heagle’s articles and commentary.

Shedding some light on the origins of the rift between sex and religion, Fox explains that, contrary to what many people may assume, “teachings on sex don’t come from the Gospels, they come from stoic priests from the Greek era who said that sex was evil except for procreation.”

In their work to clear up the matter and correct misconceptions that have had such a negative impact for the last 2,000 years, “John and Fran are pioneers,” says Fox. “They’re very brave.”

Ferder and Heagle received a grant that enabled them to write Tender Fires, a grant enthusiastically given by – and, here comes another surprise – Sister Fran’s fellow sisters at FSPA, the Franciscan order she joined 41 years ago.

“There’s a great need for a balanced sexuality in the church and in the world,” says Sister Marlene Weisenbeck, the president of FSPA, who also has a degree in canon law and was Chancellor of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin for five years. “Sexuality is a gift from God, not something sinful or evil, and (Fran and John’s work) has gifts to offer the world.”

Yes, a nun actually said that.

The response from those they teach at conferences, workshops and seminars typically includes relief, says Ferder. “They say, ‘Thank you for being so honest, and for articulating what we know in our hearts to be true,’”

WRITERS WEAR A UNIFORM. That’s right, we do. It’s the White Terrycloth Bathrobe. Most writers don’t know about this. Oh, they know about the White Terrycloth Bathrobe because they’re wearing it. They just don’t know that every other writer is wearing it, too.

Writers also have a public uniform for magazine and newspaper offices: jeans. They will only deviate from this uniform under threat of a gun or corporate dress code.

If forced to wear anything other than jeans for too long, they will usually find a way to work from home where they, ironically, still don’t wear the jeans because now they’re wearing the White Terrycloth Bathrobe.

IF YOU’RE A WRITER, YOUR FAMILY WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU DO FOR A LIVING. If they do understand, consider yourself very lucky. You could have the smartest, most educated, most sophisticated bunch of relatives in the world, and they’ll probably still not get it.

I remember reading an article a few years ago about a woman who’d won some very prestigious literary award for her critically acclaimed book, and her mother’s response was something to the effect of, “That’s nice, dear, now when are you going to get a real job?”

* * * * *

Nina L. Diamond is a journalist, essayist, and the author of Voices of Truth: Conversations with Scientists, Thinkers & Healers. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including Omni, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and The Miami Herald.

Ms. Diamond was a writer and performer on Pandemonium, the National Public Radio (NPR) satirical humor program, for its entire run in Miami and select markets nationwide from 1984-1998. As an editor, she works frequently with other authors and journalists on both fiction and non-fiction.

* * * * *

Logo image courtesy of George Glazer Gallery, NYC georgeglazer.com