One lucky bookstore employee in La Jolla received a special surprise from best-selling author James Patterson.
Amanda Qassar from the Allied Gardens neighborhood of San Diego was among the 600 booksellers nationwide awarded $500 as part of Patterson's annual Holiday Bookstore Bonus Program.
"I cried," she said, describing her reaction to being selected. "I'm so grateful that [Patterson] continues to do this year after year because bookselling can sometimes be a tough gig."
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Qassar has been working as a marketing coordinator at Warwick's located on Girard Avenue since 2017. But her journey in the bookselling industry didn't start there. She worked at several chain bookstores after high school and then at the UC San Diego Bookstore for more than eight years.
"I've said this before, but I can't say it enough — booksellers save lives," Patterson said in a statement to the Associated Press on Wednesday. "What they do is crucial, especially right now. I'm happy to be able to acknowledge them and their hard work this holiday season."
Patterson's words resonated with Qassar, who compared the role of a bookseller to that of a matchmaker.
"The right book at the right time can definitely change the course of a life," she said. "We meet people for a very brief time and ask them a few questions and start putting books in their hands, hoping that one of them is the right one."
Employees interested in the bonus program were able to nominate themselves, or be recommended by store owners, managers, peers, community members and others. In Qassar's case, some of her friends, customers and people she's met at author events nominated her. She has received this award two times before — once in 2016 and again in 2021.
"The fact that people that I love and respect took time to think about my weird, enduring fascination and passion for books and bookshops to formulate their own ideas about why I deserve to be recognized for that, among so many booksellers in the nation, I'm very grateful," Qassar said.
One of the world's most popular and prolific writers, Patterson has given millions of dollars to booksellers, librarians and teachers. In 2015, the same year he began awarding employee bonuses, he was presented an honorary National Book Award for "Outstanding Service to the America Literary Community."
Patterson has even co-authored a tribute book, "The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians," which Little, Brown and Company will release in April.
"We all continue to be awed by, and grateful for, Mr. Patterson's continuing support of independent booksellers," Allison Hill, CEO of the American Booksellers Association, said in a statement. "It means so much to have him recognize the valuable role booksellers play in the industry and we appreciate his financial generosity as well as his generosity of spirit."
Those are just a few reasons why Qassar has referred to Patterson as "the patron saint of booksellers."
"It's very special and edifying to know that James Patterson, the planet's best-selling author, takes time to look down at all these booksellers and say, 'You deserve a little treat. Have it on me. James Patterson,'" she said.
So, what does Qassar plan to do with the money?
The responsible answer is paying bills. But the true, honest answer is probably buying more books. Let's just be real here.
Amanda Qassar, Warwick's marketing coordinator
Some of those new books, Qassar says, will go towards filling out the selection in the little free library she has been taking to events over the past couple of years.
If you're looking to pick up a new book, Qassar's 2023 highlights include Benjamín Labatut's "The MANIAC" and "Prophet" by Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché.
And if you're a Patterson fan, Warwick's will be hosting him for a virtual event on Zoom on Jan. 11 to talk about his new book "Holmes, Marple & Poe" with local novelist Matt Coyle. You can buy tickets here.
There was another local awardee at Meet Cute Romance Bookshop in North Park.
“Receiving this award is a huge honor for me," the Meet Cute recipient said in a statement to NBC 7. "I love this job and this community a lot so for something like this to exist really means so much to me and so many people.”
To view the full list of recipients, click here.
