JK Rowling is world’s highestearning author

British writer tops Forbes’ list, beating Dan Brown and Stephen King

Harry Potter creator JK Rowling has been named the world’s most highly paid author with earnings of $95,000,000 (approximately £72,183,000) this year.

The British writer beat the likes of Dan Brown, Stephen King and John Grisham to top Forbes’ list of the 10 highest earners in the global industry for the first time in almost 10 years.

The announcement comes soon after her legions of worldwide fans celebrated the 20th anniversary of her first instalment of the boy wizard series.

She has written a further six Harry Potter titles, which have been turned into eight blockbuster feature films, and she last year made her screenwriting debut with a prequel movie, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.

The mother-of-three, 52, first began writing about the wizarding world while struggling to make ends meet living as a single mother on benefits in Edinburgh.

The books’ popularity soon made her a multi-millionaire and she has since released several other novels and founded children’s charity Lumos.

Aside from Rowling, the US business magazine’s list also includes British authors Paula Hawkins and EL James – whose respective novels The Girl On The Train and 50 Shades Of Grey have both been turned into major movies in recent years – while the others are all American.

Game Of Thrones creator George RR Martin and The Fault In Our Stars writer John Green failed to make the top 10.

Picture: PA. JK Rowling earned £72,183,000 last year.