NEW YORK (AP) — Attention employees at independent bookstores: James Patterson would like to pay you a holiday bonus.

The best-selling author and benefactor of booksellers and libraries announced Wednesday that he will give away a total of $250,000, with payments ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. Everyone from store owners and managers to authors and patrons are eligible to nominate a current employee by answering the question "Why does this bookseller deserve a holiday bonus?"

Instructions can be found on www.bookweb.org/bonus, part of the website for the independent bookstores' trade group, the American Booksellers Association.

The nominating period runs from Wednesday to Nov. 1. Patterson will personally review the submissions, and recipients will be announced the week of Dec. 14.

Patterson already has given millions to libraries and bookstores.