Leather Mentorship

by J. Tebias Perry, Rick Gore (Photographer)

All leather folk, in some manner or another, undergo a form of mentorship, and Sir Tebias skillfully navigates the reader with ease through the many facets and options available. Most importantly, he brings the reader his lived experience through embedded tips, exposing the core benefits of what a person may gain through mentorship. Never ignoring the depths of mentorship, he also provides the readers with core knowledge on the vetting process, insight into the tribulations a person may face, a vital selection process, and ultimately a much-needed insight into the mentorship process. Culminating with an ingenious analogy surrounding mentorship and a butterfly's life, Sir Tebias allows the readers to see the stages of mentorship play out on the pages. Sir Tebias provides a practical overview but not a strict guide, allowing the readers to make slight adjustments to fit their needs as a collective.

105 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 26, 2023

Reviews

[Atomic Pixie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to say about this book. For the record, I read it in the span of 4 hours in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep. Here are my thoughts:

1. I like the butterfly metaphor. It fits. Should have been used as the organizing principle of the book. If it had been broken into four sections organized by the metaphor, I think it would have been a lot more effective.
2. The author repeats themself a lot, but doesn't follow the format of "Tell em what you're going to tell em. Tell em. Tell em what you told em." for each chapter that I would have expected. It reads like a stream of consciousness with other people's quotes thrown in, which isn't what I would expect for this format.
3. The writing felt very unpolished. I think an editor (or at least a copy editor) could have helped a lot.
4. I didn't finish this book feeling like it was true to how I have experienced Leather, or even feeling that I had new insight into how Leather mentorship works. It might be because the book was written 10+ years ago. It might be because the author is a gay man and I am a femme. IDK. I feel like there is a lot of fumbling in the dark happening for those of us entering the Leather world in this decade.
5. It got some wheels spinning about how I might approach this topic from my own perspective. So, it's a book that didn't feel super on the nose, but got me thinking. And that's the point, right?

[Alfred Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is full of great information and insight that is helpful for navigating the mentoring process in a healthy way. It is a must read and will be on my list of books I'll forever recommend. One read wasnt enough for me, I wanted to soak it in.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good primer with some helpful information on vetting.

I see a lot of requests from people about where to find kink mentor. This is a great suggestion for folks looking to dip their toe into learning more.

While this isn’t a BDSM 101 book by any means, it covers some really important information that some other 101 books leave out: vetting and how/where to actually learn from!

If you want to be a mentor or have a mentor, this is a relatively short and easy-to-read book!