Category Archives: John Grisham

10.5 Million Gets You on the List

Nora Roberts on Goodreads

The Forbes list of wealthiest writers over a one year period hit the newsstands recently. And there are a few surprises. James Patterson headed the list (no surprise here). Bill Clinton recently collaborated with him on a novel entitled The President is Missing. Patterson sold nearly 5 million books in the U.S. alone this year, earning $86 million, according to Forbes.

J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame is right behind him (or $32 million behind him, anyway). Many know her story as an author. She grabbed $54 million over this time frame, $41 million less than last year. Pretty rough year.

Stephen King, writer – and Boston Red Sox fan, was number three. He still writes macabre stories and gets paid very well for them. That’s scary. In many ways, he’s kind of the modern day Alfred Hitchcock. He made $27 million – much, much more than Hitchcock ever dreamed of (or had a nightmare about).

The Rest of the List

John Grisham was fourth. I have a great deal of respect for JG — and not just because he, too, is a huge baseball fan (see my blog post of January 1, 2018 for a deeper dive into what I think of him). He wasn’t too far behind his friend King, as his haul reached $21 million.

Number five was a tie. Jeff Kinney must’ve been some wimpy kid, so I didn’t think I’d ever heard of him. However, Dan Brown, the author on the list that Kinney tied in the rankings, I have heard of. Danielle Steele and Nora Roberts are names that most people recognize. They tied for eighth on the list. I’m not that familiar with Rick Riordan and E.L James, perhaps because I don’t generally read fiction. They pulled up the bottom of the list with ONLY $10.5 million in earnings (each) this year.

One More Gainfully Employed Individual

Michael Wolff made the Top 10 after the release of his book, Fire and Fury, this year. Apparently, Trump got him a job, too, since DJT’s been in office. Wolff is the first nonfiction author on the list in 11 years. The book sold 1.7 million copies, flying off the shelves in hardcover, e-book and audio formats in the first three weeks alone. Wolff earned an estimated $13 million from June of 2017 to June of 2018. This placed him seventh on the list of the year’s wealthiest writers.

Persistence is a Plus

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Rowling didn’t give up either. She was a single mom who lived in a small flat while going to cafes to write Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. She often took her daughter Jessica (named after Jessica Mitford, the British investigative journalist and activist, who was J.K.’s favorite author). Jessica slept in a pram next to her while J.K. scribbled away.

J.K. said she was as poor as possible without being homeless — severely depressed and considered suicide. Christopher Little, an “obscure London literary agent,” finally accepted Rowling’s book, after she was on the receiving end of many rejection letters.

Grisham didn’t give up either. He felt that the fact that he had successfully completed law school – persevered through years of study, then taking the bar exam – was ideal training for the task of persisting through the obstacle course that is publishing.

All earnings describe June 1, 2017 thru June 1, 2018. Figures are pretax; fees for agents, managers and lawyers aren’t deducted (and you can be sure they’ll get their share). NPD BookScan and Box Office Mojo collected the data. Industry insiders, along with some of the authors themselves, were interviewed for the study.

The world’s 11 highest paid authors sold nearly 25 million print books combined in the U.S. alone over the one year period. Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train, was most likely #11.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

FJ Felsburg, ghostwriter, publisher and marketer, lives in Western North Carolina with his beautiful wife and hyperactive dog, surrounded by woods infiltrated with snakes, raccoons, bears, bobcats, white squirrels and turkeys.

A Great (Success) Story

www.bostonglobe.com

John Grisham married a woman six years his junior. He grew up in Oxford, Mississippi, right next door to the girl he would go on to marry. The now famous author said when he came back from school, she had grown up! He went to Ole Miss after attending some smaller schools (he changed colleges three times before graduating). But her parents wouldn’t allow him to date her because he was too old. On their first date, her parents weren’t home and they went out to see a movie.

A Time to Kill was his breakout book. He also wrote The Pelican Brief and The Firm. Grisham has sold more books (nearly 300 million) than any other author. Aside from his children’s book series, he has penned a total of 33 books – 31 novels, one collection of short stories and one work of non-fiction.

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, was a book that inspired him. Lee, like Grisham, was from the Deep South. In addition, he enjoyed reading Mark Twain’s Roughing It, John le Carre’s Little Drummer Girl and Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.

As long as he can remember, however, he really wanted to be a professional baseball player. After that dream died, he built a $3.8 million stadium in Virginia. He is a St. Louis Cardinals fan and is involved with RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities). Combining his vocation and his avocation, he wrote the original screenplay for Mickey, a baseball drama movie which starred Harry Connick, Jr.

Old School Media

He said he gets most of his fodder from the newspaper. There is always a story there of a trial taking place. He postulates there is inevitably a “Crime of the Century” every two years or so.

He started writing early on in his life. Grisham said he was a terrible lawyer but was always dreaming of the big case. Because he was a young attorney, he felt that time was on his side. Knowing that writers like James Michener wouldn’t be around forever, he knew would have his day sooner or later.

It doesn’t take a speed reader to realize that many of his books start with the word “the.” The Runaway Jury, The Client, The Brethren, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The King of Torts, The Summons, The Broker, The Appeal, The Associate, The Confession, The Litigators and The Last Juror. Exceptions include Bleachers, Skipping Christmas, Playing for Pizza and A Painted House. Regardless, they have all become international bestsellers.

Start Before the Day Catches Fire

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He said that men don’t generally write women very well. Those who read Gray Mountain, which included a female lead character, would probably agree.

The Big Screen

His books have been adapted into screenplays, starring such notable actors as Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts and Gene Hackman. The books themselves have been translated into nearly 50 languages.

Lately, he has been writing for the kids market. Theodore Boone is a series of books that have gotten much attention. Theodore’s parents are both lawyers and are very smart. While the kid can’t practice law (because of his age), he knows it very well and imparts helpful information to friends and members of his community.

Wynwood Press picked up A Time to Kill (after it was rejected by 28 publishers) and gave it a modest print run. Doubleday ended up republishing it – and turned it into a blockbuster.

The Innocent Man marked his foray into non-fiction. Grisham boasts that, after 30 books, there’s still plenty to write about. He wishes he could write two or three books a year – but instead has been writing one a year for quite some time.

JG says “If what you are writing is good, it will eventually get noticed.” And perseverance is a big, big part of it.

About the Author

Frank Felsburg resides in Western North Carolina. He is a former college baseball player and an avid golfer.