--- title: JK Rowling, James Patterson: Highest Paid Authors of 2016 description: J.K. Rowling may have stolen the headlines this week, but at least two other authors have plenty to celebrate canonical: https://time.com/4437239/james-patterson-jeff-kinney-jk-rowling-highest-paid-authors/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-03T17:05:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:45:01.580Z article:section: Ideas og:title: These Are the Highest-Paid Authors of 2016 og:description: Forbes has announced its annual literary list og:url: https://time.com/4437239/james-patterson-jeff-kinney-jk-rowling-highest-paid-authors/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c42229388ec934d/6988a0fa8e060171cd46707c/james-patterson.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4896 og:image:height: 2754 og:image:alt: Briarcliff Manor, NY - May 29, 2016: Bestselling author James P og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Are the Highest-Paid Authors of 2016 twitter:description: Forbes has announced its annual literary list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1c42229388ec934d/6988a0fa8e060171cd46707c/james-patterson.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # James Patterson, Jeff Kinney and J.K. 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According to [_Forbes_](http://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2016/08/03/the-worlds-highest-paid-authors-2016-james-patterson-jeff-kinney-and-j-k-rowling-top-ranking/#2c603e995218)‘ annual ranking of the highest paid authors of the year, James Patterson and Jeff Kinney have the [_Harry Potter_ ](http://time.com/4433100/harry-potter-cursed-child-questions/)author beat in total earnings from June 2015 to June 2016. Patterson, who in addition to his adult novels writes several children’s books a year and recently launched a series of affordable novellas, [BookShots](http://www.jamespatterson.com/bookshots.php), earned an estimated $95 million pre-tax. He’s likely to stay high in the rankings next year, with plenty of upcoming books like [_Woman of God._](https://www.amazon.com/dp/031627402X?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20) Kinney, author of the _Diary of a Wimpy Kid_ series, came in second with an estimated $19.5 million. Rowling clocked in just below him at $19 million—but since the numbers ended before the release of [_Harry Potter and the Cursed Child_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1338099132?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20)(which has already sold more than 2 million copies), and with the upcoming [_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_](http://time.com/4434040/jk-rowling-harry-potter-fantastic-beasts/) premiering in November, she’s likely to give the others a serious run for their money in next year’s rankings. _Forbes_ calculates figures using sales from books, e-books, audiobooks, TV and movie earnings, and in the case of someone like Rowling, income from theme parks and other products. The only newcomer to the list this year was Paula Hawkins, whose novel [_The Girl on the Train_](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594634025?ie=UTF8&tag=timecom-20)is likely to be just as bankable (if not more so) in the year to come: its recently released paperback edition is topping bestseller charts, and the [movie](http://time.com/4411019/the-girl-on-the-train-second-trailer-emily-blunt/) adaptation hits theaters in October. \[[_Forbes_](http://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2016/08/03/the-worlds-highest-paid-authors-2016-james-patterson-jeff-kinney-and-j-k-rowling-top-ranking/#2c603e995218)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4437239/james-patterson-jeff-kinney-jk-rowling-highest-paid-authors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4437239/james-patterson-jeff-kinney-jk-rowling-highest-paid-authors/"},"headline":"James Patterson, Jeff Kinney and J.K. 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