Best-selling author gives grant to Eagle Harbor Books

Published 11:02 am Sunday, December 28, 2014

Superstar best-selling author James Patterson, perhaps most known for his bestselling crime/mystery novel series starring the fictional detective Alex Cross, has selected Eagle Harbor Book Company in downtown Winslow as one of the third-round grant recipients of his $1 million campaign to support independent bookstores around the nation.

In 2014, Patterson gave away over a million dollars to bookstores across the country.

The award came as a surprise — much like the true identity of the killer in any Alex Cross novel — to the owners and staff at Eagle Harbor Books.

“I know there were some local customers who sent our name in as a worthy indie bookstore when the campaign to give away $1 million to indies began,” said Victoria Irwin of Eagle Harbor Books. “As a result, we heard from Patterson and one of our owners, Rene Kirkpatrick, sent in an outline of what we would do with a grant. Her emphasis was on what we could do to make our kids’ section even better than it is now.”

Patterson, who obviously knows a thing or two about good writing, evidently found the proposal impressive enough.

The Winslow bookstore has not announced the actual amount of the Patterson grant they will receive, saying only that the awards range from $2,000 to $15,000, and “we are in the middle range.”

Slated uses for the grant include physical changes and upgrades to the store such as new, earthquake-proof book cases, refinishing the store’s wooden floors, repainting, putting in new lighting and extending the number of children’s books available in-store.

Irwin said that Eagle Harbor Books also intends to investigate a possible delivery system.

“We’d also like to find a way to do deliveries to homebound customers on the island, and upgrade our computer system,” she said.

The money will benefit more than just the bookstore and its direct customers, Irwin added.

“We partner with Northwest Literacy Foundation to fill the shelves of many at-risk school libraries around Puget Sound,” she said. “As you know, many school library book budgets have been slashed. We hope we can do our work with them more efficiently by increasing our children’s’ book selections here in the store.”

Visit www.jamespatterson.com to learn more about the author’s “Saving Bookstores, Saving Lives” campaign, which as been featured in the New York Times and Publisher’s Weekly as well as on “CBS This Morning” and “NPR Morning Edition.”

The author’s influence is undeniable, making his interest in child literacy and the welfare of independent bookstores that much more impressive.

Patterson was featured in a 2010 New York Times Magazine article and hailed as having “transformed book publishing” through his embrace of new media.

His versatility has only bolstered his popularity.

From the author’s website, “In 2011, it was estimated that one-in-four of all hardcover suspense/thriller novels sold was written by James Patterson, he is the first author to achieve 10 million eBook sales, and he holds the Guinness record for the most No. 1 New York Times bestsellers of any author.”

In 2015, Patterson has said he will continue to support independent bookstores in innovative ways and will champion a new initiative centered on getting kids reading and further supporting school libraries.