Independent bookstores, with their paper-thin profit margins and competition from Amazon, have found a sugar daddy in the person of famous author, James Patterson.

The best-selling author has started a program to give away $1 million of his personal fortune to dozens of bookstores, allowing them to invest in improvements, dole out bonuses to employees and expand programs, especially for children.

More than 50 stores across the country will begin receiving cash grants this week.

(READ the story from the New York Times)

Creative Commons Photo by Susan Solie-Patterson