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James Patterson tops list of world's highest-paid authors

Published: Sep 9, 2016 07:56:57 AM IST
Updated: Sep 9, 2016 03:32:15 PM IST
James Patterson tops list of world's highest-paid authors
Image: Getty Images
305 mln is the number of copies sold of James Patterson's 160 books

These well-heeled wordsmiths earned a combined $269 million over the last 12 months, proving that the written word isn’t dead—although television and movie adaptations often help drive sales. To wit: Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin benefited from the hit HBO series based on his fantasy novels, while Zoo, a thriller from James Patterson, scored a second season on CBS. Patterson topped our list for the third straight year, earning $95 million, while children’s author Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) placed a distant second, earning $19.5 million.

Near-misses include kids’ favourite Rachel Renée Russell (Dork Diaries) and The Martian scribe Andy Weir.

James Patterson tops list of world's highest-paid authors



Images: Patterson : Danny Moloshok / Reuters; Grisham:Getty Images; James: Shutterstock.Com; Hawkins: Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty

(This story appears in the 16 September, 2016 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)

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