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On the Road Again

2026-07-14 · announcement · John · 4:14 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing (also: Personal life) · mode: Announcements · tags: self promotion, community lore

Recalling the 2008 Tour de Nerdfighting and his near-empty early signings, John says book events still feel like magic and urges viewers to attend them, then announces his Hollywood, Ending tour from Toronto on September 20 to Los Angeles on October 13.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Looking back at the 2008 Tour de Nerdfighting with Hank and Katherine

  • ★★ John recalls the 2008 Great American Tour de Nerdfighting: he, Hank and Katherine drove around the country for a month in a minivan, Hank selling CDs and John Paper Towns; exhausting but exhilarating. — 00:00:00 · Tour de Nerdfighting, Katherine Green, Hank Green, Paper Towns
  • ★★ John says that although he had been an author for a while, before 2008 he had never had more than five or six people at any of his signings. — 00:00:00

00:00:29 — John's first signing with two attendees, and why book events still feel like magic

  • ★★ At his first signing, in Chicago in 2005 for Looking for Alaska, two people came, one his boss pretending to be a stranger; John then read a passage that managed to offend them both. (playful) — 00:00:29 · Chicago (city), Looking for Alaska (novel)
  • ★★★ John says being in rooms of people singing, laughing and reading in 2008 was magic and still is; he can't get used to Nerdfighteria briefly existing in real life. — 00:00:58 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ Because of his early, nearly empty signings, John says he feels overwhelmed with gratitude to anyone who attends any kind of book event. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ John wants viewers to come to his events but also to other authors': it shows authors that people care about their work and want to be together in real life. — 00:00:58

00:01:39 — Hollywood, Ending tour announced: tickets and the full list of stops

  • ★★★ John says two of the coolest things art can do are inspire more art and lead to deep, lasting connections. — 00:01:39
  • ★★★ John announces a Hollywood, Ending tour from September 20 in Toronto, where fans get the book two days before its September 22 release, to October 13 in Los Angeles. — 00:01:39 · Hollywood, Ending, Los Angeles
  • ★★ John points viewers to ticket links in the description, apologizing that they aren't free: renting the spaces is expensive and bookstores bear the cost. — 00:02:09 · Hollywood, Ending
  • ★★ John hasn't visited Canada in almost 15 years, at least professionally, and is very excited to. — 00:02:09 · Canada
  • ★★ Tour stops: New York City on release day, September 22 (tickets soon); Birmingham, Alabama, his high-school roots, on the 23rd; DC on the 24th; Winston-Salem on the 25th. — 00:02:09 · New York City
  • ★★ Next stops: Portland, Maine; Pittsburgh, where much of Hollywood, Ending is set; Gainesville; Nashville; Madison; and a hometown show in Indianapolis on October 2. — 00:02:38 · Hollywood, Ending, Indianapolis
  • ★★ John is taking October 3 off the tour because it is Sarah's birthday. — 00:02:38 · Sarah Urist Green
  • ★★ The tour continues to Chicago, St. Paul, Kansas City and Tulsa, a city John has never visited. — 00:02:38 · Chicago (city)
  • ★ Sarah, in Tulsa for work a couple of weeks ago, told John he has to visit. — 00:02:38 · Sarah Urist Green

00:03:07 — Hank can't come along for a month: he's a parent now, and has invented Smush

  • ★★ The final stops are Tucson, Boise, Salt Lake City, San Diego and Los Angeles; John jokingly calls the schedule light work. (playful) — 00:03:07 · Los Angeles
  • ★★ Hank can no longer spend a month in a minivan with John, a real bummer, but he is a parent now with a lot going on. — 00:03:07 · Hank Green
  • ★★ Hank recently asked John to edit a word game he invented, Smush; John told him, with love, that he needs to stop. (playful) — 00:03:07 · Hank Green

00:03:37 — Hank at one or two events, bits promised, family over more travel; sign-off

  • ★★ Hank will come to one tour event, maybe two; John will appear in conversation with friends and authors from around the country. — 00:03:37 · Hank Green
  • ★ John promises the events will still have bits: he may be old, but he is still in the bit business. (playful) — 00:03:37
  • ★★ John apologizes for not touring more places, especially outside the US and Canada: balancing family and work, he tries to err on the side of family. — 00:03:37 · Canada
  • ★★ John has to get back to signing 85,000 copies of Hollywood, Ending. — 00:04:06 · Hollywood, Ending

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Hollywood, Ending

Also: People: Katherine Green · Sarah Urist Green

Projects: Tour de Nerdfighting

Works: Looking for Alaska (novel) · Paper Towns · Smush

Concepts: parenting · work-life balance

Places: Birmingham, Alabama · Boise · Canada · Chicago (city) · Gainesville, Florida · Indianapolis · Kansas City, Missouri · Los Angeles · Madison · Nashville · New York City · Pittsburgh · Portland, Maine · Saint Paul, Minnesota · Salt Lake City · San Diego · Toronto · Tucson, Arizona · Tulsa, Oklahoma · Washington, DC · Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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