The Writer Rich List of 2016. Translated from zuojiabang.cn. USD values were converted using an approximate exchange rate of 1 USD=6.64 RMB.
I found this when I was researching to update my Twelve Olympians article for 2016. That ranking based on a voting system will also come out soon.
There is also an author ranking for authors, scriptwriters, foreign authors and others.
| Rank | Author | Age | Royalties (RMB * 10000) | Royalties (USD) | Bestseller/Seminal Work |
| 1 | Tang Jia San Shao (唐家三少) | 36 | 12200 | 18,373,494 | Douluo Dalu |
| 2 | Tian Can Tu Dou (Heavenly Silkworm Potato/ 天蚕土豆) | 28 | 6000 | 9,036,145 | Wu Dong Qian Kun |
| 3 | Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi (I Eat Tomatoes/ 我吃西红柿) | 30 | 5000 | 7,530,120 | Stellar Transformation |
| 4 | Yue Guan (Moon Gate/月关) | 45 | 4800 | 7,228,916 | Embroidered Guard Walking In The Night (TV adaptation: Braveness of the Ming) |
| 5 | Ku Lou Jing Ling (Skeleton Elf/ 骷髅精灵) | 36 | 4600 | 6,927,711 | Holy Hall |
| 6 | Tian Shi Ao Si Ka (Angel Oscar/ 天使奥斯卡) | 41 | 4500 | 6,777,108 | Magnificent Tang |
| 7 | Meng Ru Shen Ji (Ecstatic Dream Machine / 梦入神机) | 33 | 2700 | 4,066,265 | Dragonmark |
| 8 | Chen Dong (辰东) | 36 | 2600 | 3,915,663 | Perfect World |
| 9 | Liu Xia Hui (柳下挥) | 29 | 2500 | 3,765,060 | Inverted Dragon Scale |
| 10 | Gao Lou Da Sha (Skyscraper/ 高楼大厦) | 37 | 2100 | 3,162,651 | Unparalleled Heavenly Lord |
| 11 | Yan Yu Jiang Nan ( 烟雨江南) | 43 | 1900 | 2,861,446 | King of Eternal Night (1, 2) |
| 12 | Feng Huo Xi Zhu Hou (烽火戏诸侯) | 31 | 1800 | 2,710,843 | The Snowy Path of the Heroic Blade |
| 13 | Demon Night (妖夜) | 33 | 1700 | 2,560,241 | The Indestructible Dragon Emperor |
| 14 | Wu Zui (Not Guilty/无罪) | 38 | 1660 | 2,500,000 | Sword Dynasty |
| 15 | He Chang Zai (何常在) | 41 | 1650 | 2,484,940 | Aspire To The Throne |
| 16 | Shap Knife (小刀锋利) | 34 | 1300 | 1,957,831 | Murdering Heaven’s Edge |
| 17 | Fishman The Second (鱼人二代) | 34 | 1280 | 1,927,711 | School Beauty’s Personal Bodyguard |
| 18 | Forest Wolf (Cong Lin Lang) | 42 | 1250 | 1,882,530 | The Strongest Soldier King |
| 19 | Goose Is Old Five (鹅是老五) | 42 | 1100 | 1,656,627 | Immortal Mortal |
| 20 | Rain Demon (雨魔) | 35 | 1000 | 1,506,024 | Beast King |
The works they use to represent authors may be the most recent work or their most famous.
Er Gen aint the richest…… =_=? what magic is this…..
Was surprised as well.
Er Gen hide his wealth inside Qiankun pouch
From what I could tell, the most lucrative novels and authors are action/wuxia novels? I guess they appeal to both men and women.
Yup, those make the most money. The amount of money they get paid for word count adds up.
Perfect World is my favourite on this list, why he only 6th? Ah well. Also, King of the Eternal night is on this frickin list, holy shit. I love that story, but it gets next to no love from translators, what gives?
King of the eternal night will likely be translated by alyschu soon as she said so, once against gods catches up, which isn’t far from, it will replace atg… so it’s just a matter of waiting when she starts releasing…
I know … … but there is no link yet so … …
Wu Zui (Not Guilty/无罪) seem to be Innocent on Novelupdate author of path to heaven, should add more work on his name in NU it seems
Hmm…
I only like IET’s works on this list. I dont like TJSS or HSP. Chen Dong? Maybe…
So sad Fang Xiang not on this list…
I’m not sure how much he made … … he switched from Qidian to zongheng back to Qidian and his “word output” isn’t as high as other authors.
TJSS ‘s greatest work is only DD.. Other s are subtier..
How much popularity Xiao Ding has ? I know zhu xian got alot of attention through out the years, wonder how much he made ?
He’s popular but not as “popular” or rich in terms of money. I think Zhu Xian was published as more of a “pay x for xx amount of words” rather than the revenue sharing that might be going on now.
Almost had a seizure when I saw WDQK listed as a seminal work. At least choose Battle Through The Heavens or The Great Ruler… I wouldn’t be happy, but at least I wouldn’t be in despair.
It changes depending on the year. Wu Dong Qian Kun is having the adaptation first, I think, which may have influenced them.
Something
Where is Er Gen… My fav author 😂
He needs an adaptation of his novels. He’ll most likely make it onto the list for next year.
hello fascinating post.
i hope you also translate this year’s list. as movies-TV series, virtual games and other multimedia come to the phore this list may change. perhaps drastically. i am curious.
i read a while ago that Chen Dong and 4 others started a company to excusively deal movie / tv series rights for their book and they were hoping Er gen will soon join them. the article mentioned 70million ( yuan ? ) advance to Chen Dong for his current book though it feels number may be incorrect. i also saw another Tencent news ( with photo including many authors ) of their plan to make 31 TV series in near future. quite few will be based on webnovels from Q. Tencent owns Q.
many thanks for your these occasional but informative posts.