The Book Story

It was a small piece in the news late last night.....a book company has hooked with David Hogg of the Florida school shooting fame (and his sister) to write a book.  Name for the book?  Never Again.  Publishing date?  Well....this is interesting, first week of June.  Yeah....basically six weeks away. 

I sat and thought about several factors over this. 

First, generally....books take several months, with a draft period, and sometimes lawyers need to pour over what's written.  To suggest it'll be done in four weeks, and be reviewed....then mass produced by early June?  It can only be done if the book is already half-written.

My bet is that some foundation is hooked up with the book company, and that Hogg (with his sister) are basically writing the introduction chapter, but the rest of the book is already done (written by someone hired by the foundation).  This is probably a draft copy that's been sitting around for six to twelve months....waiting for the right folks to 'front' the book.

Second, why such a hasty publishing deadline?  Well...if you are seeking to influence the November elections....you need this book out there as part of the trend.  July and August would see Hogg and his sister in various interviews, and hyping the book....which all plays into the November election.

Third, the next phase of Hogg?  Well, I will predict that CNN hires him in July timeframe to front some teen-show concept....an hour-long show on Sunday evenings....mostly political in nature and anti-gun.  He will skip starting to college this fall, and run this CNN teen anti-gun show instead.  All of this would start weeks prior to the November election.  After the election....toward the spring semester, he'll show up at some private New England university for a year of studies.....then likely return to CNN to continue the show for the 2020 election period.

Finally, I come to this odd part of the book deal.  You have to ask yourself.....what do 15-to-18 year old kids read?  Assemble a hundred kids, and shock yourself.  They generally don't read Hemingway or Steinbeck.  They hate biographical pieces.  They generally don't read lecture books.  Their general hype is science fiction or fantasy-type books. 

So would they even read this book written by Hogg?  Maybe one or two kids out of a hundred.  Will the book then be picked up by teachers and forced onto students to read?  Will anti-gun parents rush out and buy the book to force upon their kids to read?