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“Like every other young writer, I dreamed of fame and fortune. Having achieved them, I can tell you that fortune is great.” ~ George RR Martin
George RR Martin is a person who has created an enormous fan base with his stories. You can guess how popular he is amongst readers because he was once proclaimed the Tolkien of America. As a result, George has earned a lot of money and fame, reflected in the George RR Martin net worth.
George is insanely famous as the creator of the world of Game Of Thrones nowadays. As fans call it, the Game of Thrones, or GoT, became a worldwide sensation within a year of the show being telecasted initially. The intricate worldbuilding and the characters just sucked people in.
It’s not just about the fact that George knows how to play with characters. Still, it’s also about the fact that he knows how to play with people’s hearts, as is evident with so many plot twists and storylines from his stories and that has led to him successfully building the humongous George RR Martin net worth.
George has perfected the art of coming up with extraordinary and intricate plotlines. The vast amount of books that he has sold proves that. His books have helped him establish a big fanbase, and Martin grows it. George is not just an author like most people believe; he is also a screenwriter and a TV producer.
Because of all these endeavors that George has taken up, he has become so rich. This article discusses how he has built up the enormous George RR Martin net worth.
We’ll also be discussing his personal life and what the future holds for him. But if that is not something you are interested in, feel free to skip to the net worth part. Let us start our journey to enlightenment about George’s personal and professional life.
Early Life
“I suppose life is irregular.” ~ GRRM
Before we get to discussing the George RR Martin net worth, let me tell you about his early and personal life first. George Raymond Richard Martin was born on 20th September 1948, and he is currently 73 years old. His fans often call him GRRM for short as well. Richard is a confirmation name that he adopted when he was only 13. He was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, in the U.S.
GRRM’s parents were Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and Margaret Brady Martin. His mother’s family used to be very rich as they had a big construction business, but that did not last long after the arrival of the Great Depression in the 1930s. This fact played a significant role in how George thought of his family history.
Whenever he passed in front of his former family house and dock, he used to think that his family used to have something big and significant that was taken away from them. George also has two sisters, Darleen and Janet, and he is older than both of them. He also has English, Welsh, French as well as German ancestry.
How A Dreamer Made Millions Dream
“Even in dreams, you could not fall forever.” ~ GRRM
George’s life was spent between ‘The First Street and the Fifth Street,’ which made him want to go out and explore the world. It was also what resulted in him having such an intricate imagination that he could create the fabulous world of Westeros and eventually led him to the George RR Martin net worth.
When George was in school, he picked up the hobby of reading, and soon after, he started writing stories of his own and even sold these stories to his neighbors. All these mini-stories used to be about monsters, and he even held reading sessions for the kids.
One of his favorite childhood stories that he wrote himself was about a mythical kingdom in which his turtles lived. These turtles would die in their toy castles, and GRRM decided to be murdered in menacing schemes. George has admitted in interviews that he had a habit of abandoning stories before finishing them.
The reason that he abandoned stories was that he did not like the stories turned out on paper. Let us hope that he likes whatever he is writing in his next book, Winds of Winter, the 6th and penultimate installment in ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series because this book will provide a massive boost to the George RR Martin net worth as well.
George’s First Fans Were Obtained Through Fanfictions
“A mind needs a book as a sword needs a whetstone if it is to keep its edge.” ~ Tyrion Lannister (GRRM)
In almost everyone’s lives, the education they receive is what sets them upon the path of greatness. This education can come from various sources, and for GRRM, it was acquired from school as well as from comic books. Confused? Let me clarify how comic books helped GRRM build the George RR Martin net worth.
GRRM went to Mary Jane Donohoe School as well as Marist High School. While he was there, George got into reading various comic books and became a big fan of the Marvel superheroes. GRRM has even said that Stan Lee (bless his soul), who is the creator of most of the Marvel superheroes, influenced him greatly with his stories.
George says that Stan Lee might have influenced him even more so than Shakespeare or even Tolkien. GRRM even wrote letters to the editor of Fantastic Four, and they liked his letters so much that some of them were even printed in issues like Fantastic Four #32, #34, etc. The readers loved his letters so much that they wrote GRRM letters in return as well.
This was how George established his early fanbase and then went on to create the humongous George RR Martin net worth. It was through these contacts that he was able to join the fledgling comics fandom of the era.
Did George Earn Money Through His Fanfictions?
“I am not a fan of fanfiction.” ~ GRRM
I told you about how GRRM was inspired and influenced by the comics that he used to read but what you would want to know is whether this helped him with the George RR Martin net worth somehow or not. Well, the simple answer would be yes but not too much though.
George joined the comic fandom era by writing several fanfictions for a lot of fanzines, and he earned a bit of money through that. The money he earned through it helped him buy tickets for the 1964 New York Comic-Con.
This money might not have been enough to actually influence the George RR Martin net worth much, but it did provide enough that GRRM got to go to the Comic-Con, which is something every comic fan would love to go to.
For those who are not aware, fanfictions, as the name indicates, are fictional stories made based upon the work of an original creator. Fanfictions are something that has become popular with millions of readers worldwide, and that is the reason sites like ArchiveOfOurOwn, Fanfiction.net, Wattpad, etc have come in demand in the last two decades.
GRRM’s Views On Fanfictions And Their Copyright Infringement Issue
“I don’t think it’s a good way to train to be a professional writer when you’re borrowing everybody else’s world and characters.” ~ GRRM
All these sites have fanfictions of George’s works as well, and they might not provide any benefit to him, but as long as the creators of these fanfictions do not profit from it, it is all okay. But even with that view, GRRM has often condemned those who write fanfictions.
The reason that he gives for making such a statement is that young writers might develop bad habits or might not even be able to write with their full potential as writing fanfiction means you just pick certain characters with developed backgrounds and worlds and create a new plot with that and sometimes even that doesn’t happen.
He believes that fanfictions are not good practice for aspiring writers. He also believes that fanfictions violate copyright. So even though he used to be a fanfiction author when he was young, he is opposed to that idea now. He has good reason to do it because you never know who might be misusing fanfictions to make a profit for themselves.
Online sites like Archive Of Our Own and Fanfiction.net mostly protect people from profiting from such fanfictions. But it’s sensible of George to be aware of such things because they can hinder his profit for the George RR Martin net worth.
Now that you know about his early life and education, along with his views on fanfictions. Let us finally talk about the actual George RR Martin net worth and see how he went about building it all over the years and what he does with it such a big amount of money.
The George RR Martin Net Worth
“When I’m really in a writing groove, my real-life falls to pieces.” ~ GRRM
GRRM has created quite a fortune for himself with years and even decades of writing novels and screenplays. But writing novels is not the only thing that George is known to do. You would be surprised at the number of occupations that GRRM has taken over the years to add to the George RR Martin net worth.
George has appeared in many TV shows and movies, along with writing for them. Most of you might not know, but he had even cameoed in a Game of Thrones episode, but that was the original unaired pilot, so it didn’t get much attention. I guess he indeed was influenced by Stan Lee.
Talking about the George RR Martin net worth, it is estimated to be more than $120 million, and it is expected to go even higher with some projects being on the way. In the next few years, we will hopefully get to see many projects come to life and amongst those are the two highly awaited penultimate and ultimate books in the “A Song Of Ice And Fire” series.
George has made a huge name for himself with the A Song Of Ice And Fire series as it was adapted into one of the best TV shows of all time. But what most would not know is that GRRM has written several other novels and series as well or that A Song Of Ice And Fire series was not doing as well as you would expect it to do when it was first published.
George has earned just a bit over $10 million from the ‘A Song Of Ice And Fire’ series, whereas his salary for being the maker of the TV show Game of Thrones goes far beyond that. GRRM received around $25 million per season of the show.
Overall, he earned around $200 million just from the show, so you can imagine that the show changed his life for the better. Through his talent and hard work in writing his novels, the George RR Martin net worth reached a huge number of $125 million.
The major contributors to the George RR Martin net worth were:
- Game of Thrones (TV Show)
- A Song Of Ice And Fire (novel series)
- Tales Of Dunk and Egg (novel series, prequel to A Song Of Ice And Fire)
- Various standalone novels and short stories
Some other ways that the money to the George RR Martin net worth was added was through GRRM’s work as an editor in various short stories and novels, cross-genre anthologies as well as being the producer to the movie Meow Wolf: Origin story as well as many TV shows like:
- Beauty and the Beast
- Doorways
- Game Of Thrones
- Nightflyers
- House Of The Dragon
- Dark Winds
George has also appeared in a few TV shows as an actor, and these shows include:
- Z Nation
- Robot Chicken
- Beauty And The Beast
- Game Of Thrones (Although his scene didn’t air in the actual show)
As I mentioned earlier, the George RR Martin net worth was also built up by GRRM writing the screenplays for a few shows and movies as well, and they are:
- Game Of Thrones
- The Outer Limits
- Doorways
- Beauty And The Beast
- The Twilight Zone
- The Hitchhiker
- Nightflyers
You already know that GRRM has been an editor for several things, and they are:
- Wild Cards series
- New Voices in Science Fiction (1977,1979, 1980, 1981)
- The Science Fiction Weight Loss Book
- The John W. Campbell Awards, Vol 5.
- Night Visions 3
Even though all this might seem like a lot of work, George didn’t always have money or even jobs to earn money. So let us find out how he struggled to make ends meet initially.
How George The Teacher Became An Author
George had gotten a B.S. in journalism in 1970 and then M.S. in 1971. He went on to do service work for two years as a VISTA volunteer. Then, in the mid-1970s, GRRM met George Guthridge, an English professor. He made Guthridge reconsider his dislike for fiction and fantasy, and Guthridge ended up liking them so much that he won the Nebula Award twice.
Guthridge repaid GRRM by helping him find a job at Clarke University as an English and Journalism instructor and helped him keep the George RR Martin net worth going. Guthridge says that he had to help GRRM find a job because he wasn’t earning enough money through his writing and chess tournaments.
So GRRM taught at Clarke University from 1976 to 1978 and was even Writer in Residence from 1978-79. So this was how the George RR Martin net worth was performing in the 1970s. Even though it is in millions currently, it used to be pretty mediocre back then. The death of GRRM’s friend and author Tom Reamy made him take up writing as a full-time job.
What’s Next For The George RR Martin Net Worth?
“I’m going to open with the two big battles that I was building up to, the battle in the ice and the battle at Meereen.” ~ GRRM
As I have mentioned already, all fans of GRRM are waiting eagerly for the 6th and penultimate installment of the ‘A Song Of Ice And Fire Series’. But when is it going to be published? Is it even in the works right now?
The simple answer is that yes, it is in the works currently, but we don’t know when it might be published. George has been writing the Winds Of Winter for more than a decade now. We understand that there have been a lot of delays because of the show Game of Thrones, but our patience is being tested now.
Hopefully, George will finish the book in 2022, and we will get to read it within a year or two. The last two installments in the series will provide a considerable boost to the George RR Martin net worth, that is for sure.
George has been working on the last two books peacefully. Last year, he even said on his blog that he had quarantined himself to get better focus and finish the book as soon as possible. He has also said that the last two books go over 3000 pages in the manuscript. So whenever these books might get published, at least we can be sure that they will not be short or boring.
The George RR Martin net worth is also going to benefit from the HBO prequels of Game Of Thrones as GRRM will receive a hefty amount of money for being the creator of these stories. So keep an eye out for the House Of Dragons as well that tells the history of the Targaryens.
Cessation | George RR Martin net worth
To sum it all up, George RR Martin net worth is more than $120 million, and he has earned that through his numerous books and shows. George continues to write more books as you read this article, and we might even get to read them soon.
We also have the Game of Thrones prequel, The House Of Dragons, to look forward to. If rumors are to be believed, HBO spent more than $30 million on the pilot episode of the canceled prequel The Long Night. That tells you that these prequels will be as epic as the main show, and that is all thanks to George RR Martin.
