Hug an Author Day Is Coming! September 15

It was sometime last September that I found myself simmering in the latest frustrating news from the front about the publishing industry: maybe it was declining reading rates, maybe it was the notable failure of an expected bestseller, maybe it was a conversation with an author who was having a hard time of it. Whatever it was, I needed to think about it, which meant I needed to write about it.

What I ended up doing was establishing, for myself and all my author friends, National Hug an Author Day. It was a joke, a lark, but it proved resonant with a number of my author friends, and a number of my nonauthor friends got inspired by it and sought out their own authors to hug, either literally (side hugs count) or metaphorically (by buying a book). So, I decided that we should make it an annual thing.

Therefore, I hereby invite you to prepare yourself for this year's Hug an Author Day!

Hug an Author Day always falls on September 15. That means you have a month to think about, talk about, write about, or otherwise act on your good will toward the author or authors in your life who need a little pick me up. And trust me, they probably do: writing is a lonely, vulnerable thing to do; submitting your proposal (and later your manuscript) to a publisher is an act filled with angst; promoting your finished product makes you feel embarrassed and obnoxious. And don't even get me started on the money stuff.

We have National Record Store Day. We even have an International Cassette Store Day. Don't you think it's time we dedicated a day to acknowledge authors?

Spread the news! Tell your friends and alert your social media that Hug an Author Day is coming. It'll be a good day, I promise.

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Speaking of hugging an author ... My book Deliver Us from Me-Ville is available as an ebook for 99 cents for a few more weeks. If you haven't gotten the book yet, you can get it for a song right now. (Seriously; it's cheaper than "Pusher Love Girl" by Justin Timberlake.) One reader called it "a joyfully sarcastic look at our own self-absorption from a Christian perspective." That reminds me: if you post a review of the book in the next three weeks, send me a link and your mailing address, and I'll send you a free copy of my booklet Parable of the Unexpected Guest.