Highest Paying Author Is?

Who is the highest paying author according to Forbes? The answer might surprise you. If you make a living writing, you may know how hard it is to make any money at it, but some people are not only making a living, but also they are quite wealthy at their craft.

The Forbes rankings were based on earnings from books, film rights, television, gaming deals and other income from June 1, 2009, through June 1, 2010, according to Rueters.

Authors like Patterson, Meyer, and King make their fortune not just from their best selling fiction books, but they sell the rights to movie makers. The profits from the movies are counted in the list. So the writing industry is still hurting unless you write a blockbuster hit that is made into a movie.

Surprisingly, Stephen King is not at the top of the list, but 34 million is still not so bad for typing out a story. Stephenie Meyer chomped her way to the top with her "Twilight" saga. Patterson is at the top because he has been writing for a long time.

• James Patterson ($70m)
• Stephenie Meyer ($40m)
• Stephen King ($34m)
• Danielle Steel ($32m)
• Ken Follett ($20m)
• Dean Koontz ($18m)
• Janet Evanovich ($16m)
• John Grisham ($15m)
• Nicholas Sparks ($14m)
• JK Rowling ($10m)

The list is from Forbes.