In terms of royalties, Chinese writer Jiang Nan (birth name Yang Zhi) topped the China Writers Rich List for 2015 as the wealthiest with 32 million yuan ($4.9 million), the Global Times reported.
Earlier this month, Jiang Nan announced that he was establishing a new company, Smart Dragon, to explore the expansion of his IPs into other media, including film, TV, games and virtual reality experiences. Jiang was known for his Dragon Raja and Eagle Flag series.
Two other fantasy novelists dominated the top three in the list, including Leon Image, author of the best-selling Charlie IX series of children's books, who ranked second with 20 million yuan, and fairy tale master Zheng Yuanjie on third place.
"In Western countries, 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'Harry Potter' books are still best-sellers. The reason why fantasy novels are so popular is that before a teenager enters the real world, he wants to experience a fantastic world," Wu Huaiyao, the founder of the China Writers Rich List, said. "People demand stories with exciting and inspirational elements, which indicates that the Chinese reading market is very similar to the international market."
Ranked seventh on the list is Zhang Jiajia, with 14 million yuan, with his bedtime stories for adults. He is now actively working on the adaptation of his works to the big screen, working both as film director and scriptwriter.
Two of the most popular post-1980 writers in China, Guo Jingming and Han Han, dropped out of top 10, and now ranked at 20 and 55, respectively. The duo's royalties dropped most likely due to their interest in other fields.
Jiang Shengnan, who became popular for the book series on which the controversial "The Legend of Mi Yue" TV series was based, was ranked at eighth.
Liu Cixin, the winner of the Hugo Award in 2015 for his sci-fi novel "The Three-body Problem," was among the newcomers in the list.
The Huaxi Metropolis Daily has been releasing annually the China Writers Rich List for the past decade, with the author income calculated based on book sales.
The list was further broken down into several categories that include an online writers list, comic book authors list and scriptwriters list. According to the report, the categories show that online writers can earn more than traditional authors as online literature in China continues to rise.