E.L. James Tops Forbes' List of World's Top-Earning Authors

Posted on August 14, 2013

Forbes magazine has released its annual list of the top-earning authors. E.L. James topped the list thanks to her bestselling novel, Fifty Shades of Grey. Forbes says E.L. James made $95 million between June 2012 and June 2013. She debuted on the list in the top position.

The prolific James Patterson came close to matching E.L's monster earnings. He made $91 million during the 12 month period ending June 2013. Patterson was followed by Suzanne Collins, the author of The Hunger Games trilogy. She made $55 million. Bill O'Reilly came in fourth and made $28 million thanks to his Killing Lincon and Killing Kennedy bestsellers. Bestselling novelist Danielle Steel came in fifth and made $26 million.

Here is the top ten list. You can view the complete list of 16 top-earning authors on Forbes.com.

1. E.L. James - $95 million
2. James Patterson - $91 million
3. Suzanne Collins - $55 million
4. Bill O'Reilly - $28 million
5. Danielle Steel - $26 million
6. Jeff Kinney - $24 million
7. Janet Evanovich - $24 million
8. Nora Roberts - $23 million
9. Dan Brown - $22 million
10. Stephen King - $20 million