The Hollywood Reporter has picked the top 25 Most Powerful Authors in Hollywood.

The top five writers on the list are all literary band names. Stephen King, Elmore Leonard, Nicholas Sparks, EL James and Suzanne Collins hold the top five spots, respectively. However, the magazine also listed a number of “Authors To Look Out For,” a list filled with up-and-coming authors. We’ve rounded up those top six writers below…

Here’s more about the list: “THR selected those living authors who have been most successful in shepherding their books from page to screen, balancing success in publishing (total output, sales, best-sellers) and in Hollywood (completed adaptations, projects in development, screenwriting and producing credits) while accounting for cultural influence. More power to them.”

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Crime novelist Elmore Leonard will receive the 2012 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. The National Book Foundation will honor Leonard, who has written more than 40 novels, dozens of short stories and film scripts, at the National Book Awards ceremony in November.

The National Book Foundation’s executive director Harold Augenbraum explained the choice in this statement: “For a half-century, Elmore Leonard has produced vibrant literary work with an inimitable writing style.”

Leonard expressed surprise at winning the honor in an interview with the Associated Press. He said, “I didn’t ever count on winning this kind of an award. I’ve won a lot of awards, but not like this one.” Read more

Novelist Elmore Leonard confessed he hopes Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow will check out his new pirate novel, Djibouti.

The author (pictured, via Linda Solomon) told the Wall Street Journal that he sent the director of The Hurt Locker a copy of his new novel last year. While it isn’t listed on the HarperCollins website yet, the Borders entry says the book will be 304 pages and arrive in stores on October 12.

Here’s an excerpt from the article: “Leonard said that he knows Bigelow ‘very slightly,’ explaining that he randomly met her roughly 23 years ago, when she was promoting her 1987 vampire film Near Dark. He recalled her pulling up to his house in a maroon limousine and running into the front room that he was using as an office. She told him she liked his work and the two chatted for about 20 minutes and ‘then she ran out,’ he said.”

As we close out another Monday, here are some news briefs from the literary blogosphere…

Barnes & Noble has launched a new mystery blog entitled Ransom Notes, featuring posts by Anne Perry, John Sandford, Louise Penny, and Robert Crais.

International authors sign a petition supporting the release of Roman Polanski, including Bernard-Henri Levy, Salman Rushdie and Paul Auster. A petition excerpt: “Seventy-six years old, a survivor of Nazism and of Stalinist persecutions in Poland, Roman Polanski risks spending the rest of his life in jail for deeds which would be beyond the statute-of-limitations in Europe.”

The Book Bench features an upcoming short film based on an Elmore Leonard story, directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt from 3rd Rock from the Sun.

The Rumpus publishes a timely essay: “A Short, Personal History of Small, Independent Publishing (1995-2009).”

PEN USA, the West Coast arm of the international PEN organization, has announced that Elmore Leonard (pictured) has won their 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award. He joins an illustrious crew that includes: Woody Allen, Ray Bradbury, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Betty Friedan.

The awards ceremony will be held in Beverly Hills on December 2, and will celebrate a number of other authors. Each winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize: The fiction award will go to Kim Barnes for “A Country Called Home,” the creative nonfiction will go to Steve Lopez for “The Soloist,” the research nonfiction award will go to Leslie T. Chang for “Factory Girls,” and finally, the screenplay award will go to Dustin Lance Black for “Milk.”

Here’s more from the release: “In a career spanning 60 years, Leonard has published 43 novels and numerous short stories, creating a distinct literary style that has delighted readers and influenced a new generation of writers. Books like Swag, LaBrava, Freaky Deaky, and Tishomingo Blues are not only classics of the crime genre, but some of the best writing of the last half century.”

Like Doritos during the Superbowl, Entertainment Weekly and HarperCollins have launched a user-generated video contest.

Participants must build a book trailer for Elmore Leonard‘s new book, “Road Dogs.” The first eight chapters of the book are available here. Trailers should be between 30 and 120 seconds, and the judges are looking for “intrigue, edge, and energy.”

Here’s more from the site: “You should submit your video book trailer by May 1st. The winning video will be selected by Elmore Leonard and announced on or about May 12th. The winning video will be featured on HarperCollins.com, ElmoreLeonard.com, and EW.com. The top five videos, selected by HarperCollins and ElmoreLeonard.com, will be featured on EW.com sometime between May 1-12.”

Once Michael Chabon finishes up his adventure-themed novella for the New York Times Magazine, Ian Rankin will start his own multi-week serial for the paper, the Independent reports, thereby becoming the first non-American to have a specially commissioned work serialised by the Gray Lady. “Since previous “serial providers” have included Patricia Cornwell, Michael Connelly, Elmore Leonard and Michael Chabon, the offer was hard to turn down,” said Rankin, who was approached by the NYT to write the story late last year.

He spent all of January writing the novella at a 2500-word-a-day clip. “It was quite intense but not bad at all,” he said to the Scotsman. “I had the idea and I just ran with it really. It’s hard to try and think about it right now because having sent the copy over to the paper I immediately settled down to the next Rebus novel so now my head is full of him again.” And don’t expect Inspector Rebus, who’ll make his final appearance (unless he makes cameos in future novels, as rumored) in book format later this year, to figure in the story.