By Jade Scipioni

At 73, James Patterson has sold more than 425 million copies of his 200 novels globally, making him one of the highest paid authors in the world.

Patterson had annual earnings topping more than $80 million between June 2019 to June 2020 and sold nearly 5 million in books in the U.S. during that time, according to Forbes.

In July, Patterson signed a multi-project deal with Amazon’s Audible for an undisclosed amount, with his first Audible Original, “The Coldest Case” out Thursday.

“I do not work for a living, I play for a living. I love doing it,” Patterson tells CNBC Make It.

But Patterson’s road to success didn’t happen overnight. He started writing as a side hustle and he faced a lot of rejection before getting his first book published.

See More [CNBC]