Do we need book celebrities?

After the success of his recent movie adaptation of The Fault in Our Stars, it’s safe to say John Green is at the top of his game. There will be those purists who would rather keep literature and cinema separate and still those who discount him because his fandom is of the YA variety.

What they can’t say, though, is that he’s not good for readers and reading in general. He’s putting books in the hands of youngsters at a Rowling-like clip, he’s down to earth, and he’s putting books in the news.

Do we need more like him?

We’ve seen the likes of Rowling stirring up fans with public appearances, surprising news and, just as easily, with the release of new titles. Despite writing what would now be considered YA fiction, Rowling converted teens and adults alike with her enchanting heptalogy. Fans the same age as the trio of Harry Potter heroes were growing up with the internet, but social media hadn’t hit the popularity boom it’s still riding.

Taking it back a generation or two, Updike, Hemingway or Nabokov all inspired rabid fans, but they weren’t around for the collision of social media and the superfans with seemingly innate knowledge for the former.

Is it that John Green has mastered his own use of social media as well as written compelling stories for the autodidactic generation or is this a formula that could be replicated by the “most serious” of writers just the same as self-published authors?

But do we want more book celebrities?

We have more traditional celebrities like Lena Dunham advocating her love of literature and the effect it’s had on her development as an actor/writer/director and we have the King of Bestsellers, James Patterson, also garnering great PR for his generous support of independent bookstores and schools.

It might be counterintuitive to crave larger-than-life heroes in a solitary pursuit like reading, but no matter whether you’re a 75-year-old fan of John Green or a 12-year-old fan of Joyce Carol Oates, it’s a thrill to connect with your favorite author.

As more and more new authors go the route of self-publishing, their success will likely be in how well they adapt to new forms of promotion. Whether it’s frequent updates to his YouTube channel or personal outreach to cancer-stricken fans, Green has certainly made himself available, and authors of all levels of notoriety would be wise to take notice.