The World's Top Money Book Authors

According to Forbes magazine, here are the top-earning book authors during 2011:

James Patterson ($94 million)

Stephen King ($39 million)

Janet Evanovich ($33 million) ====>

John Grisham ($26 million)

Jeff Kinney ($25 million)

Bill O'Reilly ($24 million)

Nora Roberts ($23 million)

Danielle Steel ($23 million)

Suzanne Collins ($20 million)

Dean Koontz ($19 million)

J. K. Rowling ($17 million)

George R. R. Martin ($15 million)

Stephenie Meyer ($14 million)

Ken Follett ($14 million)

Rick Riordan ($13 million)

Some interesting points to note:

1. There is only one nonfiction author in the top 15: Bill O'Reilly.

2. The list is dominated by authors who have been around 20 years or more: Patterson, King, Evanovich, Grisham, Roberts, Steel, Koontz, Martin, and Follett.

3. Almost all of the authors have had at least one movie made from their novels. Most have had five or ten movies or TV shows based on their novels.

4. Earnings estimates were based not only on book sales but also sales of movie and TV rights.

5. I suspect there are a number of nonfiction authors who have made more in the past year than many on this list, but Forbes has not counted them. I'm not sure why. My guess is that Forbes did not include income from speaking, merchandising rights, websites (other than Pottermore), ancillary sales, subsidiary rights, etc.

6. Let this list of top-earning book authors inspired you in your writing and marketing!

Forbes Celebrity 100 - Congratulations to the 5 Book Authors

Congratulations to the five book authors who made this year's Forbes Celebrity 100 list:



#37 - James Patterson, thriller novelist - $94 million, with 14 new books in 2011.



#66 - Stephen King, horror novelist - $39 million, with two new books in the past 12 months.



#79 - Janet Evanovich, mystery novelist - $33 million, with one new book in the past 12 months.



#82 - John Grisham, thriller novelist - $26 million, with several new books in the past 12 months.



#85 - J.K. Rowling, fantasy novelist - $17 million, a down year for the billionaire author.

Of course, there were other book authors also on the list (who are known more for their work in other fields): Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Seinfeld, Glenn Beck, Tina Fey, Donald Trump, Tiger Woods, Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern, Ellen DeGeneres, Jay-Z, David Letterman, and Eva Longoria (among others).

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Books Are a Great Buy!

In a December issue of Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King wrote about the best books of 2008. Read his The Pop of King column (12/12/08) to find out what books he chose: Alas, EW.com doesn't maintain older articles. Too bad.

Meanwhile, he had this to say about books: "Books are still the best bang for your buck. Would Uncle Stevie lie to you?"