Wimpy Kid earns more than JK Rowling

THE new Harry Potter play is sold out and the script is a best seller.

But no amount of spells from the boy wizard were enough to make JK Rowling the richest author in the world this year.

Miss Rowling came in third on the Forbes list of wealthiest writers after earning £14.2million in the past 12 months.

She earned less than James Patterson, known for his Alex Cross series, who raked in £71.3 million.

In a distant second was Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney on £14.6million. Miss Rowling could not top the list despite the Potter empire growing by the year. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in the US continues to be a huge tourist attraction.

The new play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, is sold out in London until May 2017 and the script, released this week, became the fastest selling book this decade. The annual list showed that the 13 richest writers earned a total of £201 million. In joint fifth were Stephen King, Danielle Steel and Nora Roberts who earned £11.3 million each.

In eighth was Fifty Shades of Grey author EL James, who pulled in £10.5 million last year after the success of the film adaptation.

The pre-tax figures were worked out by compiling print, ebook and audiobook sales from industry analysts Nielsen. TV and film earnings were also factored in from June 2015 to June 2016.