The World's Top-Earning Authors

Do you wonder sometimes how much money really successful authors make? So does the staff at Forbes, and once a year, they try to figure it out… – Brian

Natalie Robehmed, Forbes magazine, Sept 8, 2014. 

Watch out Danielle Steel and Stephen King – the kids are coming. The world’s top-earning authors list includes three newcomers who made more than $9 million each in the last year – and were born after 1970. 

In a ranking long-dominated by stalwarts like crime writer James Patterson (b. 1947) and romance author Nora Roberts (b. 1950), these fresh ink spillers, two of whom write young adult fiction, rank thanks to the increasing commercial appeal of teen literature for readers of all ages.

Young adult author Veronica Roth‘s ranks 6th on account of her Divergent trilogy which sold a combined 6.7 million copies in 2013, earning her around $17 million from print and ebook sales between June 2013 and June 2014. She also benefited from the book’s 2014 film adaption, which grossed $270 million at the global box office. At just 26, Roth is the youngest newcomer on the ranking, and one of seven women on the 17-person list.

37-year-old newcomer John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars propelled him to an estimated $9 million yearly paycheck before taxes and fees. The YA love story, which follows the trials of two cancer-stricken teens, has sold well over 1 million copies in the U.S. and spawned a weepy summer blockbuster.

{Actually in the first half of 2014, The Fault in Our Stars sold 4 million copies in the States, plus he sold 1.45 million copies of his earlier books, so Green is doing even better than Forbes thinks he is.}

And here’s the list of this year’s top-earning authors:

James Patterson $90 million
Dan Brown $28 million
Nora Roberts $23 million
Danielle Steel $22 million
Janet Evanovich $20 million
Jeff Kinney $17 million
Veronica Roth $17 million
John Grisham $17 million
Stephen King $17 million
Suzanne Collins $16 million
JK Rowling $14 million
George R.R. Martin $12 million
David Baldacci $11 million
Rick Riordan $10 million
El James $10 million
Gillian Flynn $9 million
John Green $9 million 

Kelley Armstrong

P.S. I’m leading “How to Write a Bestseller” workshops with New York Times #1 bestselling author Kelley Armstrong on Saturday, Nov 22, in Burlington (see here) and Saturday, Dec 6, in London (see here). And I have a “Writing for Children & for Young Adults"workshop on Saturday, Nov 8, in Guelph (see here).

 See my full schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Toronto, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.