British author JK Rowling earned £1,560 per word for her book ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, a recent study, conducted by the UK-based global training company The Knowledge Academy on the best-selling books written by living authors around the world, claimed.
Published in 1997, the first of Rowling’s Harry Potter novels has sold over 120 million copies worldwide, earning the British author at least £120 million.
As the book contains 76,944 words, Rowling, 55, “pocketed” £1,560 per word, according to the study.
Three books from the Harry Potter series entered The Knowledge Academy's list of the top ten “per word earners” of living authors.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone topped the list as the best-selling book written by a living author.
“We analysed the best-selling books across the world by living authors, and found that Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the highest-earning book, earning JK Rowling a whopping £1,560-a-word,” a spokesperson for The Knowledge Academy said in a statement to The Sun.
Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ came in the third place, bringing the author £890 per word. ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ came in the 8th place, earning her £435 per word.
Brazilian author Paulo Coelho’s book ‘The Alchemist’, which sold 65 million copies, earned him £1,300 per word for its 45,000 words.
The top ten list also included books by authors Dan Brown, Susanna Tamaro, EL James, Jack Higgins, Banana Yoshimoto and Richard Bach.
