I was recently in a meeting with a lovely woman – let’s call her Ms. S – who has written what I believe to be a ground-breaking book about spirituality. If you liked The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, you will love this book, which we’ll refer to as Book E for now. Ms. S is a gifted teacher, and considers herself a vessel for the information that she has written down. She disdains being classified as “new age”, and is sincere in her desire for the information in the book to be taken at face value – it’s real, it’s simple, and it’s an achievable understanding of enlightenment. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t take away something fantastic from this book, and I’m eager to help her get it into the hands of as many people as possible.

To help clarify the primary audience for the book, we were discussing distribution and promotion possibilities. I suggested that perhaps non-traditional distributing was a better way for her to go, as her readers were probably not the type who shopped at Chapters.

As I spoke these words, Ms. S immediately cut in, “But how do we know, Peggy? What if that person who picks up the book in Chapters is meant to find it that way, perhaps even by accident? What if that is now enlightenment happens? Who are we to say how it should or should not happen?”

What an excellent point.

I had previously postulated that there are two types of people who shopped at Chapters. The first is someone who knows exactly what they are looking for, and by going to a store with a large inventory, they know that they will be more likely to find it, whether it be obscure or not. The second is a person who is a Shopper, and who is just browsing for something in their general category that is fresh and new and that will inspire them.

But now I wonder if there is a third person who shops at Chapters: the Unsuspecting Reader, who is reaching for the book next to the one we are offering. Perhaps they lose their balance, bump Book E instead, whereby it falls gracefully off the shelf, and smashes their toe. While they are limping around looking for a tacky overstuffed chair in which to recover, they still have Book E in their hand, because they don’t know what else to do with it. As they sit down, they flip it open, and voila: enlightenment happens.

Perhaps just because a book has been non-traditionally published, with non-traditional content, we should not assume that traditional distribution will not work. I realized when she pointed this out that I had let my personal bias interefere with a creative opportunity. What a mortal sin for an Editor to make!

Marketing opportunities with Book E will definitely be handled differently: Ms. S considers herself a conduit for divine inspiration, and after reading the book, I would agree with her. So, there will be no ego-boosting author exercises here. If there is a reading, it’s about the material, and not a signature on the overleaf. If there is an interview on the radio, it’s about the message, and not the voice of the author. If there is a lecture, it’s about the experience of the audience, and not the spotlight on Ms. S.

Despite the use of traditional avenues of marketing and distribution, we will still be taking full advantage of whatever non-traditional and creative opportunities that appear during this process. Even if Ms. S is not interested in getting rich from this venture, she wants as many people as possible to benefit from the use of this information. I asked her, “But what will you do if it sells 50,000 copies?” She promptly returned with “Oh, I’ll build another study centre, or open an orphanage.” Let’s not be confused then: it’s a great thing if this project makes money, but Ms. S doesn’t want to make money by being some sort of new-age guru.

(I wonder if Ms. S knows that by trying to avoid the spotlight, she will probably find herself even more in it. She’s an excellent speaker and teacher. People will want to hear her.)

OK, so it looks like I need to spend some study time with this material myself. :o) Enlightenment can’t be easy for someone whose assumptions almost prevented others from attaining it!