Explore Quotes by Jay Asher

Looking back, I do think one of the reasons 'Thirteen Reasons Why' has been so successful is not because it deals with serious issues but because I had a unique and interesting way to tell that story. I knew the issues were going to be dealt with in the book, but I felt my job was to write the story as entertainingly as possible.

When somebody's face-to-face with you saying, 'I may not have been here had I not read your book,' how do you respond to that? The first several times I traveled, it was almost too much. I was totally grateful, but emotionally, it was really hard.

I thought I was going to be known for my humor. But then I had an idea for a story, which was absolutely not humorous. But, of course, that's the one that sells and becomes big.

There's no way to know exactly what someone's dealing with, no matter how open you are. You're just never going to know everything.

Bullying has been around forever, and so it became one of these issues that as an adult we look back on and say, 'Yeah, it's just one of those unfortunate parts of growing up.' You know you're not going to stop it, so it just became easier to call it one of those things that 'just happens.'

I had written a book that dealt with really serious issues. Was anybody going to want to read a Christmas love story from me?

Of course I always like going to bookstores, but at stores, you're mostly meeting kids who are already into reading.

I don't know anything about bullying in Huntington Beach specifically, but I would assume it's very similar to other places.

The main character in the book is usually someone you're identifying with because the story is being told through this person's mind.

See, I'm not a very good musician.

I've always loved brainstorming with other writers, and I consider having my work critiqued a part of that brainstorming.

Novels are a safe way to talk about things.

There's this stress that is relieved when you realize somebody understands, and that's only going to happen if you feel the person who's writing the book or the people in the TV show aren't holding back.

There are things that aren't supposed to be comfortable to read, because those situations shouldn't be comfortable to discuss, but they still need to be discussed.

When I decided I wanted to become an author, I never thought something I wrote would be used as a way to start conversations that are otherwise difficult to begin.

I think there's always room for humor, especially when you're talking about really serious issues.

My favorite aspect of being an author has always been visiting different communities and meeting my readers face to face.

I was in Las Vegas, and there was a exhibit of King Tut's tomb, and it was an audio tour. At the very end of that, I just thought it would be a really cool structure for a novel, but I just didn't have a story to go along with it.

My friends and I did one of those 'Who's Hot and Who's Not' lists. Every school has those, and now they are online, which makes it even worse. It was one of those moments that I look back on a lot, and think that was horrible.

It seems like whenever a big newspaper or TV show talks about teen literature, they focus on dark books or vampire books. It's kind of this cliche. It seems like the only time adults pay attention is with that angle.

If we know it's happening, and we're not having the discussion, we're contributing to the problem of making it seem like people can't open up.