Paul Wilson is an Australian marketing professional and meditation teacher, who is the author of self-help books such as The Little Book of Calm, Calm at Work, The Calm Technique, Instant Calm, and Calm, No Matter What, mainly on the topic of finding peace of mind in everyday life. He has been called The Guru of Calm,[2] and some of his books have been bestsellers, but have also been criticised for offering unhelpful or counterproductive advice.[3][4]
Wilson was born in Ilfracombe, Queensland, in 1948.[1]
In 2008, The Independent newspaper included him on a list of 100 people who make Britain a happier place.[5]
Books
Wilson's books have been translated into 24 languages.[6]
The Calm Technique was published in 1987 by Thornsons Publishing and has been reprinted and translated into several languages.
The Little Book of Calm ( ISBN0-14028526-1) was published by Penguin Books in 1996. It was on The Sunday Times Bestseller List for more than 80 weeks.[7] The book contains brief quotes and snippets of advice, which, according to Daniel Johnson of The Times, are "often wordier versions of hoary old adages"; Johnson also criticises advice he perceives as unrealistic, such as "Take on only one deadline at a time" or "Take a lesson in calmness from children", self-contradictory, and repetitive.[3] Clinical nurse specialist Brendan McMahon called the book "essentially a collection of reassuring folk wisdom" with advice ranging from the sensible to the naïve.[8] Deborah Ross in The Independent called the snippets of advice in the book "happy-clappy guff";[1] a review in 2003 described The Little Book of Calm as "short on words but long on meaning", and claimed that it was "the first and still one of the best books aimed at counteracting stress".[9]
Wilson published a number of books in a similar format, including The Little Book of Calm at Work, The Little Book of Sleep, and The Little Book of Hope. Joe Joseph, reviewing The Little Book of Calm at Work for The Times, was very critical towards the book and claimed that "much of Wilson's advice is actually counter-productive" in that it created rather than alleviated anxiety at work.[4]
The Quiet ( ISBN978-1-40503766-2) was published in 2006 by Pan MacMillan in the UK and Australia and by Tarcher/Penguin in the USA.
Calm: No Matter What ( ISBN978-1-40503934-5 was published by Pan MacMillan in 2014.
References in popular culture
The Little Book of Calm was featured in the first episode of the British comedy Black Books, when Manny Bianco accidentally swallowed a copy of it.[10] The book is later absorbed into his body, and he is able to dole out helpful calm-inviting comments to passersby, such as "When you're feeling under pressure, do something different. Roll up your sleeves, or eat an orange".[11]
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. The New York Times Book Review has published the list weekly since October 12, 1931. In the 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and nonfiction, hardcover, paperback and e-books.
A vanity press or vanity publisher, sometimes also subsidy publisher, is a book printer that is paid by authors to self-publish their books. A vanity press charges fees in advance and does not contribute to the development of the book. It has been described as a scam, though, as the book does get printed, it does not necessarily rise to the level of fraud. The term vanity press is derogatory, so it is not used by the printers. Some self-publishing businesses prefer to market themselves as an independent press, and some authors who are self-publishing through CreateSpace and Amazon Kindle prefer to market themselves as indie authors instead of as self-publishing authors.
Terry McMillan is a celebrated American novelist known for her vivid portrayals of African American women’s lives, relationships, and journeys of self-discovery. Her best-selling works, including Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, have resonated widely for their humor, authenticity, and emotional insight. McMillan’s contributions have influenced contemporary fiction and continue to shape the representation of Black women in literature and film.
A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties. An author may also be referred to as a bestseller if their work often appears in a list. Well-known bestseller lists in the U.S. are published by Publishers Weekly, USA Today, The New York Times, and IndieBound. The New York Times tracks book sales from national and independent bookstores, as well as sales from major internet retailers such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
David McWilliams is an Irish economist, writer, and journalist. Since 1999, he has been a broadcaster, writer, economic commentator and documentary-maker. He has written six books, The Pope's Children , The Generation Game, Follow the Money, The Good Room, Renaissance Nation, and Money: A Story of Humanity, and written regular columns for the Irish Times and Irish Independent.
Lane Smith is an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He is the Kate Greenaway medalist (2017) known for his eclectic visuals and subject matter, both humorous and earnest, such as the contemplative Grandpa Green, which received a Caldecott Honor in 2012, and the outlandish Stinky Cheese Man, which received a Caldecott Honor in 1992.
Ellen Forney is an American cartoonist, educator, and wellness coach. She is known for her autobiographic comics which include I was Seven in '75; I Love Led Zepellin; and Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me. She teaches at the Cornish College of the Arts. Her work covers mental illness, political activism, drugs, and the riot grrrl movement. Currently, she is based in Seattle, Washington.
Gretchen Craft Rubin is an American author, blogger and speaker.
Richard Carlson was an American author, psychotherapist, and motivational speaker. His book, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and it's all Small Stuff (1997), was USA Today's bestselling book for two consecutive years. and spent over 101 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list. It was published in 135 countries and translated into Latvian, Polish, Icelandic, Serbian and 26 other languages. Carlson went on to write 20 books.
Ilona Andrews is the pen name of Ilona Gordon and Andrew Gordon, an American husband-and-wife duo who write urban fantasy and romantic fiction together under a portmanteau of their first names.
Jimmy Gownley is an American comic book writer/artist best known for his award winning comic book Amelia Rules. He grew up in the small town of Girardville, Pennsylvania and started to write and draw his own comics at an early age. His first published work was Shades of Gray, which he self-published. Two issues, self-distributed in an edition of about 100 copies, were published in 1988-89 while the artist was still in high school. Twelve additional issues, starting over with #1 (1993) and titled Shades of Gray Comics and Stories, had national distribution in the low thousands of copies, with color covers and black and white interior art. Gownley called his publishing company Lady Luck, Ltd.
Deborah "Debbie" Rodriguez is an American writer, hairdresser, and humanitarian. She is noted for creating safe spaces that provide women with a way out of domestic violence and chaotic circumstances.
Cathy Kelly is an Irish writer of women's fiction and a former journalist. In 2001, her novel Someone Like You won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.
Robert Greene is an American author of books on strategy, power, and seduction. He has written seven international bestsellers, including The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of Seduction, The 33 Strategies of War, The 50th Law, Mastery, The Laws of Human Nature, and The Daily Laws.
Wendy Holden, also known as Taylor Holden, is an author, journalist and former war correspondent who has written more than forty books. She was born in Pinner, North London, and now lives in Suffolk, England.
Neil Pasricha is a Canadian author, entrepreneur, podcaster, and public speaker characterized by his advocacy of positivity and simple pleasures. He is best known for his The Book of Awesome series, and "The Happiness Equation" which are international bestsellers. He is also an established speaker and his TEDx talk, "The 3 A's of Awesome", is ranked as the ninth most inspiring TEDx talk with over 3 million views to date. In total, he has sold over 1 million books. The book and TED talk are based on Pasricha's blog, 1000 Awesome Things. The blog has won three Webby Awards and ranked in PCMag's list of top blogs and websites in 2009 and 2010.
Mark Manson is an American self-help author and blogger.
Girl Online is the debut novel by English author and internet celebrity Zoe Sugg. The romance and drama novel, released on 25 November 2014 through Penguin Books, is aimed at a teen audience and focuses on a fifteen-year-old anonymous blogger and what happens when her blog goes viral. The novel is a New York Times Best Seller in the Young Adult category. The book was the fastest-selling book of 2014 and it broke the record for highest first-week sales for a debut author since records began.
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos is a 2018 self-help book by the Canadian clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson. It provides life advice through essays in abstract ethical principles, psychology, mythology, religion, and personal anecdotes. The book topped bestseller lists in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and had sold over ten million copies worldwide, as of May 2023. Peterson went on a world tour to promote the book, receiving much attention following an interview with Channel 4 News. The book is written in a more accessible style than his previous academic book, Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief (1999). A sequel, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, was published in March 2021.
Kathleen MacMahon is an Irish writer and former radio and television journalist who worked with Ireland's national broadcaster, RTÉ She is the author of three novels and numerous short stories.
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