Author Speaking Fees: Who Gets Paid Ridiculous Sums To Talk?

9 Authors With Outrageous Speaking Fees
This Oct. 16, 2012 photo shows author J.K. Rowling at an appearance to promote her latest book "The Casual Vacancy," at The David H. Koch Theater in New York. Rowling, the popular author of the "Harry Potter" series, spoke for just over an hour before a capacity crowd in her sole U.S. public appearance to promote her first novel for grownups. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)
This Oct. 16, 2012 photo shows author J.K. Rowling at an appearance to promote her latest book "The Casual Vacancy," at The David H. Koch Theater in New York. Rowling, the popular author of the "Harry Potter" series, spoke for just over an hour before a capacity crowd in her sole U.S. public appearance to promote her first novel for grownups. (Photo by Dan Hallman/Invision/AP)

This week, Jonah Lehrer caused even more controversy when it was announced that he was paid $20,000 for his public apology about his plagiarism scandal.

People were shocked that he received so much money to confess that he lied, particularly when everyone already knew that he lied. The Knight Foundation has since apologized for paying him.

This debacle got us thinking: which other authors get paid outrageous sums of money to speak at events? We can tell you that quite a few make loads more than Jonah Lehrer made.

What do you think about speaking fees? Should authors be making this much just to talk?

NOTE: Many of these are Internet estimates, and some might vary more than others.

Malcolm Gladwell

Authors With Outrageous Speaking Fees

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