Crime Pays

There was an article in the UK's Guardian over the weekend about how much the top British and American crime novelists have earned. These are the highest earnings of all time (I think). The income figures include books, film rights, etc. I was a bit surprised some of the folks have earned this much, but that's probably envy talking.

The U.S. list:

John Grisham $600m

Dan Brown $400m

Patricia Cornwell $300m+

Robert Ludlum $300m

Michael Crichton $300m

Michael Connelly $250m

Thomas Harris $150m

Elmore Leonard $100m

Ed McBain $75m

James Ellroy $50m

The British list:

Ian Fleming £100m+

Agatha Christie £100m

Jeffrey Archer £70m

Jack Higgins £50m+

Ken Follett £50m

Dick Francis, just under £50m

Ruth Rendell £30m+

Lee Child £30m

Ian Rankin £25m

Alexander McCall Smith £20m

I'd be happy to earn a fraction of those numbers. Heck, I'm thrilled when anyone anywhere buys one of my books. Can't really imagine this level of sales.