Rowling Star of Literature

Last updated: 07/10/2008 12:29

Sounds unbelievable, but it is reality for JK Rowling. This is a very exact statement made by Forbes magazine in the United States. Of course, all this money is coming from the enormous success of the Harry Potterseries. JK Rowling’s first book about Harry Potter was written in 1997. Her life story is a true ‘rags to riches’, one that captured the imagination of Americans. Her story fitted in perfectly with their ideal of the ‘America Dream’. It was the kind of story that the Oprah television show just loves to beam out to the rest of us. JK Rowling was a poor single mum who had to depend on welfare. All she could afford was a cup of coffee at coffee shops to get a table. She would sit there and write. She did of course write about the exploits of Harry Potter, his friends and enemies.

Her Harry Potter character has been responsible for earning the author three hundred million dollars in the past year alone. She is the highest earning writer in the world. After JK Rowling comes James Patterson. He is the author who penned ‘Along Came A Spider’. But Rowling has earned six times more than Patterson. She has made enormous amounts of money for herself and many other people along the way. She is known as a somewhat reclusive billionaire. Not very much is known about what she does with her life and what she does with her money. The last Harry Potter book sold fifteen million copies within the first twenty four hours of being released.

The list of high rolling authors in pounds is as follows:

JK Rowling (£170m)

James Patterson (£28m)

Stephen King (£25m)

Tom Clancy (£20m)

Danielle Steel (£17m)

John Grisham (£14m)

Dean Koontz (£14m)

Ken Follet (£11m)

Janet Evanovich (£10m)

Nicholas Sparks (£9m)

Dean Koontz (£14m)