HARRY POTTER - JK ROWLING EARNS '£5 PER SECOND' AS WORLD'S RICHEST AUTHOR

JK ROWLING EARNS '£5 PER SECOND' AS WORLD'S RICHEST AUTHOR

The creator of Harry Potter has seen her bank balance swell by more than £5 every second in the last year, according to a new report.

JK Rowling has been confirmed as the world's highest-earning author by Forbes magazine, which adjudges the mother-of-three to have made $300 million (£170 million) in the last 12 months.

Though James Patterson, author of Along Came A Spider earned a huge $50 million (£28 million) in the last year, his earnings paled in comparison to "children's literary sensation" Rowling.

"It was wizardry that transformed JK Rowling from a destitute single mother on welfare into a best-selling billionaire," said a Forbes spokesman.

"Over on the big screen, her Potter franchise has already generated $4.5 billion [£2.5 billion] at the worldwide box office - and she still has three more flicks to come."

Rowling's Harry Potter books have earned sold more than 400 million copies while the final instalment, The Deathly Hallows, sold a stunning 15 million copies in its first 24 hours on release.

The top ten best-paid authors in the world are:

1 JK Rowling - $300m (£170m)
2 James Patterson - $50m (£28m)
3 Stephen King - $45m (£25m)
4 Tom Clancy - $35m (£20m)
5 Danielle Steel - $30m (£17m)
6 John Grisham - $25m (£14m)
6 Dean Koontz - $25m (£14m)
8 Ken Follett - $20m (£11m)
9 Janet Evanovich - $17m (£10m)
10 Nicholas Sparks - $16m (£9m)