JK Rowling earns six times more than nearest rival
Alison Flood writing in guardian.co.uk,

The $300m JK Rowling pulled in over the last year will make sickening reading for the majority of authors who are struggling to earn a living.
Rowling made $571 a minute between June 1 2007 and June 1 2008, according to Forbes's ranking of the world's best paid authors, thanks to last July's publication of the final novel detailing the adventures of her boy wizard, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The book has sold around 44m copies since publication, including 15m in its first 24 hours on sale, said Forbes.

Labour party supporter Rowling made a whopping six times more than second best paid author James Patterson, whose not-so-paltry $50m was drummed up through a combination of thrillers, romance and children's books. Patterson is now publishing up to eight books a year thanks to an army of "writing partners", and is also developing a computer game of his Women's Murder Club series.

British thriller writer Ken Follett barrelled into the top 10 after his 1989 novel The Pillars of the Earth was picked for Oprah Winfrey's book club, which helped him to earnings of $20m over the year. Follett, whose latest novel World Without End is a sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, has recently signed a new three-book deal, which Forbes valued at $50m.

The top 10 shows the public's appetite for fictional thrills, with Patterson and Follett joined by Tom Clancy, Stephen King, John Grisham and the prolific Dean Koontz, who has authored "at least" 95 books, according to Forbes.

Grande dame of romantic fiction Danielle Steel comes in fifth place - Steel's 71st book, Amazing Grace, was published last October - while Stephanie Plum series author Janet Evanovich and romantic novelist Nicholas Sparks round out the chart with respective earnings of $17m and $16m.

Forbes's top 10 authors earned a combined $563m over the year to June 2008, which the magazine attributed to "hefty advances, impressive sales and silver screen adaptations".
A survey last year by an authors' organisation found that the average UK author earns £16,531 a year. The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society's survey of 25,000 authors found that the top 10% of authors earn more than 50% of total income, and that 60% of professional writers need another job to survive.

Forbes' list of the best paid authors:

1 JK Rowling, $300m

2 James Patterson, $50m

3 Stephen King, $45m

4 Tom Clancy, $35m

5 Danielle Steel, $30m

6 (Tie) John Grisham, $25m 6 (Tie) Dean Koontz, $25m

8 Ken Follett, $20m

9 Janet Evanovich, $17m

10 Nicholas Sparks, $16m