Harry Potter conjures up £3m a week for writer JK
JK Rowling earned £3million a week last year from the Harry Potter books she started writing while raising her daughter on benefits.
Sales from the final instalment of the seven-part series mean Ms Rowling, 43, now has a £560million fortune.[>
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And yesterday America’s Forbes magazine officially crowned her the world’s best- paid author.[>
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Forbes, which specialises in rich lists, said her income is more than the next nine best-selling writers put together.[>
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In the 12 months to June this year, she earned £160million. Her nearest rival, James Patterson, earned £26.7million.[>
There is still plenty of money to be made in the business of books
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Ms Rowling has sold more than 375 million books.[>
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And Forbes’s Lacey Rose said: “There is still plenty of money to be made in the business of books.[>
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“The adventures of the teen magician and his Hogwarts classmates took the publishing world by storm in 1998, when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone became a bona fide hit. [>
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“Her Potter film franchise has already generated £2.1billion at the worldwide box office – and she still has three more flicks to come.”[>
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The final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, is not due out until 2011.[>
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Ms Rowling shares creative control over the movies and negotiated an undisclosed cut of the profits. [>
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She also receives a share from toy merchandising. Video games by Electronic Arts generate even more. Images of the boy wizard and his friends at Hogwarts appear on everything from sticking plasters to sweets.[>
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A Harry Potter amusement park is being built at Universal Studios’ Orlando park in Florida.[>
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Ms Rowling lives in a £1.5million mansion in Edinburgh and also has homes in Perthshire and London. She said: “I know I am the luckiest woman in the world. I am immensely privileged.”[>
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She gave £1million to Labour last month, saying: “I believe poor and vulnerable families will fare much better under the Labour party than they would under a Cameron-led Conservative party.” Critics suggested she should have given the money to charity instead.[>
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Ms Rowling, married to anaesthetist Dr Neil Murray, has three children, Jessica, 14, David, five, and Mackenzie, three.[>
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Her books have been criticised as formulaic but praised by fellow writers like Stephen King.[>
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