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"Multi-bestselling author James Patterson, who has sold 280m books worldwide and clocked up 57 New York Times bestsellers, is donating $1m to support independent bookstores in the US.
He made the pledge on publication of his latest children's book, Treasure Hunters, which follows the Kidd siblings on a mission to find their parents.
Patterson told US TV show CBS This Morning: "I'm going to give away $1m in the next 12 months or so, to help independent book stores. We're making this big transition right now to ebooks, and that's fine and good, and terrific, and wonderful, but, we're not doing it in an organised, sane, civilised way. What's happening right now is, a lot of book stores are disappearing, a lot of libraries are disappearing or they're not being funded. School libraries aren't being funded. This is not a good thing. It used to be you could go to your drugstore, you'd find books everywhere."
The author, who is best known for his thrillers featuring detective-psychologist Alex Cross, wants the money to be used to support bookstores that he sees as "viable", and that have a children's section. He outlined uses for the cash such as providing a bonus to booksellers "who haven't had a bonus in seven years".
Urging parents and grandparents to "step up" and read to their children, and to support them in becoming competent readers at age five and six, he said: "Kids are not making the transition to ebooks. Nobody has helped families to understand that it's OK to have more than one ereader in the house, and it's OK if your kids buy 10 books a year … Parents have to step up … and read at home. The end."
[amazon]031620756X[/amazon]
"Multi-bestselling author James Patterson, who has sold 280m books worldwide and clocked up 57 New York Times bestsellers, is donating $1m to support independent bookstores in the US.
He made the pledge on publication of his latest children's book, Treasure Hunters, which follows the Kidd siblings on a mission to find their parents.
Patterson told US TV show CBS This Morning: "I'm going to give away $1m in the next 12 months or so, to help independent book stores. We're making this big transition right now to ebooks, and that's fine and good, and terrific, and wonderful, but, we're not doing it in an organised, sane, civilised way. What's happening right now is, a lot of book stores are disappearing, a lot of libraries are disappearing or they're not being funded. School libraries aren't being funded. This is not a good thing. It used to be you could go to your drugstore, you'd find books everywhere."
The author, who is best known for his thrillers featuring detective-psychologist Alex Cross, wants the money to be used to support bookstores that he sees as "viable", and that have a children's section. He outlined uses for the cash such as providing a bonus to booksellers "who haven't had a bonus in seven years".
Urging parents and grandparents to "step up" and read to their children, and to support them in becoming competent readers at age five and six, he said: "Kids are not making the transition to ebooks. Nobody has helped families to understand that it's OK to have more than one ereader in the house, and it's OK if your kids buy 10 books a year … Parents have to step up … and read at home. The end."
[amazon]031620756X[/amazon]