The 14 Top-Earning Authors - 2016

Different people will see different things when reading this.

Some will see a list of lottery winners. Others will see hard working, creative geniuses and think, "I could be on that list one day."  Others will see a list of writers who compromised their art to appeal to the Great Unwashed.

Me?

I see a list of people who did what they loved, and got rich doing it (which is one of the ways I define happiness.)

However you see it, as a cynic or as inspiration, here it is...

Every year, Forbes announces the top-earning authors in the world. James Patterson, who heads this year's list, topped the list in 2015, 2014 and 2012, and EL James topped the list in 2013.

These 14 writers earned $269 million over the last 12 months from their novels, with television and movie adaptations helping sales.

The 14 Top Earning Authors:

   1. James Patterson - $95 million
   2. Jeff Kinney - $19.5 million
   3. J.K. Rowling - $19 million
   4 John Grisham - $18 million
   5. Stephen King - $15 million
   6. Nora Roberts - $15 million
   7. Danielle Steel - $15 million
   8. E L James - $14 million
   9. John Green - $10 million
   10. Veronica Roth - $10 million
   11. Paula Hawkins - $10 million
   12. Dan Brown - $9,5 million
   13. Rick Riordan - $9,5 million
   14. George R R Martin - $9,5 million

A new author on the list is Paula Hawkins. Her novel The Girl on the Train has topped bestseller lists, and the movie adaptation will be released later this year.

Full article:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobe … 635c0c5218