James Patterson gives out $350,000 as holiday bonuses to booksellers

Bestselling author James Patterson is known to be a philanthropist. He has donated over a million books to students, and has donated millions to public school libraries and scholarship programs.
In 2014 he also gave $1 million to independent bookstores. He knows how independent bookstores struggle to last in the world fast moving online for books and since 2015 he offers holiday bonuses to independent booksellers who have been nominated by fellow booksellers, authors, customers, and other publishing professionals.They are nominated based on the impact made at their stores and communities. This year he donated more than usual: $350,000, whereas in the previous years he had donated $250,000, benefiting 179 bookstores. This year, he donated to 320 booksellers a bonus between $750-$1250.
Patterson was quoted in Publisher's Weekly saying, "I was thrilled to increase the donation amount of this year’s bonuses given the overwhelming response we’ve had to past campaigns. These bonuses are my humble acknowledgment of (booksellers’) commitment to putting books into the hands of readers, and I hope these grants make that possible.”