James Patterson Gives Bookseller Bonuses

Shelf Awareness

James Patterson during a recent appearance at the Vero Beach Book Center.

Some 87 independent bookstore employees are now receiving bonuses ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 as part of James Patterson's bookseller bonus program, announced earlier this year and handled in conjunction with the American Booksellers Association. (For the full list from the ABA, click here.) At the same time, more school libraries are receiving grants of between $1,000 and $10,000 as part of a library grant program, handled in conjunction with the Scholastic Reading Club, a program totaling about $1.75 million. 

The bestselling author, who has donated millions of dollars to bookstores, libraries and other organizations in the U.S., U.K., Australia and New Zealand, and more than a million books to children, had announced  the bookseller bonus program, with bonuses totalling $250,000, earlier this fall. Anyone could nominate a bookstore employee by answering one question: "Why does this bookseller deserve a holiday bonus?" Patterson himself chose the winners.