Jo Nesbø did not publish a new book "Harry Hole" in 2018 – he still won 15.3 million NOK

Through the intermediary of his company Skriveverkstedet as, the author and musician Jo Nesbø finished last year with a turnover of 15.6 million NOK.

The former football player, financial analyst and civilian economist made a pre-tax profit of $ 15.3 million a year by publishing a book – his own version of Shakespeare's classic "Macbeth".

Nesbø does not want to comment on the accounting figures.

Giant wealth

This is a slight decrease from 15.9 million NOK the previous year. The profit is transferred to the equity of the company, which amounted to about 132 million NOK.

In addition, the author, through the company, increased its investments from NOK 110 million in 2017 to NOK 123 million at the end of last year.

In the figures of the tax assessment for 2017, it has been revealed that Jo Nesbø's assets rise to 248 million NOK.

"Crazy numbers"

Harry Nesbø's latest book, "Kniv", had a first edition of 200,000 books and was released earlier this summer.

In June, Nettavisen wrote that an average selling price of NOK 350 gives Nesbø an income of NOK 45 per pound. This means that he will probably win nine million crowns only during the first edition of "Knife". Using the same calculation, Jo Nesbø earned NOK 12.5 million from his previous book, "Thirst", which, according to Aschehoug, sold 285,000 copies.

The large circulation contrasts with the general decline in total book sales in Norway.

At the beginning of June, figures from the Norwegian Publishers' Association indicated a sharp decline in the book market. In 2018, total book sales fell by 6.3%, corresponding to a decrease of more than NOK 340 million. This is the lowest turnover since 2004.

When VG wrote about the turmoil in the book industry last fall, it was assumed that this fall could be explained by the fact that no Harry Hole novel was released that year. In 2018, 269,000 Norwegian crime books were sold and sales amounted to 32.7 million NOK. The first edition of Jo Nesbø represents 74% of the number of copies sold in the police genre.

– Although the previous edition of Harry Hole's "Thirst" recorded a record first edition of 300,000 copies, the first edition of this year is a foolish figure because of the upheaval of the industry, said to DN previously Mona Ek Communications Manager in Aschehoug. this summer.

According to Aschehoug 's website, Nesbø' s books have been sold to more than 40 million copies and translated into more than 50 languages.

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