E L James tops ‘Forbes’ list of highest-earning authors in 2013

Tuesday, 13 August 2013 Books+Publishing

‘Fifty Shades’ author E J James has topped Forbes‘ list of the world’s top-earning authors of 2013. According to Forbes, the top 10 highest-earning authors for the 12 months ending June 2013 are: 1. E L James: US$95 million ($A104 million); 2. James Patterson: US$91 million ($A100 million); 3. Suzanne Collins: US$55 million ($A60 million); 4. Bill O’Reilly: US$28 million ($A31 million); 5. Danielle Steel: US$26 million ($A28 million); 6. Jeff Kinney: US$24 million ($A26 million); 7. Janet Evanovich: US$24 million ($A26 million); 8. Nora Roberts: US$23 million ($A25 million); 9. Dan Brown: US$22 million ($A24 million); 10. Stephen King: US$20 million ($A22 million). ‘If you’re not writing in a genre with mass commercial appeal, you can pretty much forget about making the list,’ said Forbes journalist Jeff Bercovici. ‘But even if you are, and your books are bestsellers, that’s still not a guaranteed in.’ Last year’s top-earners list featured James Patterson, followed by Stephen King and Janet Evanovich.

Category: International news