How Stephenie Meyer Achieved a Net Worth of $120 Million

Stephenie Meyer is an author, producer, director, and actress, who is best known for writing the ‘Twilight’ series of books and producing the associated series of films. Due to the phenomenal success of both the books and the films, it is now estimated that Stephenie Meyer’s net worth is $120 million. Here is how Meyer became such a rich and successful woman.

Meyer’s Early Life

Stephenie Meyer was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on December 24, 1973. She is the second of six children born to Stephen and Candy Morgan. Although she was born in Connecticut, Meyer was raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She attended Chaparral High School, then studied at Bingham Young University in Utah. She received a BA in English Literature from the latter in 1997. Prior to becoming a writer, the only work experience Meyer had was working as a receptionist.

The Twilight Series of Books

Meyer is best known for writing the ‘Twilight’ series of books, which was turned into ‘The Twilight Saga’ series of films. The idea for the books first came to her in a dream in 2003. She started writing the book at the stage that later became chapter 13. After finishing the end of the first book, she backfilled the first half of the story. While writing the novel, Meyer researched the legends and traditions of the Quileute Native Americans to use in her story, but this caused offense to the tribe. It took her just three months to complete her first novel. Although she received many rejections and some publishers did not get back to her, ‘Twilight’ went to auction with eight publishers bidding for the rights. Eventually, Meyer landed a $750,000 deal for three books with Little, Brown, and Company, and her first book was published in 2005. Meyer had already planned a story for a sequel, but the publisher wanted two more books that followed Edward and Bella through college. Therefore, she wrote ‘New Moon’ and ‘Eclipse.’ The original sequel Meyer planned became the fourth book in the series ‘Breaking Dawn.’ When the books became films, the last book in the series was covered over two films; ‘Breaking Dawn- Part 1’ and ‘Breaking Dawn- Part 2.’The books in the 'Twilight' series have sold more than 100 million copies around the world.

Other Written Works

In addition to the ‘Twilight’ series of books written by Stephenie Meyer, she has also written multiple other books. Some of these are spin-offs or books that are a reimagining of the themes, characters, or stories relating to the ‘Twilight’ books. Her first book that is not in the ‘Twilight’ series but is an associated work is the 2010 novella ‘The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner.’ In 2011, she published ‘The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide.’ A year later, Meyer wrote ‘Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined,’ which is a reimagining of the original story with the lead male and female roles switched. Most recently, she wrote ‘Midnight Sun,’ which is the Twilight story told from Edward Cullen’s perspective, unlike the original books that have Bella Swan in the narrative role. ‘The Host’ is her only novel that is unrelated to the ‘Twilight’ novel series, and this was published in 2008. It is a science-fiction novel that was later made into a film that Meyer produced.

Her Work as an Actress, Producer, and Director

Meyer’s success as a writer led to her landing other work as an actress, producer, and director. She has had two small, uncredited roles in the ‘Twilight’ series of films. She first played a diner customer in the 2008 film ‘Twilight,’ and then played a wedding guest in the 2011 film ‘Breaking Dawn- Part 1.’ The writer has just one experience of directing, as she co-directed a music video with Noble Jones. The video was for Jack’s Mannequin’s 2008 single ‘The Resolution.’ Meyer also owns a production company that she founded with producer Meghan Hibbett in 2011 called Fickle Fish Films. She co-produced the last two films in the ‘Twilight’ saga; ‘Breaking Dawn- Part 1’ and Breaking Dawn- Part 2.’ She then produced the 2013 film ‘The Host,’ which is based on her own book. In the same year, she produced ‘Austenland,’ which was her first experience of producing a film that was not based on one of her novels. Most recently, she produced the 2018 Spanish supernatural horror film ‘Down a Dark Hall.’ It was directed by Rodrigo Cortes and co-written by Chris Sparling and Michael Goldbach. The film is based on the 1974 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan.

Stephenie Meyer’s Net Worth

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Stephenie Meyer’s net worth is now $120 million. She has predominantly made her money from writing the ‘Twilight’ series of books, although she has also written other books. Meyer has also made money as an actress, producer, and director.

Meyer’s Awards

So far, Stephenie Meyer has won three awards for her work. The first of these was the Best Fiction for Young Adults Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association in 2006 for her first book ‘Twilight.’ Two years later, she won the Author of the Year title from USA Today. In 2009, Meyer won the Children’s Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards for ‘Breaking Dawn,’ one of the books in the ‘Twilight’ series.

Her Personal Life

Stephenie Meyer has been married to Christian Meyer since 1994 when she was just 21. The couple met when they were children growing up in Arizona. They have three sons together, and the birth of her oldest son changed Meyer’s career plans. Before he was born, she intended to become a lawyer as she did not think she would make it as a writer. Her husband was working as an auditor. After Meyer became successful, her husband retired as an auditor to care for their children.