James Patterson gives $500 bonuses to 600 independent bookstore employees - See the Massachusetts recipients
BOSTON - Bestselling author James Patterson is once again showing his support for independent booksellers this holiday season.
The "Alex Cross" series writer is donating $300,000 out of his own pocket this year for his annual Holiday Bookstore Bonus Program. Six hundred employees at independent bookstores around the country are getting a $500 bonus.
"I've said this before, but I can't say it enough - booksellers save lives," Patterson said in a statement to 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."
Workers could nominate themselves for a bonus, or they could be nominated by customers, store owners, coworkers, people in the publishing business or even authors. There's only one question in the application process: "In 250 words or less, why does this bookseller deserve a holiday bonus?"
Patterson has awarded millions of dollars to bookstore workers, librarians and teachers, the AP reports.
"We all continue to be awed by, and grateful for, Mr. Patterson's continuing support of independent booksellers," American Booksellers Association CEO Allison Hill said. "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."
Below are the bonus recipients at Massachusetts bookstores. Click here for the full list.
Shana Hausman, Somerville, MA, All She Wrote Books
Julia Caudle, Plainville, MA, An Unlikely Story
Toyoko Kumasaka, Boston, MA, Beacon Hill Books & Cafe
Sophie Chen, Belmont, MA, Belmont Books
Amanda Zarni, Winchester, MA, Book Ends Winchester
Katie Mannix, Plymouth, MA, Book Love
Kate Ouimette, Easthampton, MA, Book Moon
Scott Purcell, Northampton, MA, BookLink Booksellers Inc.
Tineke Brinks, Webster, MA, Booklovers' Gourmet
Michelle Koch, Brewster, MA, Brewster Book Store
Roxie Mack, Northampton, MA, Broadside Bookshop
Sara Waltuck, Brookline, MA, Brookline Booksmith
Jessie Wright, Beverly, MA, Copper Dog Books
Richard Carey, Provincetown, MA, East End Books Ptown
Sophia Rock, Franklin, MA, Escape Into Fiction
James Fraser, Cambridge, MA, Grolier Poetry Book Shop
Victoria Yaden, Cambridge, MA, Harvard Book Store
Lexi Walters Wright, Florence, MA, High Five Books
Eleni Sacre, Boston, MA, I AM Books, Inc.
Thea Lamarre Anderson, Lowell, MA, LALA Books
Debra Rivera, Ayer, MA, Little Bee Bookshop
Laure Colodner, South Hadley, MA, Odyssey Bookshop
Hannah Robinson, Cambridge, MA, Porter Square Books
Deb Sullivan, Stoneham, MA, The Book Oasis
Cheri Anderson, Great Barrington, MA, The Bookloft
Megan Birch-McMichael, Acton, MA, The Silver Unicorn Bookstore
Noah Willette, Boston, MA, Trident Booksellers & Cafe
Peter Sherman, Wellesley, MA, Wellesley Books
Alyson Cox, Marlborough, MA, Word on the Street
Timothy Ballou, Greenfield, MA, World Eye Bookshop