Women authors gaining
ground on men in earnings
NEW YORK,
Aug 10
(bdnews25.wapamp.com/Dhaka) -
With yearly estimated earnings
of more than $90 million,
prolific writer James Patterson
is by far the highest earning
author in the world but women are gaining ground, according
to Forbes.com. Stephen King, author of
"11/22/63" and numerous
other books, came in a distant
second on the Forbes.com list,
earning $39 million, followed
by Janet Evanovich, who wrote the Stephanie Plum suspense
books and was the best paid
woman with a $33 million
income. Legal thriller writer John
Grisham was not far behind
with $26 million, while Jeff
Kinney, who penned the
"Wimpy Kid" series, completed
the top five, with earnings of $25 million. Jeff Bercovici, of Forbes.com,
said most of the names are
the list are familiar ones,
including Patterson. "The thriller maestro, whose
young-adult fantasy and sci-fi
franchises also do brisk
business, took in an
astonishing $94 million this
year." But he added that it was a
trio of women, Suzanne
Collins, E.L. James and J.K.
Rowling, who made a big
impact. Collins, who ranked eighth,
made most of her $20 million
salary thanks to the
phenomenal success of her
"Hunger Game" books, the
first of which has been made into a film with more to
follow. "Harry Potter" author Rowling,
who came in 10th with $17
million in earnings, is branching
into the adult market with "The
Casual Vacancy," due to be
published in September. James, the author of the
"Fifty Shades of Grey" books,
was estimated to be earning
more than $1 million a week
for during the height of their
popularity. She is not on the list year but Forbes.com
expects her to be in next
year's ranking. Forbes.com compiled the
estimated earnings from May
2011 to May 2012 and
ranking by talking to experts
including: publishers, agents
and authors. They also reviewed data on book sales
and Nielsen BookScan sales
figures.
(bdnews25.wapamp.com/Dhaka)
© 2012 bdnews25.wapamp.com
