James Patterson is a renowned best-selling author who couldn’t stand idly by to witness the demise of traditional bookstores. He pledged $1 million of his hard-earned money to help independent bookstores countrywide. He pledged to give bookstores between $2,000 and $15,000 to do with it as they wish. His gesture has been widely applauded. The New York Times called him the Daddy Warbucks of bookstores.

Some stores that have received the money plan to give it to their literary community. Others have plans to use the money for other reasons such as adapting their struggling businesses to survive the eBook revolution. This donation by Patterson is a clear investment in the future of bookstores at a time when the future is very uncertain. Some people question if the gesture is a misguided attempt to postpone the inevitable death of traditional bookstores whose business model is no longer sustainable. However, there is a hint of ‘self-publisher’ in this statement.

In a blog, author J. A. Konrath voiced his opinion about Patterson’s gesture. He appreciates that traditional bookstores helped to make Patterson very rich and he would like to give back to them in these hard times. However, Konrath said that Patterson might be confusing the death of traditional bookstores with the death of literature. Konrath says that literature is not in jeopardy, it is only the way that it is acquired that is changing.

Others question his motives and ask why he is giving money to bookstores if he is worried about both bookstores and libraries. They say that this money would be better spent if it was given to government-funded community institutions that are getting less funding due to budget cuts. People talking about Patterson’s donation can’t help but question the role that traditional bookstores will play in future publishing.

Joel Friedlander is a self-publishing guru and he calls a partnership between indie bookstores and self-publishers “a match made in heaven.” He is quick to acknowledge that some pretty big obstacles are in the way of this partnership. For instance, regardless of how authors are engaged in the community, they have to go with the option that makes more financial sense.

He also says that profits of traditional bookstores have dipped significantly and if they are to rely on the business of self-publishers, they are out of luck. This is because self-publishers are opting to go with online retailers such as Amazon. This makes it harder for them to make partnerships with indie bookstores.

Print runs are also not cheap or easy for self-publishers. It is therefore difficult for indie authors to support bookstores if they have to incur high upfront costs. It is also hard for authors who sell eBooks only to consider partnering with bookstores – self-distribution costs indie authors a lot of money. It makes little sense to struggle to get shelf space at a bookstore when there is unlimited space online.

All these are some of the obstacles that James Patterson might have overlooked when he decided to donate to traditional bookstores. However, maybe he sees some future development that nobody else sees – only time will tell if his investment was a good one.