Forbes magazine has named this year's highest-paid authors. There were no surprises in the top.

1. James Patterson author of a series of books about detective Alex Cross, for which he received $95 million.
   The series tells the story of the work and personality of Alex Cross, who is not just a brilliant detective, but also a doctor of psychology. The main thing for him is justice; he does not distinguish between rich and poor. Alex Cross is quite attractive, but he was unlucky in his personal life, although he was able to find a beautiful wife and have children.
   The first book in the series was published in 1993, and the last in 2015. The series was also made into a TV series, where Alex Cross is played by Morgan Freeman.

1. Jeff Kinney received $19.5 million for the international bestseller Diary of a Wimpy Kid and its sequel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Rodrick rules." The books were published in 2007 and 2008. And in 2010 a film adaptation of this book appeared.
   This is a story about an American schoolboy Greg Heffley, who manages to get into the most awkward and unusual situations out of nowhere. The books are filled with fun and positivity.

1. This author doesn't need any extra words. In third place with an amount of $19 million is the unsurpassed JK Rowling.
2. Income John Grisham is 18 million. The author has written several bestsellers - “The Firm”, “The Case of the Pelicans”, “Time to Kill”, “The Client” and many others. Some of the author's books were filmed and received no less popularity than the books.
3. and his works do not need extra words. Let's just say that the amount he received for his books was 15 million dollars.
4. Nora Roberts author of romance and detective novels, also received 15 million for her books. Since the beginning of her writing career (1979), she has written more than 200 novels and stories. One of the author’s most famous series is “The Investigation Leads by Sarah Dallas,” which currently includes 50 books and stories.
5. Daniela Steele author romance novels. During her career she wrote 110 books, 23 novels were filmed. The writer earned $15 million with her novels.
6. Earned $14 million Erica Leonard James, who wrote Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, Fifty Shades Freed and Grey. Let us remind you that the first book in this series was recently filmed.
7. Paula Hawkins, who wrote the world bestseller “The Girl on the Train,” received 10 million for the book.
   The story is about a woman who traveled one route by train every morning. She often saw an elderly couple from the window, to whom she gave names. And then on one very ordinary day, she noticed that something was happening to the elderly couple. She goes to the police. She is sure that only she can solve the mystery.

1. You don't have to imagine this author. He is known to both adult readers and teenage audiences. John Green received 10 million dollars for his works.
2. Veronica Roth author of the Divergent trilogy and several stories written for this series. This is a story about a future where there is an ideal society and its own factions. Everyone has to choose one so that society can exist normally. But society cannot be ideal; there will always be those who want to destroy it. With each book, more and more secrets are revealed and the familiar world of the main characters crumbles.
3. Earned $9.5 million Dan Brown with a series of books about Professor Robert Langdon. The books Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code were made into films, and this year there will be another film adaptation based on the book Inferno.
4. Rick Riordan and his Percy Jackson series received 9.5 million. This series is about a demigod boy and other children who were born from humans and the Olympian gods. Many critics compared the books to JK Rowling's Harry Potter series.
5. George Martin earned $9.5 million from one of the most popular book series, “A Song of Ice and Fire.” Only the laziest person on this planet is not familiar with this series of books (as well as the series).

James Patterson - first place ($70 million)

Alexander Sergeevich also noted that “inspiration is not for sale, but you can sell the manuscript.” This is what the representatives of the writing fraternity are happily doing, in our time, in some cases, earning no less than the stars of show business.

The authoritative magazine Forbes recently published a list of 10 writers who earned more than their other colleagues in the period from June 1, 2009 to June 1, 2010. Moreover, the publication took into account income not only from the sale of books, but also from transactions with film companies, television, the gaming business, and so on.

Topping the list with $70 million is mystery author James Patterson, whose 51 works have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. By the end of 2012, his “piggy bank” will be replenished: Patterson has a 100 million contract to publish 17 books.

Second place goes to Stephenie Meyer, who gave the world the “Twilight Saga.” During the year, about 100 million copies of Mayer’s vampire novels were sold, which formed the basis of the super-popular film epic with and, which brought the writer $40 million.

Stephenie Meyer - second place (40 million)

Stephen King retained third position. The “King of Horror” collected a “tribute” from his fans, the total amount of which was $34 million. Eight of them were brought to King early works. His latest novel, Under the Dome, was published late last year.

Stephen King - third place ($34 million)

In fourth place is Danielle Steel. In one year, the author of romance novels “saved” $32 million. The writer, by the way, is preparing a revolution: it will soon go on sale on Amazon.com electronic versions Her 71st book.

Danielle Steele - fourth place (32 million)

Rounding out the top five most successful writers is Ken Follett with $20 million. According to a poll conducted by The Times, his novel "The Pillars of the Earth" was second on the list. greatest novels over the past 60 years (first - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee).

Ken Follett - fifth place (20 million)

Dean Koontz - sixth place (18 million)

Janet Ivanovich - seventh place (16 million)

John Grisham - eighth place (15 million)

Nicholas Sparks - ninth place (14 million)

JK Rowling - 10th place (10 million)

Forbes reached into the pockets of writers and calculated how much the richest among them receive. The leader, of course, is Harry Potter's mother Joanne Rowling. Last year she earned $95 million. Not very popular here, but as it turns out, America's richest writer, James Patterson, author of a series of detective novels about Inspector Alex Cross, earned $87 million. In third place was Jeff Kinney, author of " Diary of a Wimpy Kid" - his wallet was replenished last year by $21 million.

"Harry Potter" by JK Rowling is, first of all, a good business project, and then it is not at all bad literary work. Photo: Joel Ryan/Invision/AP

Every year our writers do not make the list. Why? Is it really impossible for us to earn money by writing? Maybe. And the point here is not the cost of the book, but its circulation. Among those who have really good book circulations are Daria Dontsova, Dina Rubina and Boris Akunin. Publishers do not hide that the total circulation of Daria Dontsova’s books is now about 200 million copies. But the total circulation of Rowling's books is 400 million copies, only the Bible has more.

If you have just come to literature, the fee can be 25 thousand rubles; an author with a name can be paid a million. So most of our writers have to look for additional income - teach, engage in journalism, run their own business, write scripts for television films, sell book rights abroad.

Of course, the writers on the Forbes list made money not only by selling books. The lion's share of Rowling's income comes from selling the rights to the Potter film adaptation. And last year, a film adaptation of the book “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” was added - the film was an incredible success around the world. Rowling also contributes some money to the Universal amusement park, which has attractions dedicated to Harry Potter.

Another objective factor that foreign authors get rich faster is that all the writers on the list write in English. As you know, English is spoken much more people than in Russian. Not all Russian authors are translated into other languages. Dina Rubina, Dmitry Glukhovsky, and Lyudmila Ulitskaya are actively being translated. But this is a drop in the bucket compared to Rowling’s worldwide circulation. Among other things, “Harry Potter” is a well-promoted marketing project in which considerable funds have been invested. Our publishing houses do not have money for such projects. So what we read is largely influenced by PR people and marketers.

Competently

Why are there no Russians on the list of the richest writers?

Oleg Novikov, president of the Eksmo-AST publishing group:

In order for the names of Russian authors to appear on the list of the highest paid writers in the world, social and economic prerequisites are needed. The book industry in Russia today lives in somewhat different conditions than publishers and writers in other countries. First of all, writers' fees are affected by the cost of the book. For recent years in Russia, prices for almost all goods, be it food or electronics, have become quite comparable to the global level, while at the same time the cost of a book has remained virtually unchanged. In the USA and European countries, books are significantly more expensive, and this is reflected in the authors’ royalties, which are calculated from final sales. However, we understand how important it is to curb price increases on the book market, given the purchasing power of our readers, which is an order of magnitude lower than that of residents of Europe and the United States. If the price of books begins to rise, circulation and the number of readers, whose incomes are not yet comparable to the standard of living of the population of European countries and the United States, will decrease.

Another important factor is significantly smaller circulations than in the West. The average circulation of a book today is 4.5 thousand copies; these figures are comparable to the publishing industry in Poland, whose population is significantly smaller than Russia. And today we are interested in creating bestsellers that are published in large print runs of 30-50-100 thousand copies or more. In order for national authors to begin to earn high incomes, a developed book infrastructure is needed. So far, the provision of Russians with bookstores and libraries differs significantly from the situation in which residents of Germany, Great Britain, and the United States find themselves. In terms of the supply of bookstores and libraries per capita, we are still far behind other developed countries, even the countries of Eastern Europe, and it is important to correct this situation. Library collections need regular replenishment with current publications. As for sales, today, according to expert assessments, the country lacks about 1,000 bookstores.

The world's richest writers in 2016

JK Rowling, annual income $95 million. The play for the Broadway production "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" became the best-selling book of 2016.

James Patterson($87 million). In 2016, the author sold 9.5 million books. A thriller created by Patterson together with Bill Clinton is currently being prepared for release. If the book has a good PR campaign in Russia, then we will finally know the name of the richest writer in America.

Jeff Kinney($21 million). "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Kinney became a bestseller all over the world, although not in Russia. But Kinney earns a considerable income from creating video games.

Dan Brown($20 million). After the release of The Da Vinci Code, for which the author received $260 million, all of his books, already published, and those that are just preparing for release, automatically became bestsellers.

Stephen King($15 million). King's amazing performance brings income. And besides, the love of the public, no matter what he wrote. Last year, King fans bought his 55th novel, The Post Passed.

John Grisham($14 million). His "The Informant" became one of the best-selling films in 2016.

Nora Roberts($14 million). The writer’s income came from the detective series “The Investigation is Conducted by Eve Dallas.”

Paula Hawkins($13 million). The British author made money from the film adaptation of The Girl on the Train. Film companies are said to be already queuing up to buy the rights to the next bestseller.

Daniela Steele($11 million). The Queen's Affairs women's novel they're not going well right now in the best possible way. But last year she published six books, which brought in considerable income.

A couple of decades ago, the fate of an aspiring writer was unenviable. He doesn’t sleep at night, like a child, cherishing his work: “Hear me, people!” With trembling hands, he sends the manuscript to the publisher, who sends it straight to the trash. Not the format! And who exactly are you? No one knows your name - they won’t buy you.

Everything has changed. Today, the fate of an aspiring writer depends not on the publisher, but on the reader. Previously, for a book to be liked by readers, it had to be published first. Now they often print what the public already loves.

A new era of book publishing is coming, which gives everyone the opportunity to be heard. A striking example is Amanda Hocking from Austin, America. By posting her books on the Internet, the young writer earned over 2.5 million dollars.

Today you will learn three more success stories. The books of these people are published in thousands of copies, but once upon a time they had to take the first step.

Dmitry Glukhovsky: “Fate has its own logic”

Dmitry Glukhovsky was born in 1979 in Moscow. Since childhood, he has been drawn to literature: he was interested in the typewriter, and at the age of 10 he wrote his first story. It is not surprising that he chose a creative profession - an international journalist.

As a correspondent, Dmitry traveled half the world. He worked on the TV channels EuroNews and Russia Today, collaborated with the German radio station Deutsche Welle and the British channel Sky News.

The idea of ​​a book about people's lives after nuclear war Dmitry developed this problem back in school. He started working on it during his first years at university. In 2002, the novel was ready. Dmitry sent the manuscript to several publishing houses, but was rejected everywhere.

The main character in the first version died from a stray bullet. It was necessary for the plot, from my point of view. But the publishers refused to publish the book in this form, saying that this was not their format. Then I published myself - on the Internet. I created a website and posted text there.

For 2002, this was a revolutionary decision. The site was visited by tens of thousands of people. Readers flooded Dmitry with requests to revive the hero and continue the book. In 2005, Glukhovsky revised the novel and again posted it on the Internet. The paper version of the book was published that same year.

The novel “Metro 2033” became a bestseller, and Dmitry Glukhovsky became a sought-after writer. The book received an international award and was translated into foreign languages. Its plot formed the basis of the film of the same name. computer game, a film adaptation is being prepared.

Irina Astakhova: “Look for answers within yourself”

Irina Astakhova was born in 1987 in Poland. When the girl was four, her parents moved to Moscow. Irina graduated from a music school with a piano class and an art school with a painting class. Then I trained as a costume designer and designer. But I found my calling in literary creativity.

Irina composed her first poem - about candy - at the age of nine. And at 24 I wrote “Do they even love you there?”, I read a poem on video and posted it online. The video blew up the Internet: “Oh Astakhova! How good!”

I don’t do anything special on the Internet, I just share my poems, and then on social networks everything develops spontaneously.

For the sake of poetry, Irina left a good job. Since 2013, she has been actively touring Russia and abroad under the creative pseudonym Ah Astakhova. She gave more than 120 concerts in 53 cities and eight countries. She became a laureate of the competitions “Sails of Hope” (nomination “Author’s Reading”) and “Golden Gargoyle” (nomination “Best Art Project of the Year”). Two poetry collections by Irina Astakhova have already been published: “Male Lyrics / Female Lyrics” and “Time to Change the Route.”

1. JK Rowling

Famous British novelist. Her net worth is estimated at $1 billion, making her one of the richest women in the world. The writer is best known for her fantasy novel about the boy wizard Harry Potter.

Rowling owns a beautiful mansion in Tasmania worth $10.7 million and a church cottage in Tutshill in South Wales worth $5.8 million.

2. Candy Spelling

Like all rich people, Candy lives large. She currently owns a $47 million luxury condo in downtown Los Angeles.

3. Stephen King

He earned his main capital - $400 million - from books. His most successful novels are The Shining, The Body, The Stand, Carrie, It and The Dark Tower. Writes in the genre science fiction, horror, mystery, thriller.

Stephen King owns luxury villas and mansions, cars and a private jet.

4. Danielle Steele

Her net worth exceeds $375 million. The American writer works in the genres of romance, children's fiction and journalism. Her top bestsellers: "The Promise", "Crossroads", "Until the End of Time", "Zoe", "Sins of the Mother", "Only with You", "Beautiful Things", "Heartbeat", "Sisters", "Star".

5. Tom Clancy

His fortune is estimated at $300 million. The American writer skillfully interweaves spy thriller with science fiction in his works. Wrote a couple of scripts for famous computer games.

6. Olivia Harrison

The widow of Beatles guitarist George Harrison is a British-Mexican author. Her equity is 275 million dollars.

7. James Patterson

This American author is known for his fictional series about psychologist Alex Cross. James' estimated net worth is 250 million. Its annual income was estimated at US$91 million as of June 2013.

8. John Grisham

9. Jackie Collins

English writer, from whose pen 29 novels were published, and all of them became bestsellers! More than 500 million copies of her books have been translated into 40 languages ​​and sold worldwide. In total, Collins earned 180 million.

10. Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton was a famous and beloved science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller novelist of his time. Experts estimate his net worth to be $175 million.

11. Nora Roberts

A well-known American writer who has written more than 200 detective stories and romance novels. He works very productively, releasing several books a year. “Worth” 150 million.

12. Dean Koontz

American science fiction writer, master of action-packed thrillers. Mysticism, horror and mystery are his strong point. Dean's net worth is $145 million.

13. Stephenie Meyer

American, who brought fame to the Twilight series of novels. She wrote only 10 books, but all of them gained worldwide fame and brought the author 125 million.

14. Mary Higgins Clark

A popular American novelist who writes psychological thrillers and stories for children. Her famous novels - "Reach for Heaven", "The Cradle Will Fall", "A Walk Through the City", "We Meet Again" and many others - brought Mary $110 million.

15. Dan Brown

He lives in a magnificent mansion in New Hampshire.

16. Clive Cussler

Clive is a former maritime archaeologist. He wrote several adventure, detective novels and thrillers, which brought him $80 million.

17. Janet Ivanovich

Her famous works “Big Hero”, “Grand Finale”, “Ivan Takes His Wife”, “Elsie Hawkins” (4 books), “Stephanie Plum” (20 books) and others brought their author 80 million in net income.

18. Wolfgang Puck

This famous Austrian chef has written several books about cooking and earned $75 million from them.

19. Jonathan Franzen

He is compared to the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. Jonathan's writing brought him $70 million.

20. E.L. James

21. Gary Larson

This talented writer and cartoonist once earned $50 million. Today he lives as a hermit in Seattle, Washington, receiving $4 million in rent annually, which he immediately donates to the Anteater Conservation Fund.

22. Stieg Larsson

Swedish writer and journalist, whose net worth is estimated at $50 million. He passed away in 2004 due to a heart attack.

23. Carole Radziwill

24. Anne Rice

American writer, who became famous for her novel Interview with the Vampire. In total, she was able to earn 50 million with her talent.

25. Ken Follett

Welsh and British prose writer. The novel "Eye of the Needle" brought him fame. “Worth” $45 million. His most significant acquisition is an old townhouse in London.

26. Terry McMillan

American writer, known throughout the world for the bestsellers “Waiting to Exhale,” “How Stella Got Her Answer,” “Mom,” “Okay If You Don’t Know,” “Dollar,” “Getting to Happiness,” etc. Her net worth is estimated at 40 million US dollars.

27. Jonathan Kellerman

While working as a practicing psychologist, he wrote several books in the medical thriller genre and earned $40 million.

28. Jon Krakauer

This outstanding American writer and journalist (main photo of the article) has a capital of $35 million. He is interested in mountaineering.

29. Nicholas Sparks

He lives in a nice big house on the waterfront in New Bern, North Carolina.

30. Jane Ann Krentz

31. George R. R. Martin

American writer, producer and screenwriter. Writes in the science fiction genre. With a capital of 30 million, he still lives in simple house in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and drives an old Mazda RX-7.

32. Nelson DeMille

He earned 25 million as a writer.

33. Elizabeth Gilbert

34. Cecily von Ziegesar

35. Harlan Coben

His popularity and wealth ($25 million) came from his detective thriller novels.

36. Jack Canfield

He was noted in the Guinness Book of Records as the most popular author. Wrote a series of stories" Chicken broth for the soul", which was called a publishing phenomenon. "Cost" 25 million.

37. Lee Ann Toohey

The main capital of 25 million US dollars was brought to her by her writing talent.

38. Toni Morrison

She is a laureate Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning professor and author of children's books, plays and short stories about the lives of African Americans. “Worth” $24 million.

39. Nick Hornby

Earned $22 million by satisfying his passion for writing.

40. Pattie Mallett

She is known not only as the mother of megastar Justin Bieber, but also as the author of several best-selling books, from which she earned $20 million.

41. Lisa Gibbons

Apart from her career as a TV presenter, Lisa is also a renowned writer. She earned 20 million from her books. She does not like to save money, surrounding herself with all kinds of luxury items.

42. Martin Handford

43. David Chilton

Canadian writer David Chilton is worth $20 million. Specializes in topics about financial success.

44. Robert Crumb

Earned 20 million from comics!

45. Brad Meltzer

46. ​​Nancy Grace

The former prosecutor has written such successful books as Celebrity Defendants, Victim 11, Objection!, and High-End Defense Lawyers, which earned her $18 million.

47. Joe Eszterhas

The Hungarian-American author and former journalist has a net worth of $18 million.

48. Timothy Ferriss

By publishing his books, this young American writer earned 15 million.

49. Salman Rushdie

A well-known British-Indian celebrity, his writing talent is estimated to be worth $15 million.

50. Joan Lunden

Earned 15 million mainly from books about healthy life and proper nutrition.