Twilight Author 'Can't Write Worth a Darn': King

James Patterson, Stephenie Meyer lead the way

(NEWSER) - A tribute of sorts to Harry Potter: JK Rowling isn't putting out new Potter books, but sales of existing ones still put her in the top 10 of the year's highest-paid authors. (She came in 10th with $10 million.) Read the full Forbes list here , but here's the top 5:

1. James Patterson, $70 million: He'll put out 17 more books by the end of 2012.
2. Stephenie Meyer, $40 million: Vampires pay.
3. Stephen King, $34 million: He's even got a musical in the works with John Mellencamp.
4. Danielle Steel, $32 million: Four new hardcovers this year alone.
5. Ken Follett, $20 million: His Pillars of the Earth thriller has been adapted to a TV series with Donald Sutherland.

Vampire author gaining on Rowling's popularity

(NEWSER) - Have we finally found the next JK Rowling? Even Brits are starting to admit Twilight creator Stephenie Meyer is coming close, the Daily Telegraph reports. The 34-year-old Mormon author of a series of swoon-worthy novels about teen vampires has a similar “out of nowhere” story, and her book and movie sales are starting to give Harry, if not a run for his money, at least cause for concern. More»

First non-Beck book is by... a YA author?

(NEWSER) - Glenn Beck may be leaving Fox but you’ll still see a lot of him at the bookstore. Beck’s Mercury Radio Arts has signed a deal with Simon & Schuster both to publish a bunch of Beck’s own books, and to create Mercury Ink, a division devoted to Beck’s pet authors, the companies announced today. First up: a political book from Beck titled The Original Argument: The Federalists’ Case for the Constitution, Adapted for the 21st Century. More»

Ancestry.com unveils Robert Pattinson's relation to Dracula

(NEWSER) - This is sure to send all those Twilight-obsessed tweens into a tizzy: Robert Pattinson, aka Edward Cullen of the Twilight films, is related to Dracula. At least, he’s related to Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula character, the AP reports. Twilight author Stephenie Meyer is also, conveniently enough, related to Vlad. More»

But it's not necessarily because of Stephenie Meyer's books

(NEWSER) - Has Twilight officially taken over the world? Maybe so, considering “Isabella” and “Jacob” are now the most popular names in America for newborn girls and boys, respectively. For those of you who don’t live and breathe the popular vampire franchise, Bella and Jacob are the names of two main characters—but don’t blame author Stephenie Meyer completely. Jacob has been No. 1 for 11 years now, and Isabella has been on the rise since 2005, NPR reports. More»