JK Rowling earns £3m a week

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JK Rowling has been crowned the highest-earning author by Forbes magazine after it was revealed she rakes in £3 million a week.

The Harry Potter writer made £170 million last year (£5 a second), and has sold over 400 million books worldwide, according to Forbes.

The business magazine described her work as 'a children's literary sensation', and revealed her earnings were six times higher than that of the next best-selling author, James Patterson, of Along Came a Spider fame.

A Forbes spokesman said: 'It was wizardry that transformed JK Rowling from a destitute single mother on welfare into a best-selling billionaire.

'Over on the big screen, her Potter franchise has already generated $4.5bn (£2.5bn) at the worldwide box office - and she still has three more flicks to come.'

Since the first installment, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was released in 1997, the series has taken the world by storm, and the final book, Deathly Hallows, has sold 44 million copies since it came out last summer. Rowling's personal fortune is estimated at being in the region of £560 million.

Meanwhile, horror harbinger Stephen King came in at third place, earning £25 million last year, while Tom Clancy – best known for his 1984 novel A Hunt for Red October – bagged fourth with £20 million, while Danielle Steel (£17m), John Grisham (£14m) and Dean Koontz (£14m) took fifth and equal sixth spots on the loaded literary list.

Friday 3 October 2008

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