Bestselling author James Patterson appeared on CBS This Morning [3] on Monday, September 16, to discuss his efforts to inspire children to read as well as his decision to give away $1 million of his own money to independent bookstores over the course of the next 12 months.

Patterson’s initiative to aid independent stores, first reported in the September 2 edition of the Wall Street Journal, comes just months after he published an ad [4] in the New York Times Book Review, in Kirkus Reviews, and in Publisher’s Weekly that asked, “Who will save our books? Our bookstores? Our libraries?”

“We’re making this big transition right now to e-books, and that’s fine and good and terrific and wonderful,” Patterson said on Monday. “But we’re not doing it in an organized, sane, civilized way, so what’s happening right now is a lot of bookstores are disappearing, a lot of libraries are disappearing or they’re not being funded. School libraries are not being funded as well. This is not a good thing.”

With his pledge of $1 million, which is earmarked for viable independent bookstores that have a children’s section, Patterson aims to help reverse these trends.

Oren Teicher, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, said, “We are delighted that James Patterson continues to show his support for independent bookstores. Over the last several years, he has already done much to aid both students and ABA member booksellers through his College Book Bucks program [5]. We look forward to helping Jim in any way we can with his newest initiative.”

No details about how the $1 million will be distributed are available as yet, but booksellers and their customers can sign up to receive upcoming announcements at JamesPatterson.com [6].

Treasure Hunters, the newest entry in Patterson’s series for kids, went on sale on Monday, September 16, and Patterson is offering to reimburse stores that host a Treasure Hunters party sometime between then and November 15. Bookstores need to sign up for the promotion through their HBG sales reps and then submit one clear photo proving they did indeed host a party. Patterson himself will reimburse participating stores and will select two of the stores for a special appearance to take place before the end of the promotion.  Interested stores can contact their HBG sales rep for a digital event kit and additional information.

The 16-page kit is also available now under the “Activities” tab on the Treasure Hunters site [7]. Other event components include a promotional poster and collectible trading cards featuring the Kidd characters.