Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica was quite a sight on January 26. Over 200 teens, young adults and a few parents swarmed the steps of the auditorium anxious to meet the New York Times bestselling author of the new book "The Fault in Our Stars" (TFIOS), John Green and his brother Hank.  John has published five books: "Looking for Alaska," "An Abundance of Katherines," "Paper Towns," "Will Grayson Will Grayson" and the aforementioned "The Fault in Our Stars."

He has won countless honors for his work including the Michael L. Printz Award.  He also has over 640,000 subscribers and more than 930 videos on his YouTube channel in which he and his brother Hank communicate solely through vlogs. John has built a massive following through YouTube and his fans are lovingly referred to as "nerdfighters."

So, when it was announced that John would be embarking on the Tour de Nerdfighting, traveling around the country, signing books, reading from TFIOS and Hank would be performing songs, it is no wonder that the tickets went fast, selling out in almost all 17 cities. Once all the "nerdfighters" were seated in the packed auditorium the lights dimmed and Hanksock, a hand puppet resembling the vlogger, appeared to introduce Green.

He was welcomed with huge applause and smiling faces eager to listen to anything he had to say. After a brief "hello" and "thank you," Green began to read chapter 3 of his latest novel. The crowd cheered and laughed, though most of them had already read the passage themselves. That’s the thing about Green’s books, no matter how many times you read them, the words always seem new and exciting.

Next, Hank performed several of his quirky and endearing songs, one of which he wrote from the perspective of the main character in TFIOS. There was a 20 minute Q&A, in which a clock ticked down the minutes and then when the buzzer went off the brother speaking was “electrocuted” by the game, Lightning Reaction (Hank lost).

The questions ranged from “How and when did you decide to become a writer?” to “What is your weapon of choice in the zombie apocalypse?” Then, the signing commenced, and row by row Green and Hank’s fans lined up to have books, CDs, shirts, e-readers, iPhone cases, posters and anything you can think of signed.

Though the signing was a bit rushed (there were hundreds of people after all), the Green brothers did a great job of making each fan feel appreciated, thanking each person for their support and discussing anything a "nerdfighter" brought up while at the table.

The Tour de Nerdfighting was a huge success. There are only a handful of authors that could attract this many people, willing to listen to anything they have to say, wearing shirts embellished with their face. Green’s fans are definitely a unique breed and Green is certainly a unique writer. He connects with his readers on a deeper level than most authors can, and his YouTube channel makes him particularly accessible.

Even though his fans may have only met him for 30 seconds while he was signing a book, they feel like they know him so well, perhaps even as his close friend. It is this quality that I’m sure would make any "nerdfighter" line up all over again just to catch a glimpse of this man working to, as he says, decrease world suck.

Now as John would say "DFTBA:" Don’t forget to be awesome.