NEW YORK (AP) — Six hundred employees at independent bookstores — from Chapter One in Victoria, Minn., to The Cloak & Dagger in Princeton, N.J. — will be receiving $500 holiday bonuses from author James Patterson.
Employees were able to nominate themselves, or be recommended by store owners, managers, peers, community members and others.
“I’ve said this before, but I can’t say it enough — booksellers save lives,” Patterson said in a statement Wednesday. “What they do is crucial, especially right now. I’m happy to be able to acknowledge them and their hard work this holiday season.”
One of the world’s most popular and prolific writers, Patterson has given millions of dollars to booksellers, librarians and teachers. In 2015, the same year he began awarding employee bonuses, he was presented an honorary National Book Award for “Outstanding Service to the America Literary Community.”