It's Raining Books (And That's Okay)

By Mark Stevens

What I believe and a few other random thoughts:

1. It’s raining books. 
2. And the forecast is a breeze; it’s going to rain harder. 
3. I believe not all books are for all readers. Can you imagine if they were?
4. I believe there are way too many books being published. And that’s not a bad thing. 
5. I believe that if you are a voracious reader, you read about two books a week. (My mother did.) 
6. That’s 104 books a year. If there were 300,000 titles published last year, you read .03 percent of all books published.
7. Nice job. 
8. Congrats!
9. Feel good! 
10. Just don’t think about what you might have missed. (I know I can’t.)
11. I believe a sharp, updated cover will make me want to re-read a classic.
12. I believe Patricia Highsmith is finally getting her due through film. “Carol” with Cate Blanchett, for instance, and “The Blunderer” with Patrick Wilson and Jessica Biel are two movies coming out soon. I can’t wait. 
13. But no movie will ever quite capture the edgy darkness of Patricia Highsmith’s words on the page.
14. Ever.
15. I believe that if every book was a best-seller, it would be a better world. 
16. I mean, just think of all the reading that would be going on.
17. I believe that if every high school diploma meant you were a voracious reader—and, say, that’s all it meant—it would be a better world. 
18. I mean, just think of all the reading that would be going on.
19. I believe there is no guaranteed marketing strategy for a writer that will lead to a big jump in sales.
20. If there was a guaranteed formula, every book would be a best-seller. 
21. And that ain’t possible. The physics of it. And the math. And the ink supply.
22. I believe it’s possible to walk into a good independent bookstore and feel overwhelmed. And yeah, happy, sure.  
23. I believe that if the book isn’t as good as your platform, you got no platform.
24. I believe that one day the late Gary Reilly will be known as major talent. 
25. The record so far: 8 posthumous published titles since 2012 and all Denver Post best-sellers (two number 1’s); two titles named Colorado Book Award finalists; one major rave review on National Public Radio.
26. And a woman who was the academic selector/bibliographer for Princeton Libraries (who only found Gary Reilly’s works because it was her job to keep up with new titles) called Gary Reilly one of her all-time favorite writers.
27. Okay, since you asked, here is exactly what Karen Haverkamp wrote in an email to me: “He (Gary Reilly) is one of my all-time favorite authors— honest, completely unpretentious, and such a master of his craft that the reader experiences only apparently effortless prose (without that annoying feeling that the writer is trying too hard).”
28. More about the late Gary Reilly: www.theasphaltwarrior.com
29. So even the writers who have left us are adding to the fact that it’s raining books out there.
30. I say, let it rain.