James Patterson offers holiday bonuses to indie bookstore staff

Attention employees at independent bookstores: James Patterson would like to pay you a holiday bonus.

The bestselling author and benefactor of booksellers and libraries announced Wednesday that he will give away a total of $250,000 US, with payments ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.

Everyone from store owners and managers to authors and patrons are eligible to nominate a current employee by answering the question "Why does this bookseller deserve a holiday bonus?"

Instructions can be found on www.bookweb.org/bonus, part of the website for the independent bookstores' trade group, the American Booksellers Association.

The nominating period runs from Wednesday to Nov. 1. Patterson will personally review the submissions, and recipients will be announced the week of Dec. 14.

Pattersonalready has given millions to libraries and bookstores.

Regularly reigning atop tallies of the world's the top-selling authors, the prolific Patterson (who often works with a number of collaborators or co-authors)published 18 books and made $89 million over the past year, according to Forbes.

Overall, hehas sold more than 300 million books from crime thrillers to detective stories to children's bookssince publishing his debut novelThe Thomas Berryman Number in 1976.