Knowledge is power. And I like to know who is at the top of their games, or at least whose work the American public is interested in buying. To this end, here’s the list from Forbes magazine of the highest grossing authors of 2013, as well as a little information about their publishers and genre. (Remember that publishers and genres change, so consider this information current, but far from involuble.)

1. EL James – $95m                Random House; erotic romance
2. James Patterson – $91m     Little, Brown & Co.; crime thrillers
3. Suzanne Collins – $55m      Scholastic Press; YA fiction (sci-fi)
4. Bill O’Reilly – $28m              various publishers; various genre
5. Danielle Steel – $26m          Random House; romance
6. Jeff Kinney – $24m              HarperCollins; children’s
7. Janet Evanovich – $24m      St. Martin’s Press; romance, thriller
8. Nora Roberts – $23m           Penguin Group; romance
9. Dan Brown – $22m                          Simon & Schuster; thriller, adventure, mystery, conspiracy
10. Stephen King – $20m                      Simon & Schuster; horror
11. Dean Koontz – $20m                       HarperCollins; sci-fi, but crossing genres
12. John Grisham – $18m                      Knopf Doubleday; legal thriller
13. David Baldacci – $15m                    Grand Central; thriller
14. Rick Riordan – $14 million               Disney-Hyperion; fantasy, and detective/mystery
15. J.K. Rowling – $13 million                Bloomsbury; fantasy
16. George R.R. Martin – $12 million     Simon & Schuster; fantasy, horror, and sci-fi

How many of these authors have you read? Do you have a favorite? I’d love to know.[subscribe2]