Happy 5th birthday, Can we read! 🎈
With gifts for you
Can we read? is FIVE 🎂
Whaaaaaat?!
I will say some version of what I always say as another year goes by, which is:
Wow.
WOW.
And: thank you.
Really: thank you.
This newsletter has been — and is — a gift to me. And you know how I know?
A while ago I was talking to a dear friend about the status of turning Can we read? into a published book. I offhandedly told her how I don’t really think about it all that much, how I feel detached from it in the sense that I fully trust the process, saying something like, “If it’s meant to happen, it will happen, and if it’s not, I won’t die.”
A professional writer and published novelist with a book currently out on submission, she said, “I would die.”
I shrugged and said, “Let me be clear: I very much want it to happen, but if it doesn’t — if it turns out that’s not actually the right use of my skills, talent, and energy — look at what I already have.”
And that’s the truth.
Look at what I already have.
Regardless of the outcome of a book or any of my other creative dreams and ambitions, I’ll always be able to say that for five years (and counting!) I showed up in thousands of inboxes twice a week, sharing countless children’s books and my ongoing two cents about raising readers, impacting so many families and their reading lives in even just the smallest ways.
For someone who believes her purpose on this planet is to be of service to others, that matters — even during slumps, even when the idea of being online anymore makes me want to lie down in the road, even on days when I don’t know what to say or how to say it or if anyone is listening.
Whatever effort I’ve expended over the years — and it’s not insignificant; I’ve written approximately 475 posts and they each take me, on average, about two hours, sometimes less and often much, much more — I have received back tenfold.
Which is, I believe, what happens when you’re doing work you’re meant to be doing.
Thank you for being on the receiving end of this work I’m meant to be doing, whether you’re one of my 11 friends who indulged my goofy little project that very first week or you subscribed this morning. Last year on Can we read?’s 4th birthday, there were 4,629 of you, and today there are 6,0011.
It’s no small thing to ask for space in your inbox, for your time and attention. Thank you for yours.
A quick look back
Here are some of the most popular issues since last May:
What’s a birthday without presents?
In celebration, I’m giving away FIVE $50 gift cards to Bookshop.org.
To enter, please fill out a short survey, which helps me gather feedback and influences the decisions I make and the new ideas I have going forward.
The giveaway will close next Wednesday, May 28th at midnight (12:00am CDT). I’ll contact the winners shortly.
With gratitude and love,
Sarah
HAPPY FIVE YEARS! Incredible, incredible. <3
Happy birthday to a truly valuable Substack! Congrats, Sarah