If you’re a big book reader, you might know the bestselling author James Patterson. Here’s something you may not know about James… as a way to say thank you since 2015, he’s been awarding independent store employees with $500 holiday bonuses! Book sellers at Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama, San Francisco’s City Lights Books and The Nook in Cedar Falls, Iowa, are among 600 booksellers receiving the cash this past year. Along with his gifts to booksellers, James has given millions of dollars to schools, libraries and literacy programs. In 2015, the National Book Foundation presented him an honorary National Book Award, the Literarian Award, for “outstanding service to the American literary community.” You can see the whole story and if you work at a book store, you can find out how to apply for this year here.