You'll have to wait until March for what I'm sure is a riveting story of an elephant learning important life skills. Toddlers will be on the edge of their potties.

I will say that his method of having ghost writers that get credit on the cover seems to help aspiring authors get a foot in the door because I've noticed a lot of them go on to publish their own books.

I'm in charge of collection development for a public library and the reason Patterson stays on top of the popular authors list is quantity over quality. I swear it seems like he has something published weekly. Last week I was reading through a list of upcoming titles and came across a toddler board book he wrote about using the potty.

It's very rare that I read a book more than once, so I always borrow. I would hate to spend money on a book only to get halfway through and realize I don't like it. I'm planning on doing a major bookshelf clear out this spring because I haven't touched those books in years.

Disclaimer: I'm a librarian and spend most of my time in public libraries.

In the US the authors only make money from the initial sale of the book to the library.