Most popular foreign writers in China revealed

By Mei Jia (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2012-11-29 19:59

The most successful foreign writers in China in 2012 have been revealed, with the release of the Chinese Writers Rich List on Thursday.

Harry Potter series creator J.K. Rowling tops the list of 15 foreign writers. Her new adult novel The Casual Vacancy continues to be popular among Chinese readers.

The list's author Wu Huaiyao told China Daily on Thursday that he thinks the list offers clues to foreign writers and publishers about what kind of books can grab the attention of readers from the huge Chinese market.

"What the Chinese readers buy is what they love to read," Wu said.

The 2012 Foreign Writers Rich List, ranked according to royalties earned in China.

Rank	Author	Nationality	Royalty in China (yuan)	Representative Work
1	J.K. Rowling	UK	15,000,000 ($2,400,000)	The Casual Vacancy
2	Gabriel Garcia Marquez	Columbia	6,000,000	One Hundred Years of Solitude
3	Walter Isaacson	US	5,000,000	Steve Jobs
4	Christian Jolibois，Christian Heinrich?	France	3,300,000	Les P'Tites Poules
5	Haruki Murakami	Japan	3,000,000	1Q84
6	Keigo Higashino	Japan	2,800,000	Byakuyakō
7	Thomas Brezina	Austria	2,600,000	A Mystery for You and The Tiger Team
8	Tetsuko Kuroyanagi	Japan	2,000,000	Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window
9	Dan Brown	US	1,600,000	Da Vinci Code
10	Kazuo Inamori		1,500,000	A Compass to Fulfillment
11	Khaled Hosseini	US	1,300,000	The Kite Runner
12	Naoko takagi	Japan	1,250,000	Alone for the First Time
13	Kim Rando	Republic of Korea	1,200,000	Youth, Painful Splendor
14	Rhonda Byrne	Australia	1,150,000	The Secret
15	S.J. Watson	UK	1,000,000	Before I Go to Sleep