Danielle Steele – $15.19 per word
Novelist Danielle Steele, who your mom is probably a big fan of, was somehow able to churn out seven books in 2017. This was great for her bottom line, but probably cut into her per-word total for the year, since she also wrote a staggering 724,160 words. Divided across the $11 million she reportedly made, that comes to about $15.19 per word.
Rick Riordan – $33.60 per word
Rick Riordan (and the rest of the authors on this list, for that matter) had a bit more manageable output in 2017, with three books and 327,360 words. He made the same amount as Steele, though – $11 million – for a healthier hypothetical per-word payout of $33.60.
E.L. James – $66.24 per word
When your career is really on a hot streak, you don’t have to write more than a book a year to pull in the big bucks. E.L. James, creator of the 50 Shades
Paula Hawkins – $119.13 per word
Paula Hawkins is another member of the one-and-done 2017 club, pulling in $13 million to write Into the Water. That novel had a healthy 109,120 words, which comes to $119.13 per word – not too shabby.
Nora Roberts – $35.28 per word
Nora Roberts had three books published in 2017, totaling about 396,800 words. She earned $14 million from those books, or about $35.28 per word – proof that not all big authors earn as much per word as their fellow big total earners.
John Grisham – $67.20 per word
The always reliable John Grisham had two novels and a bit over 208,000 words to his name in 2017. Like Nora Roberts, his haul for the year (strictly for his books) was $14 million, or $67.20 per word.
Stephen King – $67.20 per word
I have no idea what the odds of this are, but somehow Stephen King managed to make the same amount per word – $67.20 – as John Grisham. He did it with just one book, the 223,200-word Sleeping Beauties, for which he was paid $15 million.
Dan Brown – $144.93 per word
The Da Vinci Code guy wrote another book in 2017, this one called Origin, hovering around 117,000 words. Brown’s $20 million paycheck thus comes to about $144.93 a word.
Jeff Kinney – $302.42 per word
If you’re thinking about breaking into the writing game, the real way to maximize the bang for your per-word buck is to go into children’s books. Just look at Jeff Kinney, whose 69,000 word Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway netted him about $302.42 per word, the second-most of anyone on this list.
James Patterson – $278.41 per word
Grocery store novel maven James Patterson’s three 2017 books totaled 312,480 words, for which he earned $278.41 each.
J.K. Rowling – $957.66 per word
The creator of Harry Potter is by far the highest-paid author of 2017, and unsurprisingly that $95 million she made from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child led to – by far – the highest per-word payday at $957.66 per word. Again: Children’s books are where it’s at.
