Author James Patterson will donate $70,000 in gift certificates redeemable at IndieBound Stores during the second annual College Book Bucks program, which supports college-bound high school seniors. Bookselling This Week reported that 230 winners of the College Book Bucks contest will receive gift certificates ranging from $250 to $1,000 for use at any IndieBound-affiliated independent bookstore. Qualifying students can enter the competition by visiting JamesPatterson.com and submitting an essay that answers the question: "How has your favorite book inspired you toward what you’d like to do in life?" The submissions will be read by Patterson and members from his ReadKiddoRead.com board. Deadline for submissions is December 31. Winners will be announced nationally on March 1, 2012.
"We know college is awfully expensive these days," said Patterson. "My hope with these awards is to give some promising students some help picking up the books they’ll need for their studies."
BTW added that "for each contest submission that comes as a result of a referral from an IndieBound store, the store will have a chance to win signed books and other prizes."
