Along Came an Influencer: How America’s Bestselling Writer Became MrBeast’s Co-Author

A couple of years ago, James Patterson stopped by the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, the graduate program Flannery O’Connor and Denis Johnson once attended. Having established himself as one of the world’s bestselling authors while bypassing every convention of highbrow literature, Patterson had quietly become the workshop’s biggest patron, helping writers attend at no cost. Lan Samantha Chang, the novelist who directs the workshop, says that without Patterson’s support, the program would have to choose between drastically cutting the number of students or no longer offering equal financial aid to each. Patterson’s only request was that he be sent his beneficiaries’ writing, for his reading pleasure.