Forbes magazine has just released its yearly round-up of the world’s top-earning authors, and Young Adult (YA) fiction is dominating the field.
Forbes’ findings claim to take note of each listed writer’s earnings for the 12 months leading up to June 2014. It also collects sales figures across multiple media – with print, ebook, and audiobook tallies combined with TV and movie rights.
2014’s list goes to show how much sway Hollywood still has with the reading public; a noteworthy addition to the roll-call is author and YouTube sensation John Green - sales alone of his novel The Fault in our Stars helped him bring home nearly €7m, and come in joint 12th place.
Other newbies tying with Green are Gone Girl-scribe Gillian Flynn and Divergent-writer Veronica Roth.
Roth, who is only 26 years-old, made a whopping €13m when the earnings for the first movie instalment of her franchise are factored in.
YA’s popularity and massive sales seems to have taken the publishing world by surprise. Speaking to Forbes, Scholastic Trade Publishing’s Lori Benton said the genre has “reached adult audiences and really become okay to read.”
