I was pretty much bowled over a couple of days ago when a publishing company – a real one that does real, paper books and pays authors – contacted me to ask if I’d be interested in doing an I Ching book.
Would I?!
Of course I would. At least… – and then you would not believe the sheer volume of contradictory fears that one mind can entertain at once. What if I get excited about this and it comes to nothing? What if it does go through, but then it’s full of mistakes and everyone can see what a fraud I am? And what if it goes through, but it’s one of those appalling ‘simplified versions’ that don’t contain any of the real I Ching at all? (In fact I’m as likely to gnaw my own arm off as I am to write one of those… but that doesn’t stop me being afraid of it somehow ‘happening’ anyway.)
So in a mood hovering between burgeoning excitement and a sneaky desire to hide under the desk, mixed in with a kind of kneejerk impulse to declaim stridently about my refusal ever to be involved in anything that claims to be the I Ching when it isn’t, I asked Yi,
“What’s the best attitude or approach to take to this?”
Yi answers with Hexagram 43, Deciding, changing at the second line to Hexagram 49, Radical Change.
The protagonist of Hexagram 43 is a messenger who enters the king’s court, holding up a token that represents her right to speak. The trigrams, lake over heaven, show the communication of the inner creative principle. It’s about publication (duh…), and it’s also about my awareness of a specific message I want to carry: I want people to be able to have real, living conversations with Yi.
And the Radical Change involved is clear enough: I’ve basically spent the last 8 years working at this from behind a computer screen. What I write is electrons; if (when) I change my mind about something, I edit it. A printed book? Eep.
And also, I’ve spent the last 8 years working almost entirely on my own, not just in the writing but also in marketing and technical stuff. This is ‘radical change’ year from that point of view already, with an exciting partnership underway. The idea that someone else does the making and selling, and I only have to write it, and I even get paid…? Unheard of – and, as I may have mentioned, scary.
Hexagram 43, line 2:
‘Alarmed, crying out.
Evening and night, bearing arms.
No fears.’
This is one of those moments when I feel as if I’m being parodied. Peering out past the defences into the dark, knowing that change is coming but unable to see what it might bring. What if? What if? Spinning round, trying to look in all directions at once, on the alert to defend against rejection and acceptance.
Being on the alert is no bad thing, but there’s no need to be fearful, says Yi. I like the point LiSe makes about this one: it’s because you have sentries posted that you can sleep soundly at night. So I have sentries ready to sound the alarm if the forces of ‘mass market accessibility’ threaten to squeeze out the meaning, and I’m aware that since I can’t fit everything in here, I need to cut the waffle and find the essence, and this alertness means I don’t need to panic.
(Thanks, Yi.)
I kept the advice of 43’sJudgement in mind, too – fruitless to take up arms, fruitful to have a direction to go – and didn’t declaim stridently. It turned out that there was no battle to be fought here at all: of course, said the woman from the publisher, the words of the original must be in there.
It’s not clear yet what will come of this. The book needs to be quite small, and I don’t know yet whether I can write anything worth reading within the word limit. The next step is to try, and if I’m happy, I see what the publisher’s representative thinks of it. And if she’s happy, we see what their partners think. And if they’re happy, then there’s a book. So who knows whether it’ll reach publication?
And that’s a large part of the experience of 43.2, I think – the unknown. Its paired line, 44.5, receives an extraordinary, unexpected gift – willow wrapping melons, containing a thing of beauty that comes falling from its source in heaven – whose nature is still unknown. In my own experience, what falls from heaven is lovely, but by no means always will it work out in practice.
In hexagram 43, you’re bearing a message, aware that this must be carried through and heard at the centre regardless of danger. It can be fraught with tension – in fact, looking at the line texts, it can be premature, scary, humiliating or hideously uncomfortable, and it’s also a big disaster if you fail to make it heard at all (line 6).
Then at the second line, this messenger meets the currents of radical change. You still know your message, and it just became more important than ever to carry it well, and yet you have no idea how it might relate to the new world. What if? What if?
‘No fears.’
I must read this MORE carefully – but from this first reading I will tell you that I am in an almost parallel situation. I have also written a book on the YiJing, and have done ALL of it totally by myself – just finished the first real “fair copy” edit and did a self-print for “me” and a few other people – and will take it along to a Seminary I do in February – BUT NOW (as you) I face this whole NEW idea of seeking a publisher (in my case) not being at all familiar with the processes and the best proposal writing, etc. But – having done all the work and feeling in my heart/mind that this is a unique and worthy book, I appreciate all that you have written, as it helps me to see myself in YOUR MIRROR. It is “no fear” that I take from you message and apply to myself…and now also take courage to ask the Oracle as you did…
– Glen
I forgot to ask you what your book is about: mine is about the a study of Opposites in the YiJing.
– Glen
What an exciting development! The second line moving speaks of “readiness” and needing “armor,” and in the case of a book in print form, the author’s armor is provided by the contract.
Editors and publishers have their own preferences and purposes, so it is important for an author to request to see the contract and take her time to review every clause before saying “yes” or “no” to a project. Writing a book is something that tends to keep you up nights, thinking about things, and book publication is a very arduous and long-drawn-out process. Having a good contract would help you to sleep nights!
Editors and publishers often say one thing and do another, but the contract is a binding legal document and will determine the actual course of everything what will happen during every stage of production of the proposed book — and it will spell out in minute detail who has control of what.
Having a good, solid contract would help drive out that last yin!
Well done, Hilary! From what I see, you have served your apprenticeship and the time to “step up” is ripe.
You said, “The book needs to be quite small, and I don’t know yet whether I can write anything worth reading within the word limit.”
applegirl has commented on your uncanny ability to express sophisticated thoughts both clearly and concisely. I also admire (and covet?) your ability. 😉 It probably won’t be easy, but you’ll be able to say what you need, if not always what you want.
Great news indeed.
@Glenroy The book I want to write one day will probably be huge – building all I’ve learned from line pathways into the interpretation of each line, for instance. And incorporating a nice in-depth interpretation manual, too.
That one’s going to take me years, and I wouldn’t expect anyone to volunteer to publish it, either. This one doesn’t exist yet – it’s meant to be a small consultable I Ching.
@Barbra Thanks for the advice – I’m sure you’re right about contracts. If it ever gets to that stage, I’ll get advice from a couple of friends who work in publishing.
@Chris Thanks for the encouragement! You know the idea of ‘ending the apprenticeship’ makes this even scarier, right?
One thing I’m sure of – whether anything comes from this or not, it’ll do me a lot of good to practise writing concisely for a change 😉 .
In my own line pathways – Guà Jìng and Yáo Ying, Hexagram Mirrors and Line Reflections (can still not choose for one of the two and dismiss the other) – I have a note:
“Live big. Don’t restrict yourself to just what you can conceive of, dare to take chances, accept challenges, but within right limits”.
Wish you lots of luck with your book, before and after publishing.
LiSe
Thanks, LiSe 🙂 I’m having lots of practice with the inconceivable just at the moment…
You replied, “You know the idea of ‘ending the apprenticeship’ makes this even scarier, right?”
Yes, I get that leaving the safety of your harbour and venturing out on the unknown sea is scary. I am reminded of Fr. John Shea’s take on Mark 4:39-41 (Jesus calming the storm). Where the Bible has Jesus sleeping, John Shea has him “cowering in the bottom of the boat; because he is deeply afraid of the water“.
At first, like me, you might think, “bum note there — that can’t be right”. But its stuck with me many years, and it works. On a concrete level, this 30 year old man was a carpenter, not a fisherman; living in Nazareth he may never have learned to swim. It is certainly his first time in a boat, according to Mark, and a storm was coming. But on a deeper level it is, IMO, even more convincing.
This man lived under an open heaven. He was sensitive to the changes (Yi) and to what was happening around him in ways we can barely imagine. The fact that he needed to regularly withdraw to the mountains tells us that simply being could be a strain. He understood the chaos of the crowd, for he understood people — saw their hearts. He was working a plan and a crowd would play a terrible part in that, but this wasn’t that day, and he knew that. Besides, he was comfortable with people; he had grown up with them.
But this was his first time in a boat. His head knew that, although it looked dangerous, the torrential Chasm (#29) was ultimately safe for those with a pure heart. But his body didn’t know it yet, and it was letting him down. The chaos of the sea was mirrored in the churning of his stomach. Why wouldn’t a sensitive man like that be frightened?
Of course the story goes on to record that even through his misgivings he stayed in tune with the changes — i.e. how power was moving in the situation (*1). He watched and waited. Then he knew. (God “told him”?) Co-operating with the #60 moment he spoke; Heaven and Jesus together articulated the time and the fury of the storm subsided. It was Heaven and Earth in harmony, that is all. 😉
In my opinion, these things are not magical, and experience with Yi attunes us along the same lines that Jesus was attuned. Yes it’s scary. But, like Jesus, you have some experience with change. The circumstances may be unfamiliar, but you are better prepared than many to face them. So take heart, Hilary, and allow those qualms to be feeling of excited anticipation!
__________________________
(*1) I have some experience with that. I taught in a classroom with a roof tile that lifted when it was windy. I would amuse the children by, in the middle of saying something, turn and point at the tile commanding, “Down!” and it would obey (of course, I knew my room).
Less flippantly, it is how a dog is made obedient. The trick is to watch and wait: there is no point in telling the dog to do something when it won’t. But there are junctures in its activity when, if you speak, it will hear; and because its attention is currently unfocused it will always come to you — you’re the most interesting thing going on. But it is more than a trick because the dog likes to obey, and once you have changed its behaviour, changing it more becomes easier.
Oh boy.
Brief is one thing.
But brief with high standards?
Didn’t mean to do that anonymously.
If you are up to this challenge it could enrich us all.
I was hard pressed to stay inside 1100 pages.
Herein in line two is an eternal unchanging key. “He dwells in the midst of difficulties as if they do not exist.” this is the key quality that we all must develop within ourselves, and it applies in any situation and at any time. The Japanese have said, “we must learn to drink tea from an empty tea cup.” it is the premier spiritual value, to meet life on its own terms and not fear anything, no matter what happens, but take it with perfect equanimity.
As you write your book, keep this in mind. Sounds like you will write it, and it will be a success. Good luck. I wouldn’t mind picking up one of the first copies.
Gene
Whoops, that was my post, last one. Didn’t mean to make it anonymous.
Gene
What are their other books like? If they are zero-content pretty-ribboned gift books then even with the best will in the world you would be hard-pressed to achieve anything better. Best not to realise that too late. This is what the second line of 43 could be about. Many people are rather flattered by the approach of a publisher, and you sound it, but you should not be. You should look it squarely in the mouth and decide whether it is something that you want to do. Judge it on the quality of their current catalogue, I’d say, and don’t assume, if it’s mostly crap, that you will be the person to make a difference. However, if they publish good books, then it may be a good opportunity. But publisher-generated books are always going to be different to author-generated books. Ask yourself: does the world need yet another dumbed-down I Ching? Life is short, is there really time for projects our heart is not in? Isn’t it better to do the things we really want to do and forego apparent opportunities that are really temptations that have found our level? Because if we embrace the latter, that’s where we’ll stay.
The above post is mine. It was intended to be anonymous.
Yes, that’s pretty much how I feel about it, too, and why I’m not sure whether I can do it. Even my notes for WikiWing – no introduction, note form, leaving out all the line pathway things I’m so fascinated by – was over 70,000 words.
I’ve barely started experimenting – there are so many things that have to be done first, like clients’ readings and preparations for Opening Space for Change – but I can tell this is going to be ‘interesting’.
The idea in 43.2 seems to be that sufficient alertness keeps you safe. Hope so. I’m trying to transmute the ‘qualms’ into excited curiosity… 😉
Oh, and intentionally-anonymous? Yes, I’ve thought pretty much all of that, more or less verbatim, and especially ‘does the world really need another dumbed-down I Ching?’
But the solution to that is simple, at least: don’t write one. Either they’ll publish what I write or they won’t. If they don’t, it should still be good to have written it.
I am in the middle of something similar. I wrote a huge book – not about the YI – but one part is missing, an important part, which I cannot write. So I asked someone else. And then suddenly lots of things are not in your own hands anymore. So it keeps me awake. I should have asked someone else, or is this the perfect person… He has my whole manuscript now, is it safe… He has a tiny publishing company himself (I didn’t know that), 1 (read one) book published, and of course wants to publish this one. How to deal with that. Is it good, or is it totally wrong to do that. And so on and so on. No contract yet, so there is still room for different decisions.
So before you say yes to anything, thinkthinkthink and find out.
LiSe
Yes… partnership suddenly means oodles more factors and considerations and choices and ambient scariness. I suppose it brings in an equal number of new ways for things to go wrong as new ways for things to go right.
I hope everything goes beautifully for your huge non-Yi book. Keep us posted. 🙂
You say: “But the solution to that is simple, at least: don’t write one. Either they’ll publish what I write or they won’t. If they don’t, it should still be good to have written it.”
Yes, if it worked out that way, it would be fine. But there are three further issues:
1) Unconsciously writing below yourself to fit the publisher’s brief. Easily done.
2) They edit it or cut it without your approval and you find your contract does not permit you much control over that.
3) They fill it with lots of pretty pictures that make it look like a book for teenagers, even if the written content is as you want it.
The best way to tell is, as I said before, on the basis of their current catalogue. What sort of books do they already publish? Because that will be the sort of book they will want from you.
Good luck, and remember that a contract is there to rip you off more than protect you. Negotiate hard. Even the very best publishers are interested in making money with the least possible return to the author. How much more the worst publishers?
Whoo-Hoo.
About time. But I knew it was just a matter of time.
Excellent news. I’m sure it’ll be a best seller.
No doubt, especially if it’s ever published! No guarantees of that, as yet, but I did send in a 600 word version of Hexagram 43 (that’s just as compressed as it’ll go) and they didn’t say ‘No’ – more like ‘We’ll see’. So we will.