J.K. Rowling Number One On List Of Year's Top 10 Best Paid Authors

Access Hollywood - October 3, 2008 5:19 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- "Harry Potter" continues to be magic at the box office - and on bookshelves. J.K. Rowling, the author of the seven-book series about the young wizard's battles about the evil Voldemort, earned $300 million in the year between June 1, 2007 and June 1, 2008, placing her on top of Forbes magazine's list of this year's best-paid authors.

Overall, Rowling is reportedly a billionaire, with over 375 million copies of the series selling worldwide. The film adaptations have made a total of $4.5 billion at the box office, with three left to go, continuing with next summer's "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Authors

Second on the list is prolific author James Patterson, who has reportedly earned $50 million over the 12 month period. His novels, which include "Along Came a Spider" and "Sail," have sold a total of over 150 million copies worldwide, and he's branched into other mediums with his "Women's Murder Club" series, which was both a short-lived ABC TV show and a video game.

Stephen King places third on this year's tally, earning a reported $45 million thanks to his deep catalog of novels, film adaptations and his pop culture column, "The Pop Of King," for Entertainment Weekly.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Harry Potter's Yearbook

In fourth is Tom Clancy, who reportedly earned $35 million this year. Like Patterson, his work has been translated into video games; in March, game developer Ubisoft announced an agreement to attain all rights to the Clancy name and its associated products after collaborating with him on games including "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell."

His books, including "The Hunt for the Red October" and "Patriot Games," have also been made into a number of successful films.
Novelist Danielle Steel places fifth with a reported $30 million. Her latest work is "A Good Woman."

Rounding out this year's list are "The Notebook" scribe Nicholas Sparks, Janet Evanovich, John Grisham, Dean Koontz and Ken Follett, who saw a sales surge when Oprah Winfrey chose his 1989 novel, "Pillars of the Earth," for her book club.

Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Scenes From 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'
PLAY IT NOW: Dish Of Salt: Is Stephanie Meyer The Next J.K. Rowling?
PLAY IT NOW: First Look: 'Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince'

MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Harry Potter - Authors - Top 10 - Celebrities

comments

show comments

comments

  • Michelle
    There are 'better' authors in the world than Jo Rowling; however, for capturing the imagination of a whole generation of young readers, and reminding all of us of the joy of getting lost in a book, she deserves every cent of her fortune. As Gordon Brown said, she has done more to improve childhood literacy than any other person in the world. Our authors, like our teachers, deserv
    report abuseposted May 8, 2009 9:29 PM PDT
  • Werdna
    Im sorry but im a James Patterson Fan. he wrote the best not good the best book ever. Maximum ride will rule
    report abuseposted February 15, 2009 9:05 PM PST
  • Rowling PWNS! Twilight is great, but Harry Potter will carry on the name AWESOME forever!
    report abuseposted February 4, 2009 12:11 PM PST
  • Angel Keyword
    Rowling is really greattttttt ..........
    report abuseposted February 4, 2009 12:45 AM PST
  • Samiran
    hi hi hi hi hi you wery wery good thes is said
    report abuseposted October 3, 2008 3:34 AM PDT
  • Apache1
    Great reading for the kids and family to do together.
    report abuseposted October 3, 2008 3:13 AM PDT
  • Apache1
    Great fun for kids and encourages them to read
    report abuseposted October 3, 2008 3:12 AM PDT
  • Ashley
    One of my fav authors. Not suprising that she is that rich.
    report abuseposted October 3, 2008 2:13 AM PDT
  • Bellatrix Lestrange
    Theres a surprise. I have all the Harry Potter books and movies. I look forward to the sixth movie next year. My screen name is a witch character of hers. Twilight maybe popular but Jo Rowling has more money than the Queen of England. True fact. And the Potter books have sold way more than Twilight books.
    report abuseposted October 2, 2008 6:16 PM PDT
  • Sam :D
    i think TWLIGHT should be NUMBER 1 :)))
    report abuseposted October 2, 2008 4:37 PM PDT

Post A Comment

sign in to post a comment.

sign in

RELATED ARTICLES

RELATED PHOTOS

RELATED VIDEOS

Updates

Manage My Updates
Manage My Updates
More Updates »

omg!

MORE ENTERTAINMENT

ALSO ON YAHOO!

Help us to improve! - Send Your Suggestions