Last week I opened up an email that said: “Congratulations—your book is a 2014 Nautilus Silver Winner!”
They used words like “outstanding book” and “proud to have you.” And they had a list of other winners, which bowled me over: Angeles Arrien, Jean Houston, Frances Moore Lappé, David Korten . . . Barbara Kingsolver (my God!) . . . Thich Nhat Han . . . Deepak Chopra! . . . His Holiness the Dalai Lama . . .
Many of these folks are my heroes.
Now, I (like any author) think my book is good, but I found myself reacting with “What, me? In a league with these folks? They must all be “gold” winners. Shucks, it’s just a Silver, after all.”
Just a Silver.
Yep, I still have that little demon working in side of me, the one that has to somehow find the flaw, the one that interferes with me realizing that “out of the hundreds of books entered, yours was one of the few that won a Silver. Read page 177 of your own book [where the Sage encourages the Seeker to recognize his achievements, large and small, by saying ‘good job’], and say it yourself: ‘good job!'”
It took awhile to sink in.
Many folks won’t be familiar with The Nautilus Awards, but the publishing industry does know about Nautilus; it’s well respected, adds a significant layer of credibility to my book, helps open up pathways to getting the book out there more widely, and makes people in the industry take notice (I just got off the phone with one of the folks at Nautilus about showing the book at their booth at BookExpo in New York in a couple of weeks, and she said, “I don’t have time to read all the winners, but I’m really enjoying your book!”).
The recognition’s nice, but what’s especially important to me is that the Nautilus program “seeks, honors, awards and promotes print books that inspire and connect our lives as individuals, communities and global citizens.”
This is what I hope The Holy Universe does. This is what fuels my passion: helping to spread this vision of a new worldview, a “Planetary Mind.” It’s in this spirit that I’m especially glad for the recognition.
You can take a look at their website at http://www.nautilusbookawards.com/2014_Silver_Winners.html (scroll down to the “Religion and Spirituality” section).
