As with all worthwhile activities, reading is difficult. It takes time. But it’s worth it, writes Lauren Stoneman. Read more:

For reading to be worthwhile, books need to have a baseline quality, depth, complexity, and artfulness. We need to stop the steep decline in what is being published, particularly in fiction. It's no wonder people are not inspired to break away from the algorithms! At the hands of mainstream publishing—with sensitivity readers dulling language and literary gatekeepers demanding shorter and "easier" sentences and stories to placate shattered attention spans—the standards keep plummeting. The only answer is for independent authors and publishers to come to the rescue and raise the bar.

@LS_Stoneman Luckily, a solution the "men don't read" headlines is on the way November 10th with Bear Brawl. This is the book every guy is going to be talking about. Get it here:

@LS_Stoneman Well worth reading: by .@cunninghamjeff

@LS_Stoneman please fix the mix on this audio, dialogue is low and SFX are way too loud

@LS_Stoneman Reading is declining... ...the garbage being produced.