Don’t judge me by my cover.
Don’t judge me by the length of my story.
Don’t judge me by the size of my novel.
Judge me by my legend.

Don’t tell me I’m too hard to understand.
Don’t tell me I’m not worth the time.
Don’t tell me I’ll never make it off the shelf.
Tell me I’m the best book you’ve ever read.

Don’t ask me how I got published.
Don’t ask me when I’ll be sold.
Don’t ask me why I came here.
Ask me how I’ll touch the stars.

Don’t lie about what you see.
Don’t lie when you’re pressured into believing.
Don’t lie if you don’t like me.
Lie when you don’t make it.

Don’t stop when you’re almost there.
Don’t stop until you know how it all ends.
Don’t stop if it becomes too difficult.
Stop when your bookmark has nowhere to go.

Don’t back away if you’re afraid of me.
Don’t back away when you have the strength to finish.
Don’t back away from the challenge that is set.
Back away when you can’t stand up anymore.

Don’t retaliate to fight the peace.
Don’t retaliate when you have a weapon in your hand.
Don’t retaliate for rejecting.
Retaliate when you have something to fight for.

Don’t read just for credit.
Don’t read just for knowledge.
Don’t read just for the benefit.
Read because you want to.

I’m a difficult book to read.
Maybe you can’t deal with that.
Maybe you will give up before reaching the climax.
Maybe you won’t find out how my story ends.
But because I’ve read,
I know all about you.