14 Highest Earning Author’s from the Forbes List and their Philanthropy

I’m still riding the glamorously charitable vibe of TIFF 2012 which finished here in Toronto last weekend and I wrote about the philanthropic efforts of some of its attending stars (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3). This is a similar theme that I have explored in previous posts like the 10  Most Charitable Celebrities from the 2012 Oscar Nominees, the 10 Top Forbes Power Celebrities and the Charities They Support, the 10 Highest Paid Celebrities from Forbes Under 30 List and their Philanthropic Efforts, 10 Top Celebrity Charitable Contributions Based on Publicity Value, the 10 Highest Paid Actors from Forbes List and their Charities and 5 of the Highest Paid Celebrity Couples and Their Charitable Associations. Today, I’m going to continue along the same idea but rather than feature the elite of Hollywood I’ll be looking at the charitable efforts of the world’s highest earning authors.

In order to calculate this year’s list Forbes spoke “to authors, agents, publishers and other experts and review[ed] data including Nielsen BookScan sales figures.” To learn about the author’s charitable contributions we used  Look to the Stars as well as a number of other sources. Now here are the top fourteen of world’s highest earning authors:

• 13) Stephenie Meyer: $14 million. The writer of the “Twilight” saga is a supporter of the Red Cross. In fact she donated $1 from each copy of the first printing of the novella “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” to the American Red Cross. She was inspired to do this because of their relief efforts in Haiti.
• 13) Ken Follett: $14 million. The thriller and historical fiction writer, who penned books like “Fall of Giants”, “Pillars of the Earth”, “World Without End”, “Eye of the Needle”, “Whiteout” and “Hornet Flight” has supported Dyslexia Action, The Welsh Academy, Royal Society of Arts and National Academy of Writing.
• 12) George RR Martin: $15 million. Best known for having penned “Game of Thrones,” which is now an HBO series. “To help aid the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, George has graciously donated 40 first edition copies of his newest novel, A Dance With Dragons as well as copies of the chapbook, A Feast For Crows: Captain of the Guards. That’s not all though. George will sign and/or personalize these copies up for sale.”
• 11) JK Rowling: $17 million. The woman behind the beloved “Harry Potter” series supports many charities including Book Aid International, Catie Hoch Foundation, Children with AIDS, Dyslexia Action, Gingerbread, Haven Foundation, Heifer International, Lumos, Make A Child Smile Appeal, Multiple Sclerosis Society, Raisa Gorbachev Foundation, Women’s Fund for Scotland and XP Support Group.
• 10) Dean Koontz: $19 million. Known for his bestselling suspense thrillers, the author has supported Canine Companions for Independence.
• 9) Suzanne Collins: $20 million. She penned “The Hunger Games” trilogy and “The Underland Chronicles” and joined forces with other literary, political and Hollywood stars to create Bookprints To Help Children In Need.
• 7) Danielle Steel: $23 million. The author best known for her romantic novels created The Nick Traina Foundation in honour of her deceased son. She wrote the book “His Bright Light,” about her son’s life and struggle with bi-polar disease and the proceeds from the book go to “The Nick Traina Foundation, to fund organizations that offer hands on help to people with mental illness.”
• 7) Nora Roberts: $23 million. Known for her romance novels she has written under various pseudonyms including J.D. Robb for her “In Death” series as well as under the name Jill March. In 2009 she reportedly donated $4.45 million to the Nora Roberts Foundation to support literacy in underserved communities.
• 6) Bill O’Reilly: $24 million. The Fox News anchor who has written several political commentary books is a supporter of St. Francis Food Pantries and Shelters, The Doe Fund, Tuesday’s Children, Wounded Warrior Project and Yellow Ribbon Fund.
• 5) Jeff Kinney: $25 million. The writer of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series has named Sight Savers America his charity of choice.
• 4) John Grisham: $26 million. The author of popular and best selling legal thrillers is a supporter of Ubuntu Africa.
• 3) Janet Evanovich: $33 million. Evanovich is known for her contemporary style romance novels and she supports NWS Annual Summer Scholarship Fundraiser Benefiting Student Writers.
• 2) Stephen King: $39 million. The renowned horror fiction writer has supported Heifer International, Jimmy Fund and STK Foundation.
• 1) James Patterson: $94 million. The author of many thrillers is best known for his “Alex Cross” series of novels. He has been a supporter of Feed the Children, Operation Gratitude and United Service Organization.

You’ll notice that “50 Shades of Grey” trilogy author E.L. James is absent from the list, but given the success of her book she’ll most probably make this list next year.

Authors, no matter how well their books sell, don’t elicit the same kind of publicity as Hollywood stars so often their good deeds go unnoticed but this list illustrates how many of the top-selling authors are indeed giving back.

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