Author of the week: James Patterson

last updated 8 January 2015

James Patterson is on a mission to save the independent bookstore, said Judith Rosen in Publisher’s Weekly. The mega-selling mystery and thriller writer, worth an estimated $91 million, has started making good on a pledge he made last fall to hand out $1 million in grants this year to independent book retailers around the country. Last month, Patterson sent out more than $250,000, in grants of $2,000 to $15,000 that went to 55 stores in 22 states. He describes the award program as an effort to address a crisis. “The future of books in America is at risk,” he says. “Bookstore traffic is down. Kids aren’t reading as many books. The government will protect the automobile industry and the banking industry, but not books.”

Patterson has reason to worry, said Julie Bosman in The New York Times. Though some independent booksellers have done well in recent years, many have been hard-hit by the continuing growth of Amazon and the rise of e-books. “Not as many people are going into stores now, which means not as many parents are going in,” he recently told CBS News, explaining why he’s most concerned about the shift’s effect on potential young readers. “The problem right now,” he says, “is kids have not made the transition to e-books.” Though the author reviews all grant requests before approving the awards, booksellers don’t need not be in dire straits to receive them. “I don’t think we’re saving any stores,” he says, “but we’re helping them.”