Reach More Readers-- Neil’s RA Resolution and Challenge To Us All

Back in October, I shared the news that Neil Hollands was taking over Joyce Saricks’ popular RA column in Booklist.

While I suggest you read his “Every Book Its Reader” column every month, the current column, in particular is excellent. Neil is challenging all of us to "Resolve To Reach More Readers.” Here is a snippet:

And so, as a new year starts, I have to resolve myself (and so do you) that if we want to serve more than imaginary readers, we’re going to have to go out and get ’em. We’re going to have to prove ourselves as a resource, again and again and again. 

How can we do that? If you’re like me, the answer is a work in progress, but I have a few tricks. First and foremost, you have to get every last hint of book shaming out of your system. Nervous readers smell it on you faster than a vegan will smell fast food on your breath. They see it sooner than an overprotective mother can catch the salacious gleam of curiosity in Junior’s eye. You can’t love every author, but you’re going to have to truly embrace the right of others to read what they like. Find common ground in your love for a good story, in the empathy that comes with reading, in the emotional needs that you share, or in the ideas found in books that somehow make life a little better.

Neil’s entire column is about how we have to prove ourselves to all readers. We cannot complain that no one is coming up to us to ask for a good read. That is a lame excuse. It is up to us to do our part, either actively or passively [so if you are an introvert, you are not off the hook here], to help people find the books they need.

Click through to read the entire column which includes tangible tips on how to get started.

Now get out there and start suggesting books. A good book can open people’s eyes, it can teach them about those who are different from them, it can show people that they are not alone, that there are others just like them out there somewhere, it can provide comfort in bad times, and so much more. A book can [and has] change the world. Please take your job seriously. What we do is more important than you think.

I am glad to see the Call to Action spirit is spreading....