Coaching Authors Choose CGW Publishing for Their First Book

Ronna Smithrim and Christopher Oliphant, authors of Accepting the Radical: You Can Not Be Fixed, have chosen CGW Publishing to get their first book into print.

“I was thrilled that a publisher was interested in my work and have not been disappointed”, says Oliphant, who had previously been considering self publishing as an alternative to every author’s worst nightmare; endless rejection from the traditional, risk averse publishing houses. However CGW’s Christopher Greenaway recognised the quality of writing in the book and the potential of the subject as fitting with the existing range of books and addressing an important niche in the market.

“There’s no doubt that the self-help book market is saturated, with everyone from Donald Trump, Jack Canfield and Paul Mckenna through a range of minor celebrities and business gurus, down to every street corner life coach publishing a book or ebook.”, says Amelia Hartley, CGW’s co-founder and Director. “The proliferation of ebook readers such as the Kindle, iPad or Kobo have also lowered the barriers to producing a book, and that has definitely impacted on the quality of what’s out there. So when we see a book that is genuinely well written, with clarity, passion and strong case studies, we know that it will stand head and shoulders above the rest of the books out there.”

CGW Publishing specialise in working with authors whose books are written to support their service businesses, by packaging their intellectual property, providing additional revenue and demonstrating credibility.

“We launched and ran a successful management consultancy for ten years, and the books that we published in that time played a huge part in our success”, says Christopher Greenaway, CGW Publishing’s Managing Director. “The publishing imprint that we launched back in 2002 has evolved over the last ten years to become CGW, and we’re now very proud of the authors we’ve attracted and pleased to apply our expertise in this area to helping them grow their businesses”

For the authors of Accepting the Radical, the primary push behind writing the book came from their clients. According to Smithrim, “Their push came from two questions. The first being, “This teaching is really powerful, why haven’t you written a book?” The second was, “Are there any books that teach acceptance?” The answer to the second question was a sad, “I know of only one other author and she who wrote from a Buddhist point of view.” Any other books that talk about acceptance apply conditions to acceptance or support it in one sentence and then contradict that support in the next sentence.”

Like many expert authors, Smithrim and Oliphant found it relatively easy to get their ideas down on paper, but less easy to organise those ideas into the structure required for a book. Oliphant says, “The writing was easy. I have taught the material often and the words just flew from my mind on to the page. The editing process was another matter. I worked with a wonderful editor who helped my structure my ideas and wouldn’t stop until the text made each concept clear to her. This process with my editor also gave me some insight into just how difficult these ideas are to understand: how they run contrary to much of the popular thinking of today.”

Oliphant summarises the publishing experience by saying, “CGW Publishing have been professional and thorough. They delivered a quality product quickly and efficiently, saving us months of work in text formatting, cover design and the many mysteries around getting a book ready for print. Christopher went above and beyond in the graphics work, proofing editing and both text and eBook formatting and we remain very grateful to everyone at CGW Publishing for all their hard work.

Accepting the Radical by Ronna Smithrim and Christopher Oliphant, published by CGW Publishing, is available now from all good book stores, ISBN 978-1-9082931-0-7.

Still searching for a solution to life’s problems? Try Accepting the Radical

Accepting the Radical is the new book from experts Ronna Smithrim and Christopher Oliphant, and it contains surprising advice for anyone seeking support with their success in life. Rather than looking for a problem and trying to ‘fix’ it, the authors advocate accepting yourself fully as you are, as a route to achieving the life you want. If this approach seems radical, then it is – Radical Acceptance.

Oliphant explains, "Our journey began when we started out using the various ‘fix’ therapies – but soon found them to be limited. The more we explored, the more the idea of acceptance emerged. This led us to develop the Wheel, a tool we explore throughout the book. We carried on, developing the idea of acceptance until it emerged in its current form."

Oliphant and Smithrim continued to develop their new approach, continuing to achieve outstanding results with their clients until, one day, someone asked them what they did, what was this way of thinking and teaching called? Smithrim replied, "Acceptance, I suppose: Radical Acceptance." And so it was born.

The authors explain the principle of Radical Acceptance; "The basic premise of Radical Acceptance - what makes it so different - is that your ‘fixer’ is powerless: no matter how hard you try, you can never fix yourself. What’s so paradoxical about acceptance is that the more you accept a part of who you are, the less you need to act on it. Radical Acceptance has the power to give you a degree of control over your life that endless years of ‘fix’ therapy couldn’t touch. Its subversive teachings can help you to recognise and accept the powerlessness of the ‘fixer’ within you. From there, you can accept all of who you are."

Since the creation of Radical Acceptance, the authors have taught the simple yet powerful principles and techniques to groups around the world – and under constant pressure from the students in these groups have finally produced this book. What it contains won’t be for everyone: Radical Acceptance is a multi-faceted approach to personal growth work which can be both demanding and painful, opening up doors in readers’ lives that can be highly challenging yet ultimately liberating.

With the tools, exercises and case studies shared by Smithrim and Oliphant, readers will discover a new way of seeing life’s problems, both for themselves and for their clients, quickly discovering that the path to happiness, success and fulfilment really does lie in Accepting the Radical.

"Accepting the Radical: You Can Not Be Fixed", ISBN 978-1-9082931-0-7, is published by CGW Publishing and available now from all good book stores, priced at £15 or $25.