The king is 76 years old. He’s going stronger than ever and is still topping the charts with a whopping 6% of all hardcover sales having his name on them. 6% of all hardcover sales translates to 1 in 16 of every hardcover. His books have sold more than 400,000,000 copies worldwide. If you work with books or have heard of books then you know James Patterson.
There is a trend among public librarians and booksellers to write off his work as fluff, filler to be looked down on by serious readers. We only grudgingly accept his titles because it’s what keeps the lights on. I can’t help but feel like this is a kindly relative that is allowing us to make our own mistakes and he’ll support us no matter what.
He is a major book and library advocate. In March of this year Patterson’s Maximum Ride series was banned from schools in Florida. That ban included other disreputable authors such as Toni Morrison, Jodi Picoult, and the beloved Judy Blume. He called the move a ‘borderline absurd decision‘.
He comes in to support noble causes such as the ongoing writer’s strike, speaking out against AI overreach, book bans, elevating underrepresented voices, and supporting public libraries and bookstores.
With all the money that Patterson generates, it allows his publisher, Hachette, to finance authors that might not otherwise get a chance. In a much reported incident Patterson did get in trouble, and then apologized for saying that ‘white older male writers‘ have a hard time making it in the publishing industry. A statement so obviously wrong you might have taken it as an absurd joke.
When Patterson stops writing who is going to fill the void? Danielle Steel has been churning out bestsellers for 45 years , she’s 75 now. Stephen King is 75. Stuart Woods is dead. Nora Roberts – 72.
