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Scots writers take five places in top 50 list of world book sales

SCOTS authors have ranked high in a list of the world's writers whose books pull in the most cash.

The list reveals the value of books sold in the UK, not the author's wealth, with Scots the world can't wait to read amassing millions of pounds worth of sales.

Not surprisingly, JK Rowling is the top author in the world. Her tales of the wizard school boy have seen her achieve an incredible £237.6 million worth of sales.

She is one of five writers from Scotland to be included in the list, compiled by The Bookseller magazine.

Next in line in the Scots honour list is Glasgow-based Julia Donaldson, at Number 11 in the Top 50 of best-selling writers.

Donaldson has convinced readers that writing books really is kids' stuff, selling £62.1m worth, including The Grufallo and Room On The Broom.

Ian Rankin clearly proves that crime does pay. The former grape-picker and hi-fi journalist turned to crime writing and as a result the adventures of Edinburgh cop Inspector Rebus have pulled in an incredible £48.7m, taking him to Number 18 in the list.

And crime, albeit rather soft crime bordering on mischief, also provides a nice little earner for Alexander McCall Smith.

The writer comes just behind Rankin at Number 20 with sales of £46.7m, thanks to his creation Precious Ramotswe the Botswanian lady who runs the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

The fifth Scot to make the Top Fifty is Renfrewshire-born Gordon Ramsay, at No 45, whose book Cooking For Friends racked up £28.5m.

There are some surprises among the non-Scots who have made the Top Fifty. Jamie Oliver has cooked up an amazing £126.4m in sales, and made No 2 in the world best sellers.

There will be few shocked to learn that Da Vinci Code writer Dan Brown's publishers have banked a very nice £82m, but not many people would have expected that Richard Parsons, a bloke who has written about how to pass GCSE exams, would sell £69.5m worth of books to reach No 8 in the list.

TV presenter and gardener Alan Titchmarsh saw book sales bloom to £29.6m, with glamour model and celebrity figure Katie Price coming in at No 46 after selling £26.9m worth of books, which have broadly been written by someone else.

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