'Forbes' lists E.L. James as top-earning author By Jennifer Arellano, EW August 14, 2013 -- Updated 2128 GMT (0528 HKT) E. L. James attended a Comic-Con event in San Diego, California in July 2013. "50 Shades of Grey" has been good to its author E.L. James raked in an estimated $95 million this year J.K. Rowling was much lower on the Forbes list (EW.com) -- E.L. James' ought to revise the title of her publishing juggernaut, 50 Shades of Grey, to 50 Shades of cold hard cash. After all, the author raked in an estimated $95 million this year, making her the world's top-earning author, according to Forbes. Rounding out the top five on Forbes' list are familiar names of the crime, fantasy, conservative pundit, and romance genres. In a close second place is James Patterson, earning $91 million, followed by Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins with $55 million, Bill O'Reilly with $28 million, and No. 5 is prolific romance author Danielle Steel with $26 million. Forbes culled these estimated numbers from sales data available from June 2012 to June 2013. Much lower on Forbes' list were No. 15 J.K. Rowling with earnings estimates of $13 million for her adult fiction releases The Casual Vacancy and The Cuckoo's Calling, and No. 16 George R.R. Martin with $12 million, though he was the best-selling paperback author of 2012. Let's see if these publishing and e-book sales for James translate to box-office green with next summer's 50 Shades movie.