Forbes has released it’s list of the highest-earning authors in the past year, and thriller writer James Patterson tops the list with $90 million. The author has written at least ten books each year since 2010.
The list features numerous authors who are no strangers to being one of the highest-earners, including Dan Brown with $28 million, Nora Roberts with $23 million, Janet Evanovich with $20 million, Stephen King with $17 million, and J.K. Rowling with $14 million.
However, there were some newcomers to the list, including ones whose novels hit the big screen this year. Veronica Roth, who penned the Divergent series, made $17 million. John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, earned $9 million, and Gillian Flynn, whose book Gone Girl will be heading to the cinema this fall, also earned $9 million.
As for other authors whose books were adapted for television and and film, there was a bit of a decline. Sales for The Hunger Games series dropped 88 percent in the past year, leading Suzanne Collins to drop to $16 million this year. Fifty Shades of Grey, which sold 29 million copies in 2012, only sold 1.8 million last year. Author E.L. James topped the list last year with $95 million and slipped to $10 million this year. Meanwhile, A Song of Ice and Fire’s George R.R. Martin stayed constant with $12 million.
Check out the full list of the top earning authors below:
- James Patterson: $90 million
- Dan Brown: $28 million
- Nora Roberts: $23 million
- Danielle Steel: $22 million
- Janet Evanovich: $20 million
- Jeff Kinney: $17 million
- Veronica Roth: $17 million
- John Grisham: $17 million
- Stephen King: $17 million
- Suzanne Collins: $16 million
- JK Rowling:$14 million
- George RR Martin: $12 million
- David Baldacci: $11 million
- Rick Riordan: $10 million
- EL James: $10 million
- Gillian Flynn: $9 million
- John Green: $9 million
