Despite the financial woes of some print sources, Forbes announced that a select few bestselling authors from making big bucks. Coming in at the No. 1 spot on Forbes magazine’s list of highest-paid authors—with $70 million—is the thriller writer James Patterson, up from the second-place spot two years ago. The 63-year-old Patterson has written more than 50 bestsellers and sold more than 170 million books worldwide, creating a franchise that expanded into Hollywood, television, comic book and gaming deals.
Following him is vampire romance writer Stephenie Meyer, whose Twilight series earned her $40 million, despite her not releasing a new book in 2009. Stephen King ranks third with $34 million; his 51st novel, Under the Dome, sold 600,000 copies, according to Bookscan. Others on the list include romance novelist Danielle Steel ($32 Million), British writer Ken Follett ($20 million), Dean Koontz ($18 million) and Janet Evanovich of Stephanie Plum fame ($16 million).
Legal thriller writer John Grisham, romance writer Nicholas Sparks and prolific British author J.K. Rowling, who made $10 million -- a smaller sum for the billionaire after she did not release a new book in the past year -- rounded out the top 10.
