55 New York Booksellers Receive $500 Bonus From Famous Newburgh Author

James Patterson 2025 Holiday Bonus Program

James Patterson, bestselling author of some of the most popular books in the thriller genre, gives back to his reading community every year.

It's called the James Patterson Holiday Bonus Program. This initiative looks for nominations of bookstores employees across the United States.

Nominations can come from anyone: customers, booksellers, publishers and fellow bookstore employees.

READ MORE: Famous HV Author Teams Up with Country Superstar for New Book

Then, by the holiday season, Patterson narrows down the list to 600 employees of independent bookstores and hands out a $500 bonus check.

In total, that's around $300,000 worth of bonus checks.

The James Patterson Bookseller bonus program is run through the American Booksellers Association. They are a "national trade association that supports and advocates for the success of independent bookstores."

55 New York Booksellers Receive James Patterson Bonus

This year, 55 New York booksellers are recipients of the $500 James Patterson bonus.

As for Hudson Valley booksellers, 6 local booksellers will receive the bonus as well. Those booksellers are as follows:

Katie Peacock, Bedford Books, Bedford, NY
Betsy Kates, Hudson Valley Books for Humanity, Ossining, NY
Emma Tyrell, Inquiring Minds Bookstore, Saugerties, NY
Therese Stanford, Oblong Books, Millerton, NY
Leah Bloom, Sleepy Hollow Bookshop, Sleepy Hollow, NY
Gianna-Marie Torres, The Book Cove, Pawling, NY

Last year only 2 Hudson Valley booksellers were chosen.

Patterson is a Hudson Valley native born in Newburgh, New York back in 1947 and attended Newburgh Free Academy.

The American Book Association websites writes "Congratulations to the Patterson Holiday Bookstore Bonus Recipients! And a huge thank you to Mr. Patterson for his continued generosity to booksellers."

You can find the full list of bonus recipients at Bookweb.org. 

What's New From James Patterson?

If there's one thing you should know about James Patterson the author, it's that the grind never stops.

Patterson has 7 book already lined up for release in 2026, including another addition to the Alex Cross series called Cross & Sampson coming out on February 9th, 2026.

There's also a new book in The Women's Murder Club series called 26 Beauties hitting store shelves on May 4th, 2026.

Check out JamesPatterson.com for more details on his upcoming releases.