How Much Do Top-Earning Authors Make?

There’s been a lot written over recent months about the slowing sales in hardcover books. If the following authors are hurting, they’re still doing pretty well. Mind you, a lot of them might have to rely on ebook sales in the future to keep the money flowing in. Forbes has come out with a list of top-earning authors, and their incomes are pretty impressive. The chance at the brass ring is tempting when you see these numbers, and realize that all of these people were once struggling unknown writers. Here’s the list:

1. James Patterson, $84 million, (up $70 million from last year, apparently)
2. Danielle Steele, $35 million
3. Stephen King, $28 million
4. Janet Evanovich, $22 million
5. Stephanie Meyer, $21 million (only half of what she earned the previous year)
6. Rick Riordan, $21 million
7. Dean Koontz, $19 million
8. John Grisham, $18 million
9. Jeff Kinney, $17 million
10. Nicholas Sparks, $16 million
11. Ken Follett, $14 million
12. Suzanne Collins, $10 million
13. J.K. Rowling, $5 million (low for her, but this year’s movie will change that)

There are plenty of others like Charlaine Harris and Lawrence Block, for example, who I’m sure are right up there as well. You can see more at http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeji45hfgm/ken-follett-intro

THE OPPOSITE OF DARK, http://bit.ly/i983XE, Chapters/Indigo http://bit.ly/gtFSFw
FATAL ENCRYPTION, http://tinyurl.com/ddzsxl
TAXED TO DEATH, http://tinyurl.com/czsy5n