Around six hundred employees at independent bookstores will be getting $500 bonuses for the holidays from author James Patterson this year.
“I’ve said this before, but I can’t say it enough — booksellers save lives,” Patterson said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. “What they do is crucial, especially right now. I’m happy to be able to acknowledge them and their hard work this holiday season.”
“We all continue to be awed by, and grateful for, Mr. Patterson’s continuing support of independent booksellers,” Allison Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, said in a statement obtained by the AP. “It means so much to have him recognize the valuable role booksellers play in the industry and we appreciate his financial generosity as well as his generosity of spirit.”
The employees were selected through a process either by recommendation by store owners, managers, community members and others or by nominating themselves.
Patterson began giving employee bonuses in 2015, the AP reported. It was the same year he was given an honorary National Book Award for “Outstanding Service to the America Literary Community.”
Patterson has given away millions of dollars over the years to booksellers, teachers and librarians, according to the AP. He is also one of the most popular writers around the world.