James Patterson’s latest celebrity co-author is YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, Deadline reports.
The prolific Patterson and the Generation Z favorite Donaldson have co-written a novel, as yet untitled, that is the subject of a bidding war among publishers. The logline for the book is “Players fight to survive deadly tests held in dangerous locations around the world, as they battle to become ‘The One.’”
Donaldson joined YouTube in 2012 when he was 13 and went viral for the first time in 2017 with a video of him counting to 100,000. Since then, he has produced elaborate videos featuring people participating in various extreme stunts, as well as ones in which he gives away large sums of money.
He has more than 380 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, making him the most popular content creator on the website, and is also an entrepreneur, having founded the virtual restaurant MrBeast Burger and the snack company Feastables.
Patterson, the bestselling thriller author known for his Alex Cross series of novels, is no stranger to celebrity collaborators. He has written two books with former President Bill Clinton, The President Is Missing and The President’s Daughter; a third one, The First Gentleman, is scheduled for publication in June.
He has also written a novel, Run, Rose, Run, with country music superstar Dolly Parton and has one in the works with actor Viola Davis.
Deadline reports that the collaboration between Patterson and Donaldson is drawing “eight-figure offers” from prospective publishers.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
