While MFA grads working on the Great American Novel may subsist on Ramen noodles with roommates in fifth-floor walk-ups, writers churning out popular thriller novels live on the other end of the economic spectrum. Take author James Patterson, one of the highest-paid writers in the world, with a reported net worth of $800 million and a new, 20,000-square-foot oceanfront estate in Palm Beach. Patterson, who has written or co-authored some 200 novels, more than half of which have been bestsellers, is also one of the writing world’s most prolific philanthropists.
On March 26, The Authors Guild, a nonprofit that is the oldest and largest professional organization for writers, announced a Patterson-funded round of grants for writers of fiction or nonfiction. Any published U.S. or U.S.-based author with an unsold work in progress that was at least one-third complete was eligible to apply for a grant ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. The deadline was April 17, or as soon as the guild received 100 submissions — which turned out to be the day after the grant portal opened. It had to shut down that night, the guild announced, “Due to the overwhelming response to this grant opportunity.”
The crush of applications by published, working authors points to three important things. One, if funders make applications simple rather than onerous, potential grantee partners will respond in droves. For the James Patterson author grants, writers needed to submit a brief 250- to 350-word proposal about their work in progress, including its working title and a couple of sentences explaining how the grant would help them complete it. For funders, this super-successful call for applicants shows the wisdom of making it easy.
It also points to the benefit, from an ease perspective, of a potential funder working with a nonprofit intermediary to find grantees. The James Patterson grant program, (identified as a pilot by the Authors Guild, exciting news for writers) was only open to members of the Authors Guild and of a few other organizations. This made the opportunity exclusive, of course — but also highly targeted to a relatively pre-selected body of applicants.
Three, plenty of writers need money. The clamor for Patterson’s patronage shows that book writing is an area ripe for philanthropic investment. We’ve been covering the growth in funding for news outlets and the writers who work at them, such as by Press Forward, the national coalition that launched in 2023 with a $500 million commitment from funders to strengthen local news, and the L.A. Local News Initiative, which launched in 2024 with help from funders including The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, Spiegel Family Fund, the American Journalism Project and others. My colleague Martha Ramirez covered a three-year, $2 million grant from the Knight Foundation to Documented, a multilingual, independent newsroom dedicated to reporting with and for immigrant communities in New York City. And as my colleague Mike Scutari wrote recently, some local newsrooms are hoping for another “Trump Bump,” as funders rush to get real information out to communities under siege.
But what about writing that is not based on the news but rather comes from the imagination — like fiction? Or serious, longform nonfiction? There is much less conversation about funding individual writers of fiction and long-form nonfiction, let alone actual dollars going to the bank accounts of non-celeb authors. We’ve covered the Robert B. Silvers Foundation, which makes grants to writers of serious literary nonfiction — narrative journalism, arts reporting, criticism and thoughtful, often counterintuitive writing about politics and social issues. We’ve also looked at the insufficient amount of funding for individual makers of documentary film, another long-form nonfiction format, and the recent acquisition by Wendy Schmidt of a majority share in Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney’s company. There is room for so much more. Philanthropy should take note.
Why James Patterson is not just your mother’s thriller author
OK, Patterson probably is your mother’s thriller author, if she reads that kind of book. (My mother has 11 James Patterson titles on her shelves — not many compared to the 33 she has by John Sanford, but still, more books than most working authors have ever written.) Patterson is best known for his thrillers, including the “Alex Cross,” “Women’s Murder Club” and the “Private” thriller series. He pens books with titles such as “Killer Instinct,” “1st to Die” and “The Murder Inn.” He also has written nonfiction, children’s books and romance novels.
Patterson, who just turned 78, keeps current in a variety of ways, including by co-writing with other famous people. His co-authors have included Dolly Parton, Michael Crichton and President Bill Clinton, with whom he wrote “The President Is Missing” and “The President’s Daughter.” This year, he will be writing a new thriller, this one about deadly contests in dangerous locations, with YouTube phenom Mr. Beast.
Patterson has also stayed relevant to younger people by consistently donating to support them. He has a long track record of making smallish, targeted grants to encourage young people to read and learn, and of supporting libraries, schools and even booksellers to help facilitate these actions. In 2024, he pledged a total of $300,000 to be distributed in amounts of $500 to individual booksellers working at one of the 600 American Bookseller Association member bookstores. Nominations (including self-nominations) could be made online by answering one question: “In 250 words or less, why does this bookseller deserve a holiday bonus?”
He funds student scholarships at more than 35 colleges and universities, money that, for some, can spell the difference between dropping out and staying in school. These include scholarships at the alma maters of Patterson and his wife — Vanderbilt, Manhattan College and University of Wisconsin — as well as at historically Black colleges and universities such as North Carolina’s Shaw University, which recently announced the winners of 10 James Patterson Teacher Education Scholarships of $7,500 each designed to support students “committed to writing, teaching and storytelling.”
The scholarship applications also strike me as pretty easy to complete. Take the 2024/2025 $7,500 James Paterson Scholarship for students at Maryland’s Towson University, which was “open to students who are passionate about reading and are committed to lifelong learning.” To apply, students had to write a short essay, upload a recent resume, give the name of one faculty reference and commit to writing three to four pages about how they will apply classroom learning in the future.
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Now, this is thrilling (if you’re a writer)
For authors long out of college, finding funding can be tough. The Authors Guild/Patterson writing grants come at a time when support for writers is sorely needed. The literary arts are definitely a winner-take-all endeavor, and AI threatens to cut into work like copywriting that allows authors to make money while working on their long-form fiction on the side. While some authors make millions and give back — not only Patterson, but also Isabel Allende, Stephen King, Nora Roberts and J.K. Rowling — plenty struggle.
As the Authors Guild Foundation, the charitable and educational arm of the Authors Guild, put it, “This is a difficult time to be a professional writer. As more and more independent publishers are swallowed up by conglomerates, writers’ works and economic interests are subsumed and threatened. The Authors Guild’s recent member survey showed that, since 2009, incomes from writing have been in steep decline. In an era of increasing access to digitized information, fresh threats to authors’ livelihoods emerge from every quarter.”
The Author’s Guild will choose semifinalists out of the 100 first submissions that made it in, looking for those that align with core values of the Authors Guild Foundation. These values include things like elevating diverse voices and stories, exploring new genres or styles, highlighting the importance of free speech and independent thought, standing up to power, examining U.S. history, democracy and freedom, creating community, helping readers feel understood through stories, and more.
Patterson will review semifinalists by May 1, according to the Authors Guild announcement. Selected authors will be asked to submit a detailed outline or up to 5,000 words of their manuscript and grants will be awarded on August 1.
Stay tuned for the next chapter.
