Forbes published an article that lists the top 10 highest-paid authors based on the time period from June 2009 through June 2010. Earnings are based on the sale of books, film rights, television, gaming deals, and other income.
I reproduced the list here (or you can view Forbes' picture slide-show):
- James Patterson ($70 million)
- Stephenie Meyer ($40 million)
- Stephen King ($34 million)
- Danielle Steel ($32 million)
- Ken Follett ($20 million)
- Dean Koontz ($18 million)
- Janet Evanovich ($16 million)
- John Grisham ($15 million)
- Nicholas Sparks ($14 million)
- J.K. Rowling ($10 million)
Here's some tidbits I pulled from watching the slide-show:
- One out of every 17 novels bought in the U.S. is authored by Patterson.
- King is currently involved in the Haven television series on the SyFy channel which is based on his novella, The Colorado Kid. (I read The Colorado Kid and I still don't see the connection, but that was a long time ago so maybe I need to give it another read)
- Steele collected a reported $1 million from a settlement brought about by a former assistant who was convicted of embezzling $760,000 (once again proving that having lots of money isn't always a good thing; buy, hey, Steele came out $240,000 richer for her efforts)
- Koontz has produced forty-four New York Times bestsellers.
- Evanovich changed publishers when her now former publisher refused to agree to a $50 million advance that the author wanted for her next novel.
- Earlier this year Grisham's entire 23-title backlist made its digital debut as Random House e-books.
- Surprisingly, Rowling rounds out the list at the bottom. Don't feel sorry for Rowling, though; she's still a billionaire.
Indulge in fantastic tales of sword, sorcery, and alchemy today by joining thousands of readers like yourself who can't get enough of Scott Marlowe's
"intense" storytelling and "skillfully written" adventures. You'll get two free stories, The Hall of Riddles and The Assassin's Dilemma, just for signing up.