Take a look, it’s in a book

October 14th, 2024

“Are you a reader?” I asked her. I always ask when people approach my table now.

“Yes?” the woman said, her face distorted.

I asked why it sounded like there was a question mark at the end of her answer. She said she was startled by the question. Doesn’t everyone like to read?

I’ve been tabling as a writer and artist for almost seven years now. Early on, I learned something surprising but valuable.

I’m an excitable person, and I get really excited to share; if you’ve ever been to my booth, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I love to tell people all about my work, which consists mostly of words. But sometimes, towards the end of my high-energy presentation, a listener would smile at me politely (or not), and inform me that they simply do not read.

This type of incident happened so often that I made the conscious decision to ask people if they read before I start to speak.

I also wanted to know the numbers.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% (nearly 130 million) American adults read below a sixth-grade level. For some people, this statistic is shocking, but for others, this aligns with their personal experience. If you’ve been on the internet, that number might actually feel low.

So why does this matter?

If reading is hard or takes work to do, then it isn’t fun. And if it isn’t fun, then there isn’t any reason a person will want to read unless they have to.

Which brings us to Theia.

When I was getting the first reviews, people really loved to tell me how easy it was to read and how excited they were to finish it so quickly.

I was crushed. My writing is easy? Am I just a stupid man writing stupid books? (The verdict is still out on that, btw.)

I just needed perspective. I soon learned that finishing my easy book (and genuinely enjoying the story) led people to want to read more books. Different books, longer books, more challenging books (overrated imo but whatever). People became better readers. And embracing that has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my (extremely modest) career.

My passion for creating accessible excellence has created excitement for the thing that I love to do.

I hate when people say this, but read that again.

We can all do this. We can complain all we want that the world isn’t the way we wish it was, but what are we doing to help? You can take the things you love, that give you light and life, and you can make them accessible to everyone. You can be the opposite of a gatekeeper; you can knock that gate shit down.

More of that, please. I had so many excellent conversations and made such strong connections this past weekend at FallCon. More, more, more of that. A huge thank you to the MNCBA, staff, and volunteers for putting on a professional show with purpose.

I’ll see you next Saturday at the Twin Cities Book Festival.