Forbes released their annual list of the highest paid authors. James Patterson leads the pack with $95 million.
Here’s more from the article: “Earnings estimates are compiled by examining print, ebook and audiobook sales from Nielsen BookScan figures, considering TV and movie earnings and talking to authors, agents, publishers and other experts. Earnings are tabulated from June 2015 to June 2016 and are pretax; other fees are not deducted.”
Paula Hawkins joins the list for the first time thanks to the success of her bestselling thriller novel, The Girl on The Train. Patterson, J.K. Rowling and John Grisham write both children’s and adult books; Rowling and Grisham both made the cut raking in $19 million and $18 million respectively. The authors on the list who write exclusively for children include Rick Riordan, Jeff Kinney, and Veronica Roth. Below, you can check out the full list of fourteen writers.
1. James Patterson $95 million
2. Jeff Kinney $19.5 million
3. J.K. Rowling $19 million
4. John Grisham $18 million
5. Stephen King $15 million
5. Danielle Steel $15 million
5. Nora Roberts $15 million
8. E.L. James $14 million
9. Veronica Roth $10 million
9. John Green $10 million
9. Paula Hawkins $10 million
12. George R.R. Martin $9.5 million
12. Dan Brown $9.5 million
12. Rick Riordan $9.5 million