The 15 Highest-Paid Authors

Stephen King

While browsing through the shelves at your local bookstore or library, you might imagine that the authors featured there are leisurely typing away at their next project, sitting in a McMansion on top of their millions in book money.

The truth is, while writing has made a select few rich and famous, most published authors are just getting by like the rest of us. According to Indeed, the average salary for a novelist in 2022 was $49,046—not quite the stuff dreams are made of.

However, it only takes one big success to enter the realm of six-figure advances, double-digit royalty percentages and maybe even the ever-elusive movie adaptation. The richest authors have all had that shining moment of success, and proven that they were worth it, too. Some have sold hundreds of millions of copies of their books and one has reached billionaire status.

According to Literary Hub’s list of authors who make the most money, here’s a look at the 15 top dogs of the literary world. They’re ranked by most money earned between the years of 2008 and 2018, starting with the lowest amount.

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15 highest-paid authors

15. Ken Follett

If this name sounds familiar, it’s probably because Follett authored one of the most well-known books in recent decades—The Pillars of the Earth, which was published in 1989. Along with historical fiction, Follett is known for his thrillers and has sold around 160 million copies of his books worldwide.

From 2008 to 2018, Lit Hub estimated Folletts’ total earnings at $68 million, landing him in 15th place on this list. He also has an impressive net worth of $50 million, per Celebrity Net Worth.

14. Stephenie Meyer

Meyer’s first book, Twilight, was published in 2005 and not only developed its own cult following, but started a massive craze around young adult (YA) fantasy romance that would take the late 2000s and early 2010s by storm.

Encompassing four books and five blockbuster movie adaptations, Twilight is still a fan favorite today and made Meyer about $75 million between 2008 and 2018. Her net worth is a very respectable $120 million.

13. Rick Riordan

Riordan, a former high-school teacher, started publishing adult crime novels in the late 1990s. However, it was when his first YA book, The Lightning Thief, hit shelves in 2005 that his career as an author really took off. His series brought elements of Greek mythology into the lives of modern-day American kids and inspired spinoff series centering Roman, Egyptian and Norse mythology.

All in all, Riordan took home $91.5 million between 2008 and 2018, and is certainly expected to make more with the premiere of the new Disney+ show, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, on Dec. 20. His net worth is estimated at $40 million.

12. Dean Koontz

If you’ve ever walked into a used bookstore, chances are you’ve seen rows of Koontz’ books populating the mystery section. His first was published in 1968 and he’s been an absolute powerhouse in the decades since, writing more than 110 novels.

Lit Hub puts Koontz’s 2008-2018 earnings at $101 million. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he’s worth about $200 million.

11. Dan Brown

Brown is the bestselling author of 2003’s The Da Vinci Code, which was adapted into two movies and has sold more than 80 million copies worldwide. Overall, he’s sold over 250 million copies of his thriller books and continues to write today.

Brown’s 2008-2018 earnings of $111 million snag him 11th place on the list, and he has a net worth of about $160 million.

10. Suzanne Collins

Collins famously wrote The Hunger Games trilogy, published between 2008 and 2010, which saw four movie adaptations and heavily influenced the rise in the YA dystopian genre. In 2020 she released a successful prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the movie version of which is premiering Nov. 17.

Lit Hub estimated that Collins made $114 million from 2008 to 2018. Her current net worth is reportedly $90 million.

9. Nora Roberts

Another powerhouse writer, Roberts is up there (and perhaps eclipses) Koontz with the number of books she has floating around secondhand bookstores. While she may be best known for romance, she’s demonstrated her versatility in the fantasy and mystery genres as well. In fact, Roberts has a pen name (J.D. Robb), which she uses for her mystery series In Death.

Roberts has authored more than 230 novels, so it’s no surprise that from 2008 to 2018 she earned $128 million. Celebrity Net Worth pegs her typical yearly salary in the $20-$30 million range, and her total net worth at $400 million, making her one of the richest authors in the world.

8. Janet Evanovich (Tie)

Evanovich started writing in the 1970s, but her first major hit came with One for the Money in 1994, a mystery novel focusing on the bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. Following the success of the first installment, this turned into a series which is still ongoing—Dirty Thirty just released on Halloween 2023.

Other than her Stephanie Plum novels, Evanovich has authored a number of other books in the romance and mystery genres, and has an estimated net worth of $140 million. Between 2008 and 2018, she made $153 million, according to Lit Hub.

7. E.L. James (Tie)

Fifty Shades of Grey was published in 2011 and is the reason that E.L. James, quite ironically, ranks higher than Stephenie Meyer on this list. Her series, following the relationship between the ultra-rich and domineering Christian Grey and naive college grad Anastasia Steele, was originally written as Twilight fanfiction.

James’ commercial success with Fifty Shades proved instrumental to the subsequent success of the erotic fiction genre, which can now be seen in prominent bookstore displays and popular videos on TikTok (where the number of hot pepper emojis denotes how “spicy” a book is).

James earned $153 million from 2008 to 2018 and has a current net worth of $150 million.

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6. Jeff Kinney

Kinney is the author of the mega-successful children’s book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The series, which spans 18 books (so far), is written in a simple, comic-book-like structure that makes reading more accessible and fun for kids who are intimidated by long chapter books. It also inspired a handful of movie adaptations.

From 2008 to 2018, Kinney is estimated to have made $165 million, and Celebrity Net Worth reports his typical yearly salary at about $23 million. His current net worth is around $80 million.

5. John Grisham

Grisham, who’s also a lawyer and former member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, is a bestselling author of many legal thrillers. Some of his most famous books include A Time to Kill, The Firm and The Rainmaker, all of which led to film adaptations.

Grisham’s books have sold more than 300 million copies and earned him a net worth of $400 million. Per Lit Hub, he pulled in $192 million between 2008 and 2018.

4. Danielle Steel

Speaking of all-time greats, along with Nora Roberts, Danielle Steel has had a corner on the romance book market for decades. She’s written more than 180, starting in 1973, and sold more than 800 million copies of her books—23 of which have been adapted into movies.

All those book and movie royalties must have added up, because Steel has a huge net worth of $600 million.[From 2008 to 2018 alone, she earned $231 million.

3. Stephen King

King’s fans call themselves “Constant Readers” for a reason. Between his actual name and the pen name Richard Bachman, King has released a new work about every 20 weeks since his first book was published in 1974. While some of these are short stories and screenplays, others are giant, 1,000-word tomes that intimidate even the most voracious of readers.

Some of King’s best-known works include the horror classics Carrie, It and The Shining, but he’s also authored historical fiction such as The Green Mile and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, a novella which inspired the popular film.

Lit Hub places King’s 2008-2018 pay at $259 million. In total, he has a net worth of about $500 million.

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2. J.K. Rowling

Rowling is, of course, the bestselling author of children’s fantasy series Harry Potter. The seven-book series has had an unprecedented effect on modern-day pop culture, leading to eight major films (plus spinoffs), multiple theme parks and a popular video game.

In addition to the Harry Potter books, Rowling has consulted on all related films and will reportedly oversee the new streaming series on Max (with an all-new cast). Under her pen name Robert Galbraith, she writes a series of crime novels.

From 2008-2018, Rowling earned an astounding $546 million, placing her second on the list of highest-paid authors in the timeframe set. However, she undoubtedly takes first place for richest, with a total net worth of $1 billion.

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1. James Patterson

Patterson is one of the most prolific mystery authors in the world. He’s best known for his Alex Cross series, but has published well over a hundred books, many of which have led to movie adaptations (Along Came a Spider, Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, to name a couple). He’s sold more than 400 million copies of his books, making him among the top bestselling authors of all time.

On Lit Hub’s list of highest-paid authors, he’s dead first, bringing in $836 million from 2008-2018. He has an estimated net worth of $800 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, and currently makes about $90 million per year.

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