PALM BEACH, Fla. — He is one of the most successful writers in the world, so he knows how to grab attention, but then that’s a primary reason he’s one of the most successful writers in the world.

Facing an auditorium full of innately restless middle school teenagers at Suncoast High School in Riviera Beach, Fla., James Patterson begins by saying: “Hi. I’m Stephen King.”

Big laugh.

“I tell stories,” he continues. “It’s a good job. I recommend it highly. I make more money than LeBron James. I obnoxiously mention that because I grew up poor.”

At this point, rowdy adolescents clutch their free copies of Patterson’s young adult novel “Maximum Ride” and listen intently as he gives a prescription for success in writing, or, beyond that, life.

“You have to have a dream; you have to have passion. And I strongly recommend you have a back-up dream. You have to have focus. Outline, baby. Before you write anything, outline.”

He tells them to write down the coolest story they know. The sentences might not be any good, but the important thing is to get the story down — polishing can come later.

“Reading should be fun. You’re in middle school; you have to learn to read well — that’s the most important thing that can happen in middle school — learning to experience different points of view.”

It is a gung-ho pep talk full of Patterson’s particular brand of laconic wisdom, followed by questions and answers. He tells the kids that he was never a huge reader until high school, that he polishes his own writing at the tail end of the process, and that he should polish more.

He exits to an ovation.

A few randomly chosen statistics that show why people listen when James Patterson speaks: Since 2006, one out of every 17 novels sold in America has been written or co-written by James Patterson. He has published 95 books, more than 60 of which have been New York Times bestsellers — more than anybody in history.

No other writer has accomplished what Patterson has — extending his brand through eight, 10 or even 13 books a year, in several different genres from suspense to romance. It’s a pace possible only with co-authors, and a feat he has miraculously managed without saturating his audience.

Not everybody has greeted Patterson’s flooding of the market with open arms. Stephen King has made withering criticisms of Patterson’s novels, while Patterson has responded with straight-faced enthusiasm for King’s work.

Michael Pietsch is Patterson’s publisher at Little, Brown. “No writer I’ve ever read has created so many lasting characters or grasps the interlocking power of plot and emotion as Jim does,” he says. “He pours forth stories that engross, amaze and move readers, at the same time that they plumb the emotions we all live with — the power of love, of family, of friendship, the pressure of work, the inevitability of death, the meaning of good and the presence of evil. It’s immortal stuff wrapped inside the highest level of entertainment.”

Patterson puts it another way: “I’ve never liked books that lay out information without story or narrative power.”

Today, in an average year, about 14 million copies of Patterson’s books are sold. According to Forbes magazine, Patterson earns Hachette, the corporate parent of Little, Brown, about $250 million a year.

With a separate unit within Little, Brown for the production and publicity for his books, Patterson has hurled himself into a movement to get kids to read with the same military precision with which he organizes his publishing program.

It’s all an outgrowth of a program he called “Read, Kiddo, Read,” which he started to get his son, Jack, reading after observing him not reading “with his knuckle-headed friends.”

That spurred Patterson to write the “Maximum Ride” sci-fi/fantasy series beginning in 2005, because, as he says: “my style is colloquial and fast-paced; it’s suited for kids. My idea in all of this is that when they finish a book, they won’t be able to wait to start another.”

For some reason, it’s this generation that has hit a wall with reading, even though a half-dozen generations grew up with diversions such as television and managed to read at the same time. Perhaps video games and the Internet were the tipping points, but above everything else, Patterson is a pragmatist.

“I don’t know when it happened,” he says, “and I don’t care why it happened. Let’s do something about it.”

At age 64, Patterson could be forgiven for working on his golf game — he has an 11 handicap — but instead he’s humping it around the country talking to schools. Mainly, he sees it as a way of leveraging his celebrity for the public good.

Patterson’s list of the top 10 things to do to get your kid to read indicates that one of the problems is an eat-your-vegetables attitude on the part of parents and teachers, which can result in the force-feeding of Ethan Frome or Silas Marner.

Patterson puts most of the blame on parents. “Kids need to come out of middle school as good readers, with basic math. If they don’t do that, a lot of things are going to be hopeless for them.”

Sources indicate that Patterson pays his co-authors out of his own advance for each book. The total a co-author receives is a flat fee that runs into six figures. “I think I know how to power a story forward and keep the action bubbling. My co-authors put up with my intense work style. They understand that I didn’t join them, they joined me. Nobody ever quits.”

Patterson’s rules to get kids reading:

1. Don’t leave the burden with schools It’s your job to get kids excited about reading.

2. Read more! Here’s a simple but powerful truth that many parents and schools don’t act on: The more kids read, the better readers they become.

3. Pick out books they’ll love. Kids say the No. 1 reason they don’t read more is because they can’t find books they like. The best way to get kids reading is to give them books they’ll gobble up.

4. Where can I find great books? ReadKiddoRead.com, GuysRead.com, Oprah.com, YALSA and ALA’s sites. Where to find free or low-cost books: ReadKiddoRead.com, FirstBook.org, ReadertoReader.org.

5. Don’t discriminate. Freedom of choice is key: Comics, re-reading a book, easy books and hard books are all fair game. Don’t say no if the book is helping a kid get into the reading habit.

6. Don’t fear change. We need to embrace new programs in our schools and communities. Good models: the Drop Everything and Read program; KIPP Schools’ ‘carry a book at all times’ rule; Sun Prairie Schools’ switch from texts to trade books.

7. Boys are squirrely. Boys’ differences in tastes need to be encouraged, not reprimanded. Too often, boy-appealing books like Guinness World Records or books with explosions and robots are disproportionately overlooked on schools’ recommended-reading lists.

8. Be a reading role model. The best role models for reading are at home. Moms and dads, it’s important that your kids see you reading.

9. Those in power should help. The Obamas, ESPN, NFL, or Hollywood could help if they start pressing the issue. The UK’s World Book Day is a great example of those in power getting kids reading.

10. You can take action Please go out and pick out some great books for your kids. It’s one of the most important, effective and caring things you can do for a child.