Young Barrington author inspires his peers to read

At 11, Barrington’s Hough Elementary School student Jake Mayer learned an important life lesson – a phrase he coined: “Create something great, and you will win.”

Last year, Jake was asked to complete a fourth-grade assignment in honor of national novel writing month. Jake set a goal of writing 750 words each school night, for about a month, in order to complete the 20,000 word requirement.

What Jake did not anticipate was the end result – selling more than 12,500 copies of his final novel, “A Tale of Friends, Enemies and Minecraft” on Amazon.com, going on to write a sequel in fifth grade and receiving congratulatory praise from peers who once teased his hobby of “Minecraft.”

His publications do more than just educate others about “Minecraft,” he said – they encourage others around his age to read.

Jake said he never much enjoyed reading until he began to download e-books on his iPad and found something he was truly interested in reading about – technology.

“Books just did not interest me,” he said. “I thought reading was just not for me, but now, I read reviews of my book from parents who say their kid was not a big reader until they read my book from cover to cover. It makes me really proud.”

Jake said he chose to publish his work with a large font and short chapters so that it’s an easy read for people his own age.

“Writing this book showed me that by doing what I love and then making something out of that, can be really cool, and there isn’t one type of ‘cool’” he said.

Jake’s mother, Kris, said that she has helped Jake a small amount, with things such as grammar and spelling, but the elementary student does all of his writing, and even most of the editing himself. Jake is editing his second novel, set to debut around June.

Jake’s third- and fourth-grade teacher, Maggie Gruber, said Jake is a special young man, following through with many entrepreneurial steps that many children do not.

“He’s very mature for his age,” Gruber said. “Jake has an almost innate business sense. He took his interest in ‘Minecraft’ and spun it into an adventure tale. I think the fact that the book was written by a 9-year-old was intriguing to many who read the brief synopsis online. What better way to motivate your child to write or read?”

Gruber said Jake is empowering other young children because his book is easy to read and deals with a topic that many kids enjoy.

“There is no question that Jake’s novel’s popularity has inspired this year’s National Writing Month students to duplicate his success. I hope they do,” Gruber said.

When Jake isn’t writing or editing, he’s keeping up with his homework, hanging out with friends, researching technology and playing “Minecraft.”

Jake began playing the computer game about two years ago and said he realized that most “Minecraft”-centered novels were about a player getting sucked into a fantasy where the lead character would have to fight his way out of the game.

“I wanted my ‘Minecraft’ novel to be a bit more realistic and less scary,” Jake said.

Jake’s entrepreneurism began at age 5. Living near Barrington’s Makray Memorial Golf Club, Jake and his father, Jim, have spent several summers collecting lost golf balls and selling them to local golfers.

Jim said the golf ball sales routine has taught his son lifelong social skills. Both parents come from a business background, as Jim works in trade and Kris is a buyer at a local Ice House Mall shoe store, Tootsies.

Yet, Jim admits his son knows more about technology than him and most other adults.

“We like to visit the Schaumburg electronic store, TigerDirect, a lot,” Jim said. “And I swear, if you closed your eyes and listened to Jake talk to the employees, you would never in a million years guess that the information was coming from the mouth of a [young kid],” he said.

The store electronics experts actually ask his son for advice from time to time, Jim said.

Kris said that she has never limited her son’s time spent online or gaming, and it continues to pay off.

“I know technology is going to be his career path, so I would never stop that,” she said. “I make sure he gets his homework done, of course, but I think Jake’s picked up some great team building and programming skills from his time online. His computer is his educational tool. He teaches himself everyday.”

Jake has been saving most of his book-selling revenue for college and said he would like to study computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. But for right now, he’s excited to transition into Station Middle School this fall and join the school’s computer club.

For Christmas, Jake used another portion of his sales money to build a customized PC for his grandmother.

“He evaluated his options from top to bottom,” Jim said. “He chose the processor, motherboard, hard drive, RAM – you name it.”

Jake said that he wanted his grandmother to be able to watch online videos and play Solitaire, so he built her a lightweight operating system.

Meanwhile, “A Tale of Friends” still sells every day, with sales spiking during the December holiday season. Jake Mayer said a third book is a definite possibility.

“If my characters make me think of a new story line, I will definitely write it,” he said. “I use my own tips and tricks, and the things my friends and I build in the game to write my books.”

The Mayers said that bringing their son to the international Minecon convention in early November was rewarding for the whole family.

Jake was able to speak with world famous “Minecraft” players and business experts, such as the game’s developers. He collected a variety of signatures inside a copy of his first novel. Plus, tickets weren’t easy to snag, since he said Minecon sells out annually, in a matter of minutes – but Jake Mayer has his tech-savvy ways.

Every system has a glitch, Jake said, so he kept refreshing the ticket sales web page until more tickets became available.

When confirming that Jake is an only child, Kris said, “Well, lightning only strikes once, ya know.”