This page provides a list of best-selling fiction authors to date and in any language. While a precise number for any given author is near impossible, the list is based on approximate numbers provided or repeated by reliable sources. "Best-selling" refers to the estimated number of copies sold of all fiction books written or co-written by an author. To keep the length of the list manageable, only authors with estimated sales of at least 100 million books are included. Authors of comic books are not included. For a few authors, including Miguel de Cervantes, Alexandre Dumas, père, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Jack Higgins, Victor Hugo, Jules Verne and Leon Uris, no exact figure could be found, although there are indications that they too have more than 100 million copies of their work in print. They have not been included in the below table.
Author | Min. estimated sales | Max. estimated sales | Original language | Genre or title | Number of books | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
William Shakespeare | 2 billion[1] | 4 billion[2] | English | Plays and poetry | 44+ | British |
Agatha Christie | 2 billion[3] | 4 billion[2] | English | Detectives, Marple, Poirot | 85 | British |
Barbara Cartland | 500 million[4] | 1 billion[5] | English | Romance | 723 | British |
Danielle Steel | 500 million[6] | 800 million[7] | English | Romance | 72 | American |
Harold Robbins | 750 million[8] | 750 million[9] | English | Adventure | 23 | American |
Georges Simenon | 500 million[10] | 700 million[11] | French | Detectives, Maigret | 570 | Belgian |
Sidney Sheldon | 370 million[12] | 600 million[13] | English | Suspense | 19 | American |
Enid Blyton | 300 million[14] | 600 million[15] | English | Children's literature, Noddy, The Famous Five | 800 | British |
Dr. Seuss | 100 million[16] | 500 million[17] | English | Children's literature | 44 | American |
Gilbert Patten | 125 million[18] | 500 million[19] | English | Adolescent adventures | 209 | American |
J. K. Rowling | 350 million[20] | 450 million[21] | English | Harry Potter | 7 | British |
Leo Tolstoy | 413 million[22] | Russian | historical fiction, philosophy, Anna Karenina, War and Peace | 48 | Russian | |
Jackie Collins | 250 million[23] | 400 million[24] | English | Romance | 25 | British |
Horatio Alger, Jr. | 200 million[25] | 400 million[26] | English | Dime novels | 135 | American |
R. L. Stine | 100 million[27] | 400 million[28] | English | Goosebumps series, Fear Street series, Horror, Comedy | 430+ | American |
Corín Tellado | 400 million[29] | 400 million[30] | Spanish | Romance | 4,000 | Spanish |
Dean Koontz | 325 million[31] | 400 million[32] | English | Thriller | 91 | American |
Alexander Pushkin | 357 million[22] | Russian | Plays, poetry, prose, Eugene Onegin | 17 | Russian | |
Stephen King | 300 million[33] | 350 million[34] | English | Horror, Fantasy | 70 | American |
Louis L'Amour | 230 million[35] | 330 million[36] | English | Western | 101 | American |
Erle Stanley Gardner | 100 million[37] | 325 million[38] | English | Mystery, Perry Mason | 140 | American |
Jin Yong | 100 million[39] | 300 million[40][41] | Chinese | Wuxia | 15 | Hong Kong Chinese |
Jirō Akagawa | 300 million[42] | Japanese | Mystery | 500+ | Japanese | |
Janet Dailey | 300 million[43] | 300 million[44] | English | Romance | 93 | American |
Nora Roberts | 145 million[45] | 300 million[46] | English | Romance | 145 | American |
Edgar Wallace | 300 million[47] | English | Detective | 175 | British | |
Robert Ludlum | 110 million[48] | 290 million[49] | English | Espionage, Jason Bourne | 40 | American |
Frédéric Dard | 200 million[50] | 290 million[51] | French | Detective, San Antonio | 300 | Swiss |
Stan and Jan Berenstain | 200 million[52] | 260 million[53] | English | Berenstain Bears | 300+ | American |
John Grisham | 100 million[54] | 250 million[55] | English | Legal thriller | 22 | American |
Zane Grey | 250 million[56] | English | Western | American | ||
Irving Wallace | 250 million[57] | English | Suspense | American | ||
J. R. R. Tolkien | 200 million[58] | 250 million[59] | English | The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, classical fantasy | 36 | British |
Jeffrey Archer | 120 million[60] | 250 million[61] | English | Crime thriller | 30 | British |
Karl May | 100 million[62] | 200 million[63] | German | Western, Adventure | 80 | German |
Mickey Spillane | 100 million[64] | 200 million[65] | English | Detective, Mike Hammer | American | |
C. S. Lewis | 100 million[66] | 200 million[67] | English | The Chronicles of Narnia, fantasy, popular theology | 38 | British |
Kyotaro Nishimura | 200 million[68] | Japanese | Mystery | 400+ | Japanese | |
Charles Dickens | 200 million[69] | English | Literature | British | ||
Ann M. Martin | 172 million[70] | 180 million[71] | English | The Baby-sitters Club | 335 | American |
Ryōtarō Shiba | 180 million[72] | Japanese | Historical | 350 | Japanese | |
Arthur Hailey | 150 million[73] | 170 million[74] | English | Thriller | 11 | British/Canadian |
Gérard de Villiers | 150 million[75] | French | Detectives, SAS | 170 | French | |
Beatrix Potter | 100 million[76] | 150 million[77] | English | Peter Rabbit | 23 | British |
Michael Crichton | 150 million[78] | 150 million[79] | English | Techno Thriller | 25 | American |
Richard Scarry | 100 million[80] | 150 million[81] | English | Illustrated children's books | 250 | American |
James Patterson | 100 million[82] | 150 million[83] | English | Thriller | 48 | American |
Clive Cussler | 40 million[84] | 150 million[85] | English | Adventure, Dirk Pitt | 37 | American |
Alistair McLean | 150 million[86] | English | Adventure,Thriller Wartime stories | 32 | British | |
Astrid Lindgren | 100 million[87] | 145 million[88] | Swedish | Children's literature | 100 | Swedish |
Debbie Macomber | 60 million[89] | 140 million[90] | English | Romance | American | |
Dan Brown | 120 million[91] | English | Thriller | 5 | American | |
Eiji Yoshikawa | 120 million[92] | Japanese | Musashi | 7 | Japanese | |
Catherine Cookson | 100 million[93] | 120 million[94] | English | Romance | 103 | British |
Stephenie Meyer | 100 million[95] | 116 million[96] | English | The Twilight Saga, The Host, Romance | 6 | American |
Norman Bridwell | 100 million[97] | 110 million[98] | English | Clifford the Big Red Dog | 80 | American |
David Baldacci | 110 million[99] | English | Thriller | 25 | American | |
Paulo Coelho | 92 million[100] | 100 million[101] | Portuguese | Literature, The Alchemist | Brazilian | |
Roald Dahl | 100 million[102] | 100 million[103] | English | Children's literature | 50 | British |
Evan Hunter | 100 million[104] | 100 million[105] | English | Detective (Ed McBain) | 94 | American |
Andrew Neiderman | 100 million[106] | 100 million[107] | English | V. C. Andrews, The Devil's Advocate | 60 | American |
Roger Hargreaves | 100 million[108] | 100 million[109] | English | Children's literature, Mr. Men | British | |
Anne Rice | 75 million[110] | 100 million[111] | English | Thriller, vampires, Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles) | 27 | American |
Robin Cook | 100 million[112] | 100 million[113] | English | Medical Thriller | 27 | American |
Wilbur Smith | 80 million[114] | 100 million[115] | English | African Adventure | 32 | Zambian |
Erskine Caldwell | 80 million[116] | 100 million[117] | English | Literature | 25 | American |
Eleanor Hibbert | 100 million[118] | 100 million[119] | English | Romance, historical, suspense | 200 | British |
Lewis Carroll | 100 million[120] | English | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Absurdist literature | 5 | British | |
Denise Robins | 100 million[121] | English | Romance | 200 | British | |
Xueqin Cao | 100 million[122] | Chinese | Dream of the Red Chamber | Chinese | ||
Ian Fleming | 100 million[123] | 100 million[124] | English | James Bond | 14 | British |
Hermann Hesse | 100 million[125] | 100 million[126] | German | Literature | German-Swiss | |
Rex Stout | 100 million[127] | 100 million[128] | English | Nero Wolfe | 50 | American |
Anne Golon | 100 million[129] | 100 million[130] | French | Angélique | 14 | French |
Ken Follett | 90 million[131] | 100 million[132] | English | Spy Thriller, Historical Thriller | 30 | British |
Frank G. Slaughter | 100 million[133] | English | Medical | 62 | American | |
Edgar Rice Burroughs | 100 million[134] | 100 million[135] | English | Tarzan, Barsoom, Pellucidar, other science fantasy | American | |
John Creasey | 100 million[136] | English | Crime thriller | 600 | British | |
James Michener | 100 million[137] | English | Historical | 47 | American | |
Yasuo Uchida | 100 million[138] | Japanese | Mystery | 130+ | Japanese | |
Seiichi Morimura | 100 million[138] | Japanese | Mystery | 350+ | Japanese | |
Mary Higgins Clark | 100 million[139] | 100 million[140] | English | Thriller | American |