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The Write Stuff

In pics: Who are the planet's top 10 highest-earning authors?

Forbes has announced the highest-grossing writers between June 2012 and June 2013. No prizes for guessing which colour came out on top.
11.27am, 13 Aug 2013
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SOME WRITERS STRUGGLE by on little more than scraps of faint critical praise and the royalties from a couple of thousand sales a year.

Others write a sexy novel based on teen-vampire fan-fiction and make nearly $100 million in a year.

Sometimes, life is just a little unfair.

Forbes has released their list of the world’s top-earning authors and the top name should be of no surprise.  Yes, while 50 Shades of Grey author E.L James takes top spot, the rest of the top earners makes for interesting reading.

Either by sheer volume of publications or cornering a market, these writers have all made a minimum of $20 million and heavyweights such as Dean Koontz, John Grisham and J.K Rowling are left on the outside looking in.

Click below to get started.

In pics: Who are the planet's top 10 highest-earning authors?
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  • 10. Stephen King

    He's had his ups and downs, but at the end of the day, he's still Stephen King. His follow-up to The Shining, due out later this year, should see him climb higher than tenth on this list and earn him more than the 20 million dollars he pocketed this year. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

  • 9. Dan Brown

    Brown's ranking on the list is skewed somewhat by the fact that his novel "Inferno", the third sequel to "The Da Vinci Code" only came out this year. Still, it has sold nearly half a million copies and earned Brown 22 million dollars. (Ian West/PA Wire)

  • 8. Nora Roberts

    Nora Roberts is not a name you see on many physical books these days, her preserve is e-books. She sold 3.2 million last year, the second most in the world, making her 23 million dollars. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

  • 7. Janet Evanovich

    Janet Evanovich says that she writes books to make money for her favourite hobby: shopping. With her Stephanie Plum novels netting her 24 million dollars in the last 12 months, her local shops must be counting their blessings. (Flickr/Creative Commons)

  • 6. Jeff Kinney

    Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series is a dominant force in the adolescent market, racking up 7 books and 3 movies. He himself has pocketed 24 million this year. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision for Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment/AP Images)

  • 5. Danielle Steel

    Steel has published 128 titles in 40 years. She has also sold more than 600 million units and took home 26 million dollars in the last 12 months. (AP Photo/Vince Bucci)

  • 4. Bill O'Reilly

    Known mostly for barracking guests on Fox News, O'Reilly also wrote two non-fiction novels about the assassinations of Kennedy and Lincoln. Both of which, it should be said, are rather excellent. He made 28 million dollars. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision for The Hollywood Reporter/AP Images)

  • 3. Suzanne Collins

    Three words, eight figures: The Hunger Games. 55 million. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

  • 2. James Patterson

    Patterson is a phenomenal seller of books. In fact, one in every 17 hardcovers sold in the US has Patterson's name on it. His Maximum Ride and Witch & Wizard series sees him at number 2, with earnings of 91 million. (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)

  • 1. EL James

    It may have started life as Twilight fan-fiction, but the story of Christian Grey has propelled James to earnings of 95 million and the top of this list. (Pic: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)
  • He's had his ups and downs, but at the end of the day, he's still Stephen King. His follow-up to The Shining, due out later this year, should see him climb higher than tenth on this list and earn him more than the 20 million dollars he pocketed this year. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
  • Brown's ranking on the list is skewed somewhat by the fact that his novel
  • Nora Roberts is not a name you see on many physical books these days, her preserve is e-books. She sold 3.2 million last year, the second most in the world, making her 23 million dollars. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
  • Janet Evanovich says that she writes books to make money for her favourite hobby: shopping. With her Stephanie Plum novels netting her 24 million dollars in the last 12 months, her local shops must be counting their blessings. (Flickr/Creative Commons)
  • Kinney's
  • Steel has published 128 titles in 40 years. She has also sold more than 600 million units and took home 26 million dollars in the last 12 months. (AP Photo/Vince Bucci)
  • Known mostly for barracking guests on Fox News, O'Reilly also wrote two non-fiction novels about the assassinations of Kennedy and Lincoln. Both of which, it should be said, are rather excellent. He made 28 million dollars. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision for The Hollywood Reporter/AP Images)
  • Three words, eight figures: The Hunger Games. 55 million. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
  • Patterson is a phenomenal seller of books. In fact, one in every 17 hardcovers sold in the US has Patterson's name on it. His Maximum Ride and Witch & Wizard series sees him at number 2, with earnings of 91 million. (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)
  • It may have started life as Twilight fan-fiction, but the story of Christian Grey has propelled James to earnings of 95 million and the top of this list. (Pic: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

Read: Truly terrifying – horror series Goosebumps turns 21 this year

Read: Sitdown Sunday: 7 deadly reads

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Author
Paul Hosford
paulhosford@thejournal.ie
@PTHosford
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