How Does James Patterson Do It?

How does something like this ever happen?

This is simply an observation about the extraordinary presence that James Patterson has carved out for himself in the world of publishing and bookselling.  I don't know a single thing about the man's personal life other that he seems to be giving away a lot of money these days, and that's a good thing.  But from this picture I snapped at my local Barnes & Noble this morning, I can see how he affords to do that.

No, what gets me is that of all the books in this special B&N display, I think that Patterson actually wrote two of them - despite the fact that his name is the single most notable feature on most of the covers displayed.  (Throw out that stray "Archie" that someone has misplaced.)  

What a sweet deal this guy is getting: his very name has become a brand now and he can sell it to aspiring authors willing to do a lot of grunt work for a piece of the James Patterson pie.  And now, the biggest of the surviving bookstore chains is bending over backwards to push all these "co-written" books of his.  I understand B&N's motivation...gotta sell books in order to survive...but I am really tired of seeing James Patterson, supposed author, everywhere I look.

Rant over.