Working with a team of collaborators, James Patterson’s thrillers and children’s books have moved him to the top of Forbes’s list of the world’s 10 top-grossing authors, earning $70 million over the past year.
Forbes’s second-placed author is Stephenie Meyer – a new entrant to the list – who made $40 million over the same period, selling 40 million copies of her Twilight vampire series in the US and 100 million worldwide. Stephen King comes in third with earnings of $34 million, while Danielle Steel, who has four new books out this year, is fourth on the list with $32 million.
The top 10 in full is:
- James Patterson ($70m)
- Stephenie Meyer ($40m)
- Stephen King ($34m)
- Danielle Steel ($32m)
- Ken Follett ($20m)
- Dean Koontz ($18m)
- Janet Evanovich ($16m)
- John Grisham ($15m)
- Nicholas Sparks ($14m)
- JK Rowling ($10m)