According to Forbes, Stephen King is the third highest paid author in 2018 earning $27 million. The king of horror sold 2.7 million domestic books, boosted by the success of the movie version of IT, adapted from his 1986 novel. King nearly doubled his earnings by collecting an eight-figure paycheck from the film, which grossed $700 million worldwide on a $35 million budget. The movie became the highest-grossing R-rated horror movie at the domestic box office, and the sequel, planned for next fall, could break that record again.
To formulate the rankings, Forbes looked at “all earnings estimates from June 1, 2017, through June 1, 2018. Figures are pretax; fees for agents, managers and lawyers are not deducted. Earnings estimates are based on data from NPD BookScan and Box Office Mojo, as well as interviews with industry insiders, including some of the authors themselves.”
This year’s top-earning authors are:
1. James Patterson ($86 million)
2. J.K. Rowling ($54 million)
3. Stephen King ($27 million)
4. John Grisham ($21 million)
5. Jeff Kinney ($18.5 million)
5. Dan Brown ($18.5 million)
7. Michael Wolff ($13 million)
8. Danielle Steel ($12 million)
8. Nora Roberts ($12 million)
10. Rick Riordan ($10.5 million)
10. E.L James ($10.5 million)