James Patterson is the world's highest paid author. The 64-year-old topped a Forbes magazine list of the world's highest paid authors, earning nearly £51million for the past year more than twice that of second-placed Danielle Steel
Such is the popularity of the New York-born writer - who has had a record 45 New York Times hardcover No1s with 250 million copies sold worldwide - that people will pay a fortune to have their names as characters in his books.
TOP EARNING AUTHORS
1:James Patterson: £51m
2: Danielle Steel, £21m
3: Stephen King, £17m
4: Janet Evanovich, £13m
5: Stephenie Meyer, £12m
6: Rick Riordan, £12m
7: Dean Koontz, £11.5m
8: John Grisham, £11m
9: Jeff Kinney, £10m
10: Nicholas Sparks, £9m