I’m unsure when my passion for reading arose but it must have been in place during my primary school years as I remember being asked by my grade 5 teacher what book I was reading and I had to raise my desktop to recall the name, Don Quixote. It definitely continued into my time at high school as I devoured every fiction book in the library and I recall the moment when I asked the librarian, “Are there any more?”. A defining moment came when nearing the end of a thriller set in the “diamond coast’ on the seaboard of Namibia I had the realisation that I too could write a novel. Somehow life got in the way of that thought and it wasn’t until I became a stay-at-home dad many years later that the time opened up for me to realise my dream. Then began one of the most enjoyable years of my life. I would secretly look forward to spending time with my characters each day. They became my friends. I went on incredible adventures with them to exotic locations. For the best part of twelve months, they were my trusted companions. When it came time to hand my manuscript over for proofreading, I felt I was abandoning them as you would handing your newborn child to a stranger. However, as all writers would know, writing your book is the easy part. Selling your book is a completely different story. No pun intended. In hindsight, the remaining time I had at home would have been more productive had I spent it writing more, however, I figured if I could generate enough sales, I could stave off a return to work. Reality had a different view and after many months of relentless marketing I began to identify an issue. I produced a small quantity of hard cover books, mainly to satisfy my ego to see my work in print, however, I soon noticed my books were being shared. This couldn’t have been more stark than when I gave a friend a copy from my home town and I learnt that many family friends and relatives read the same book as it was passed around depriving me of sales. Once sales had subsided, I posted my book on Wattpad. Again, many thousands of reads without remuneration. There had to be a better way. The world revolves around advertising. This fact was a little more disguised before the digital age with mainly media moguls reaping the rewards, but with the advent of the internet and the digital age the means to place content specific advertising became a reality and the role of advertising became more stark. The likes of Facebook and YouTube made it blatantly obvious. Could this model be applied to books I wondered? Could an author be remunerated for every page read? The “pay per page” concept gradually evolved to become bookworm.art. Bookworm does not intend to compete with hard cover books, e-books nor the book publishing industry. It should complement these disciplines. It is intended to provide established writers with another revenue stream and provide new upcoming self-publishing authors with increased revenue so that they can write more. The vision of Bookworm is everyone reading, everywhere, anytime. A platform benefiting readers and authors alike. Join the bookworm community to make the vision a reality.