Top 10 Worst Authors

Bad writing is one thing, but a bad author can make you feel like the alphabet owes you an apology. This list is for the names people accuse of turning books into chores, soapboxes, cash grabs, or literary sinkholes that leave you wondering how many trees asked for a refund. You will find plenty of strong opinions here, because when a book is boring, clumsy, preachy, or just plain rotten, readers are not known for filing their complaints quietly.

Thankfully, truly awful authors are rare, which is good news for anyone who still likes the idea of walking into a bookstore without needing emotional hazard pay. So vote for the writers you think set the worst example, then take comfort in the fact that most books still have a better chance of rewarding your time than making you stare at page 12 like it personally betrayed you.

The Top Ten

Stephenie Meyer

It's her fault the world had to go through the torture that is Twilight.

And then that unmemorable fanfiction of Twilight that is Fifty Shades of Grey. We had to suffer through those.
Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 to April 30, 1945) was a German politician of Austrian descent who led the Nazi Party from 1921, served as Chancellor of Germany from 1933, and held the position of Führer from 1934. As dictator of Nazi Germany, he reversed the Treaty of Versailles, initiated World War II... read more

Why read a book about the struggle when he thinks he could save Germany and yet made it so much worse? Literally, everyone hated him.

Why would anyone, who isn't a massive Hitler-sympathizing racist idiot, want to read about his Kampf (struggle)?

I think mass genocide is worse than the other authors here.
E.L. James

She wrote a Twilight fanfiction, then changed the character names, and 50 Shades was the result.
Paris Hilton

Paris Whitney Hilton is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, actress, singer, DJ, and author. She rose to fame in the early 2000s through her reality TV show The Simple Life, as well as through fashion, fragrance, and nightclub ventures. Hilton has since expanded her brand... read more
Donald Trump

Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York) is an American businessman, television personality, politician, and the 45th and 47th President of the United States.
Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Donald J. Trump received an economics degree from the Wharton School of the... read more
Glenn Beck

Glenn Lee Beck is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, and television producer. He is the founder of TheBlaze, a multimedia network he launched in 2011. Beck is known for his outspoken views and has hosted shows on Fox News and various radio platforms.
L. Ron Hubbard

Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 - January 24, 1986) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy stories who founded the Church of Scientology. A prolific pulp-fiction writer in his early career, in 1950 he authored the pseudoscientific book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health... read more

To be frank, I view the Church of Scientology through the same lens I view the Branch Davidians, and I even reckon that the Scientologists have killed their fair share of people to boot. Plus, their influence on mainstream entertainment is remarkably immoral. Hubbard is directly to blame for all of it, and he did it for fun. Obviously, he was not as harmful of a man as Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc., but he was nearly as wretched.

Wrote terrible sci-fi novels, then made one of his sci-fi novels into a terrible religion.
Ann Coulter

Ann Hart Coulter is an American conservative social and political commentator, writer, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She gained national attention in the late 1990s with her books and appearances on television news programs. Coulter is known for her provocative views and has written numerous best-selling... read more

Only those who are mindless fat rednecks wouldn't include her on this list.
Karl Marx

Karl Heinrich Marx (5 May 1818 - 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, critic of political economy, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known works are the 1848 pamphlet The Communist Manifesto and the four-volume Das Kapital (1867-1883... read more

This man caused so many wars. The Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, North Korea, and Cuba wouldn't exist and be so cruel if his book wasn't published.

Supreme example of the insolence in German academia of the 19th century. Edgy. Self-righteous. Not applicable to reality.
Ayn Rand

She didn't seem particularly intelligent, to put it lightly.

She's definitely the unrestrained id of Capitalism.

The Newcomers

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Norman Boutin
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John Boyne

The Contenders

Alex Jones

Alexander Emric Jones is an American radio show host and conspiracy theorist. He hosts The Alex Jones Show from Austin, Texas, which airs online and through independent syndication following the 2024 closure of the Genesis Communications Network. Jones is also the founder of the website InfoWars, which... read more
Thomas Dixon Jr.
Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin (February 12, 1809 - April 19, 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist. He is best known for formulating the theory of evolution by natural selection, which posits that all species of life descend from common ancestors. In 1858, he and Alfred Russel Wallace published... read more
Marquis de Sade

Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade, was a French writer, libertine, political activist, and nobleman best known for his provocative and libertine novels. Born on June 2, 1740, in Paris, France, he became notorious for his erotic and often controversial works, which explored themes of extreme... read more
Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017, becoming the first African-American to hold the office. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois (2005 to 2008) and as an Illinois state senator... read more
Rachel Renée Russell

We have different opinions, and this is how the real world works. You are entitled to your own opinion, but you don't have the right to bash others' thoughts or force your opinion into our minds. I'm sorry to say this, but Rachel Renée Russell is one of the most terrible authors and isn't a very good person. We have the right to state opinions, and I'm sorry to say this.
I have evidence. That's right, facts and lists don't care about your feelings, so you go get a life.

I really don't like her, and Dork Diaries is her worst series ever.
Hillary Clinton

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, as a United States Senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and as First Lady of the United States from 1993 to... read more
Rush Limbaugh

Rush Hudson Limbaugh III, born on January 12, 1951, and died on February 17, 2021, was an American radio personality, political commentator, author, and television host. He was best known for hosting The Rush Limbaugh Show, which was nationally syndicated and became one of the most influential talk shows... read more
Niccolò Machiavelli
Aleister Crowley

Aleister Crowley was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He is most famous for founding the religion of Thelema in the early 20th century. Crowley identified himself as a prophet chosen to guide humanity into a new spiritual era known as the Æon of Horus... read more
J.K. Rowling

Joanne Rowling, CH, OBE, FRSL, FRCPE, who writes under the pen names J.K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, is a British novelist, philanthropist, film and television producer, and screenwriter best known for creating the Harry Potter fantasy series. The series has sold over 500 million copies worldwide... read more

Harry Potter is an overrated, crappy book series. It basically starts out with "poor Harry, look at how he is unfairly treated by EVERYONE in sight!" *sniffles* The plot is unrealistic. If a kid got adopted or taken in by another relative, you'd think the school would call CPS based on how unprepared and underdressed he is.
Then, all of a sudden, he becomes this famous, prophesied, beautiful child, and everything goes right for him without even trying.
I know people will hate this, but it's MY opinion.

I believe prose doesn't get the same pass as other forms of media, such as visual entertainment, when it comes to enjoying the kids/family genre as an adult. The reason I believe this is because the visual medium is digestible and understandable for life, whereas prose is inevitably outgrown. Most adults simply don't find much worth in immature writing.
Somehow, Harry Potter as a franchise has infected the minds of countless millennials and older zoomers, and its effects last a lifetime. Since I didn't grow up with Harry Potter (the series simply never intrigued me), I don't experience any nostalgia for the novels or movies. I think so-called "Harry Potter adults" are experiencing the series through rose-tinted glasses because Harry Potter is nothing more than a power fantasy. Never before or since have I personally been taken aback by the sheer selfishness of a wish-fulfillment story. The Wizarding World basically mirrors the world of Muggles in its hierarchical nature, rampant consumerism, and harsh social expectations. It provides no sort of wish fulfillment outside of casting spells and encountering unusual creatures, and frankly, I believe that makes it lazy.
Beyond specific enemies such as Voldemort, Harry and crew don't take on much adversity. The protagonists don't strive to change the world for the better and seem more concerned with personal matters. At least Batman recognized that violent crime is the root problem behind his parents' deaths.
It's no surprise that J.K. Rowling has only continued to prove herself a pretty useless public figure with her nauseating worldview. Whether it be her status as transphobe number one or the suspiciously racially coded aspects of the Harry Potter series, Rowling only makes her wild, rags-to-super-riches success seem all the more implausible, as if her novels became bestsellers on a complete fluke.... read more
James Patterson

James Brendan Patterson is an American author and philanthropist. He is known for creating several best-selling book series, including Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women's Murder Club, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, NYPD Red, Witch and Wizard, and Private. In addition to these, he has written many stand-alone... read more

He is literally an idiot to write such illicit novels like Maximum Ride and Murder Suspect whatnot. I hate him.
William Luther Pierce
Sean Hannity

Sean Patrick Hannity is an American talk show host and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio program. Hannity also hosts the prime-time television show Hannity on Fox News. He has been a prominent figure in political media since... read more
George R.R. Martin

George Raymond Richard Martin, born George Raymond Martin, is an American author best known for his epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire. The series was adapted into the HBO television show Game of Thrones, which gained worldwide acclaim. Martin has also worked in television and is a producer and... read more

Martin is simply overrated. All high fantasy authors owe the majority of their inspiration to Tolkien, but George seems to be more concerned with being a Tolkien tribute act than cultivating an identity of his own. Yet another pop culture author who verifies the belief that mainstream entertainment is often shallow and unchallenging.

It doesn't matter how many Rs you add to your name. If you write content that is exploitative and does nothing to bring recognition or compassion to the evils of war, you are still just a person who has contributed nothing toward the betterment of society. His popularity and lack of legitimate commentary just go to show how disturbing human fascination can be.