Should America Reward Book Readers?

 

If you want to enjoy a contemporary dating romance film, check out the newly released One Night Only, but I am not here to give you a movie review. The premise of the film stirred an idea in me.

The movie is about what happens to single people on the only night of the year that they are legally allowed to have sex. Three years ago, according to the story, Congress outlawed non-marital sex, but allowed for one day out of the year for as much fornication with any body or bodies. It gets monitored through technology and enforced by the police. It is intended to reduce teen pregnancy and abortions, and as a result, encourage people to get married.

It is not a dystopian story the way The Purge movies are. In those thrillers, lawlessness, including rape and murder, are unpunished for one night out of the year. W

Ok, so what is my idea? It is more of a wish, that once a year everyone has to read a book, maybe even the same one. Why? So that everyone can literally be on the same page, getting us to appreciate books and to encourage us to have a conversation about what we read.

Books can be amazing, helping us to live a better life, teaching us something, or entertaining us with an escapist story. They can put us in a certain mood or frame of mind. Congress can’t create nor enforce a law that makes people read books, but maybe an incentive can be given to people to read the same book on the same day.

What would a big enough incentive? Would the government need to pay each reader a certain amount of money? How much would be enough to get people to buy in — and how much can the government afford to pay?

There are about 270 million adults in the country. Pay each one four bucks and America’s bill exceeds a billion dollars, not to mention the cost of getting everyone the same book? Pay each person $40 and that is $10 billion. If everyone gets a Benjamin, we are talking about a $25 billion pay-out if everyone participated.

Should we have to pay money to get people to read books?

Well, if we get more people to read books, it is worthwhile, assuming they develop a reading habit afterwards. If we get people who otherwise read books to join others and read a specific book, society wins if this is a really special book that launches people to discuss something that touches hearts, improves lives, or exposes us to ideas or facts we were not aware of.

We need a book movement in this country, one that gets more people to read more books and for the masses to read some of the same books at the same time.

Imagine what would happen. More books would get sold and read. More people would come to see books as a good go-to resource for leisure, motivation, education, awareness, or values exploration. More conversations would be initiated about books, the very ones that can shape our lives and create a better society.

Should there ever be a day like what is featured in The Purge? Should there be a day like what is depicted in One Night Only? They both pose interesting situations for society, but what would truly benefit us is a day of incentivized reading of one book for the nation.

If we all focused our attention on one book that highlights one issue, say homelessness, crime prevention, education, healthcare, love, or death, could we be in a better-informed position to take proper action to support or eradicate something?

If we all understood what needs to be done to help domestic abuse victims, wouldn’t we do those things? If we all could find ways to make sure that every sick person has access to affordable healthcare, would we not act in unison? If we could all come to understand how to live a happier life, would we not then act on such ideas, beliefs, or facts?

Maybe I am still too idealistic. Perhaps I ask for too much. But why not try this?

I know, I know. Where are we getting $25 billion from? Who chooses which book to read? Hoe does one prove they read it? How are follow-up discussion groups organized and run?

No clue, but we can figure out the details once there is enough buy-in for the concept.

Maybe I should run on a book-centric platform for Congress! Then I can write a book about it and have the government incentivize you to read it.

Marketing Help?

Brian Feinblum can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator! 

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 8,200,000 page views. With nearly 5,700+ posts over the past 15 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2026, 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2026.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum