'Twilight' author, Stephenie Meyer is America’s JK Rowling

Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight series of teen vampire books, lives modestly in the town of Cave Creek, Arizona in the same house for the last decade. Based on the book sales and films' phenomenon, she may be the next JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books.

All four books in the Twilight Saga have sold 85 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 37 languages including Vietnamese, Chinese and Croatian.

Last year alone, 27 million Twilight books were sold in 37 countries. Time magazine calls it 'the publishing phenomenon of the new century'.

With the release of the second film, New Moon, the publishers, Little, Brown & Company, expect a surge in sales, if it reaches a broader audience than teen girls who have already read it. Similar to the Harry Potter phenomenon, the Twilight books translate to movie success which increases readership, as does the star-crossed love theme.

Meyer's four ‘Twilight' books, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn are in the top 20 on USA Today's bestseller list, which includes young adult books with adult fiction. Breaking Dawn, which was released August 2009, sold 1.3 million copies on the first day in the US.

Meyer, a 35-year-old mother of three, who started writing only five years ago, has been asked by fans on her own website about the status of the next book, in the Twilight series, Midnight Sun, to which she's replied it's currently on hold. She has a couple more books to write to catch up with Rowling's Harry Potter series.

www.stepheniemeyer.com

The publisher has set up a separate website for Twilight: www.thetwilightsaga.com/

RC