5 Philanthropist Authors Who Used Their Wealth & Fame For Good

5 Philanthropist Authors Who Used Their Wealth & Fame For Good

Famous celebrities who are also philanthropists tend to get the most attention, but they are by no means the only ones doing good in the world. Quite a few bestselling authors are also putting the money that they have earned through their books towards the greater good. Here are just a few authors who are helping to make the world a better place through their generous donations.

Stephenie Meyer - Author of Twilight Series

Before they became Hollywood blockbusters, the Twilight franchise was a series of books, written by author Stephenie Meyer. Amazingly, Meyer had never published any fiction prior to writing these books. According to her, she got the idea from a dream. The movies went on to gross billions at the global box office, which in turn fuelled the sales of her books even more. Meyer has used the popularity of her books to assist charities, most notably the American Red Cross. She even released a new novella set in the same universe as the other Twilight books and donated $1 from the sale of each copy to the Red Cross.

Suzanne Collins - Author of The Hunger Games Series

Like Stephenie Meyer, author Suzanne Collins saw her bestselling books turn into Hollywood blockbusters. Her books are immensely popular, with The Hunger Games spending more than 60 weeks in a row on the New York Times best seller list. Collins also went on to become one of the bestselling authors of all time on Kindle. She has since used her wealth and influence to assist many charities. Collins, along with other celebrities, took part in the “One Million Bookprints For One Million Books.” This campaign helped children from low-income communities who are in hospitals, clinicsand health centers to receive books. Her movies have also helped to raise awareness of world hunger via partnerships between Feeding America, WFP and Lionsgate.

Dean Koontz - Author of The Silent Corner

Dean Koontz is the author of numerous thriller and suspense novels, including the upcoming title, The Silent Corner. According to his official website, Koontz has sold more than 450 million copies of his books, many of which are New York Times bestsellers. Despite the often dark themes he writes about, Koontz is very philanthropic in real life and has established the Dean and Gerda Koontz Foundation in 1994 along with his wife. Many of his donations have gone to the Canine Companions for Independence organization, which matches up service dogs with people that have disabilities.

John Grisham - Author of Camino Island

John Grisham is not only a bestselling author with more than thirty novels behind his name, but many of his books -- such as The Firm, A Time to Kill, and The Rainmaker have also been turned into popular Hollywood blockbusters. In 2012 the author took part in a charity auction with the promise that the winner will see the name of their choice used used for a character in his new novel. The auction was used to raise money for an organization called Ubuntu Africa, which deals with the creation of community-based programs for HIV-positive children in under-served communities. He has also donated thousands to the Innocence Project, the African-American Teaching Fellowship, the Rebuild the Coast Fund and many others.

James Patterson - Author of Black Market

James Patterson is an American author of numerous thrillers, romance novels and even non-fiction. Patterson is also a regular on the list of highest-paid authors published by Forbes and is one of the first to sell one million copies of his e-books. However, Patterson is also very generous towards charitable causes with the hundreds of millions that he has earned. In addition to millions of dollars that he has donated to grants and scholarships to promote reading to people of all ages, he has also supported United Service Organization, Feed the Children and Operation Gratitude.