Forbes richest authors list 2012

James Patterson takes the crownStephen King takes second place in round-up of world’s richest authors, with EL James expected to feature next year
Forbes, which calculates its annual compilation by using official figures and talking to book industry experts, found that Patterson earned $94m last year – a period which saw him publish 14 new titles and make more than double the amount of the second-placed King. Nine of the top 15 slots on the list were taken by male authors, including King (who earned $39m thanks to the release of his doorstopper novel about the assassination of JFK, 11/22/63), legal thriller writer John Grisham ($26m), Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney ($25m) and newcomer George RR Martin, who made $15m following the adaptation for television of his Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series.