This page provides lists of best-selling single-volume books, book series, authors, and children's books to date and in any language. For some books, accurate accounting has proven impossible, so the book is excluded or an educated guess by an expert is provided. "Best-selling" refers to the estimated number of copies sold of each book, rather than the number of books printed or currently owned. Comics and textbooks are not included in this list. Book versions of plays, like Shakespeare's works, are also excluded.
^The Bible listed here refers to all versions ever printed, many of which have been given away freely, not sold (for example, during missionary work).
^The Bible is controversial regarding authorship. While many claim it to be in fact a holy book of divine inspiration, secular critics and some biblical scholars do not accept supernatural guidance or authorship. Secular Biblical scholars usually place a creation date closer to 900 B.C. for the earliest texts. Conservative Biblical scholars place the earliest date around 1400 B.C.
^Businessweek on The Bible: "The Bible (2.5 billion copies sold)" (18 July 2005)
^Broadway.com on A Tale of Two Cities: "Since its inaugural publication on 30 August 1859, A Tale of Two Cities has sold over 200 million copies in several languages, making it one of the most famous books in the history of fictional literature." (24 April 2008)
^Extrapolation for global range of other language publications, and related to the number of Scouts, make a realistic estimate of 100 to 150 million books. Details from Jeal, Tim. Baden-Powell. London: Hutchinson. ISBN0-09-170670-X.
^The Lord of the Rings is considered by most people to be a single book, because it was written and planned by the author to be such. Some people consider it to instead be a trilogy or series of three books, because it was originally published as a series of three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. This move by the publishing house was due largely to post-war paper shortages as well as to minimize the price of the first volume to aid sales. In subsequent printings the book has sometimes appeared as a single volume, and in at least one case was split into seven.[1] The figure of 150 million is a 2007 estimate of copies of the full story sold, whether published as one volume, three, or some other configuration.The Toronto Star 16 April 2007
^The Book of Mormon is controversial regarding authorship. While traditional views of the religion claim divine inspiration, secular critics or those of different faith traditions do not accept supernatural guidance to its discovery or authorship by ancient prophets, but instead credit Joseph Smith with authorship.
^Smith claimed to have translated the Book of Mormon from "Reformed Egyptian" into English; secular critics regard this as false.
^ParaPublishing.com: "Some 130 million copies of the Book of Mormon have since been circulated in 77 languages."
^Guinness Book of World Records 1990, "Highest Printings". The Guinness Book of World Records 1973, under the heading "Best Sellers", mentioned for the first 4 years of circulation of the book: "The total disposal through non-commercial channels by Jehovah’s Witnesses of the 190-page hardbound book, The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life [...] reached 46,000,000 in 67 languages by February, 1972." For the latest information, see also The Watchtower 15 January 1997, p. 25.
^BBC: Tolkien's memorabilia go on sale. 18 March 2008
^China.org: "Sun said that the book has sold over 100 million copies worldwide so far." 14 December 2005
^Time on She: "Since then it has sold 83 million copies in 44 languages." (17 September 1965)
^The Scotsman on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: "SINCE its publication in 1943, The Little Prince has sold more than 80 million copies worldwide. " (17 March 2008)
^AFP on The Alchemist: "Film mogul Harvey Weinstein on Sunday announced the screen adaptation of the novel, written 20 years ago and translated into 56 languages, with more than 65 million copies sold." (19 May 2008)
^The Los Angeles Times on The Da Vinci Code: "Officials at the museum aren't publicly linking the dramatic increase in visitation — from about 6 million in 2000 to 7.5 million last year — with the novel, even though 57 million copies of the book are in print in 44 languages." (14 May 2006)
^ABC Australia on Heidi: "Johanna Spyri's story has been translated into fifty languages and sold fifty million copies, but the marketing juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down - fat from it. Heidi now has her own theme park." (5 August 2002)
^Reuters on Anne of Green Gables: ""Anne of Green Gables" has sold more than 50 million copies and been translated into 20 languages, according to Penguin." (19 March 2008)
^The Times on Black Beauty: "Fifty million copies of Black Beauty have been sold in the years since Anna Sewell's publisher paid her £20 for the story." (29 February 2008)
^ An early press report claimed that more than 72 million copies of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" had been sold within the first 48 hours of publication (see linked citation below). However, there has never been any evidence provided for this claim beyond the original source and it is almost certainly an error. All follow-up sales figures (for instance, those discussed on the separate entry for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows") are consistent with total sales figures well below 30 million during the first month of publication. For example, according to Scholastic publishers, there are only 14 million copies of the American edition currently in print, and not all have been sold. At the same time, sales of the American edition were originally reported to be comparable to or greater than the number of copies sold of the British edition. As of 18 September 2007, fewer than 4 million copies of the British edition had been sold in the UK along with a comparable number sold in other countries (reference below). Thus the total number of copies sold as of September 2007 appears to have been approximately 20-25 million. Translations into other languages began appearing in late September 2007, substantially increasing the estimated number of copies sold worldwide. In June 2008, Forbes magazine reported sales had reached 44 million.
^The Celebrity 100 #9: J. K. Rowling "The final one, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has sold 44 million since it was published last July, including 15 million in the first 24 hours."
^The New York Times on You Can Heal Your Life: "“You Can Heal Your Life” immediately landed on the New York Times best-seller list. More than 35 million copies are now in print around the world." (4 May 2008)
^Fox News on Het Achterhuis: "Thirty million copies of her diary have been sold, and it has been translated into 65 languages. " (29 March 2007)
^The Telegraph on the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: "Thirty million copies of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary have been sold since it was first published in 1948. " (3 June 2005)
^The Orlando Sentinel on To Kill a Mockingbird: "Thirty million copies of To Kill a Mockingbird have been sold since that coming-of-age novel, about a Southern lawyer who believed that no man should be denied justice because of the color of his skin, was first published in 1960 to critical acclaim." (11 June 2006)
^The Daily Mail on Gone with the Wind: "The book has sold more than 30 million copies in the decades since the publication of Margaret Mitchell's gripping tale of the Old South gasping its last breath, as the U.S. was torn apart by Civil War and its bitter aftermath." (4 April 2008)
^ABC News on The Purpose-Driven Life: "His book, "The Purpose Driven Life," has been translated into 56 languages and has sold 30 million copies." (7 March 2007)]
^Wales Online on The Thorn Birds: "Her original novel, published in 1977 following a battle between two publishing houses that both wanted the manuscript, has sold around 30 million copies worldwide." (11 April 2009)]
^Greenville Online on Think and Grow Rich: "One of his books, "Think and Grow Rich," which he penned in 1937, sold 30 million copies and continues to serve readers today." (1 April 2009)
^NoveNewsNow on The Very Hungry Caterpillar: "His little book has sold more than 29 million copies worldwide and has appeared in 47 languages." (30 September 2008)
^The Columbus Dispatch on The Wind in the Willows: "More than 25 million copies of the book have been sold in 70 countries since 1908, according to the Copyrights Group, which is presently promoting a new edition." (4 May 2008)
^The Age on The Celestine Prophecy: "it has sold in the vicinity of 23 million copies since its publication in 1993" (22 March 2008
^The Toronto Star on Mario Puzo: "According to the Official Mario Puzo Library website, the book sold 21 million copies in hardback and paper by 1997." (21 July 2007)
^The Philadelphia Inquirer on The Happy Hooker: "He said he found it fascinating that her book, which has sold 20 million copies to date, is still being picked up today." (26 June 2008)
^The Times on Jaws: "Jaws stayed for 40 weeks in the bestseller charts of The New York Times, eventually selling 20 million copies [...]" (13 February 2006)
^The Huntsville Forester on Love You Forever: "The children’s classic Love You Forever has sold over 20 million copies worldwide and is in its 65th printing." (29 October 2008)
^Bookseller.com on Sophie's World: "W&N is already planning to reissue the 1995 classic Sophie’s World which has sold 20 million copies and has been translated into 50 languages. " (9 April 2009)
^The NEw Yorker on Erica Jong: "Erica Jong, the novelist, essayist, and poet, has long lamented that “Fear of Flying,” which has sold more than eighteen million copies worldwide since it was published, in 1973, has overshadowed the remainder of her sizable oeuvre." (14 April 2008, online 7 April 2008)
^CBS on Ken Follett: "But since it was published in 1989, "The Pillars of the Earth" has become an international sensation, selling 15 million copies worldwide." (7 October 2007)
^The Financial Post on Dale Carnegie: "Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, the gold standard of the genre, has sold more than 15 million copies since it was first published in 1937." (5 April 2008)
^The Patriot Ledger on Perfume: "Yet the scene, like the movie, is so daring, so challenging, you cannot help but respect Tykwer’s unerring desire to remain true to the source novel, a book that has sold 15 million copies and has been credited with inspiring Kurt Cobain to write the Nirvana classic ‘‘Scentless Apprentice.’’" (5 January 2007)
^The Associated Press on What to Expect When You're Expecting: "it's been on the New York Times best-seller list for 355 weeks, with nearly 15 million copies in print" (14 April 2008)
^The Forres Gazette on The Horse Whisperer: "Mr Evans is the author of "The Horse Whisperer", which sold 15 million copies worldwide and was made into a Hollywood film in 1998 directed by and starring Robert Redford." (10 September 2008)
^USA Today on Tuesdays with Morrie: "The book has sold more than 14 million copies worldwide since 1997 and became an Oprah Winfrey-produced TV movie. " (8 April 2008)
^The International Herald Tribune on Follow Your Heart: "But Susanna Tamaro's "Follow Your Heart," the biggest selling Italian postwar novel, with more than 14 million copies sold, according to its publisher, Baldini Castoldi, as it was known then, sold barely 25,000 copies in the United States." (3 August 2008)
^Fox News on The Outsiders: "According to Viking, a division of Penguin Group USA, "The Outsiders" has sold more than 13 million copies and still sells more than 500,000 a year." (29 September 2007)
^The Toronto Star on Grace Metalious: "It sold 100,000 copies in its first month and went on to sell another 12 million copies, was made into a film and eventually into a prime-time television series that made the young Mia Farrow a star." (21 July 2007)
^Britannica on Dune: "the epic Dune (1965; filmed by David Lynch in 1984), which was translated into 14 languages and sold some 12 million copies, more than any other science-fiction book in history;" (24 November 2007)
^China View on La Peste: "Translated into 28 languages, the book has sold more than 12 million copies around the world." (9 April 2008)
^The Sunday Herald on The Naked Ape: "Morris is still flabbergasted that the book caused such a furore, although the publicity helped it sell 12 million copies." (11 March 2008)
^The Wall Street Journal on The Exorcist: "Back in the 1970s, those smaller, rack-sized paperbacks were the blockbusters of the business, led by such best sellers as William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist" (11 million copies sold); Peter Benchley's "Jaws" (more than nine million copies), and Sidney Sheldon's "The Other Side of Midnight" (six million copies plus)." (14 September 2007)
^The Telegraph on Stephen Hawking: "Prof Hawking is the author of A Brief History of Time — which has sold 10 million copies — and is currently writing two books." (27 April 2007)
^The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on The Cat in the Hat: "There are more than 10 million copies in print today in more than a dozen languages, including the Latin, "Cattus Petasatus."" (14 April 2007)
^TVNZ on The Lovely Bones: "Published in 2002, Lovely Bones is the second novel by Alice Sebold, and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide, remaining on the New York Times hardback bestseller list for over a year." (5 May 2007)
^The Telegraph on Wild Swans: "Selling more than 10 million copies and topping the "most borrowed historical biography" chart in British libraries year after year, it proved a publishing phenomenon" (21 July 2007)
^Britannica on Santa Evita: "Martínez was best known as the author of two classics of Argentine and Latin American literature: La novela de Perón (1985, The Perón Novel, 1988) and Santa Evita (1995, Eng. trans., 1995); the latter was translated into 30 languages and sold more than 10 million copies." (22 November 2007)
^The New York Times on Night: "Indeed, since it appeared in 1960, “Night” has sold an estimated 10 million copies — three million of them since Winfrey chose the book in January 2006 (and traveled with Wiesel to Auschwitz)." (20 January 2008)
^The Grand Island Independent on Who Moved My Cheese: "It soon become an international bestseller, with 1 million hardcover copies in print within the first 16 months and more than 10 million copies within the next two years." (27 February 2008
^The Times on The Kite Runner: "His first novel, The Kite Runner, sold 10 million copies." (11 April 2008)
^Web Oficial de Carlos Ruiz Zafón on La Sombra del Viento: "Publicada por Editorial Planeta en mayo de 2001, lleva vendidos más de 10 millones de ejemplares" (2006)
^ABC News on The Total Woman: "One of the first books to address the issue was Marabel Morgan's "The Total Woman," which sold more than 10 million copies to women of all religious persuasions, making it the best-selling nonfiction book of 1974." (15 April 2008)
^Times Online on Mein Kampf: "Although about ten million copies of the book had been distributed by the end of the war – every newlywed couple in the Third Reich received a copy – it can now be found only in secondhand bookshops, where it can be legally sold providing there is no swastika on the cover." (25 April 2008)
^U.S. News and World Report on What Color is Your Parachute: "Today, Parachute is one of the all-time bestselling careers books, with more than 10 million copies of 37 editions snapped up since 1970. " (1 October 2008)
^Bloomberg on Goosebumps: "More than 300 million copies of ``Goosebumps books have been sold worldwide, making them the second-best selling children's series after ``Harry Potter, the companies said." (15 May 2008)
^Variety on the Berenstain Bears: "The company also is offering a new animated series based on the Berenstain Bears, the hugely popular children's brand that has sold more than 260 million books worldwide." (7 April 2002)
^The Globe and Mail on Choose Your Own Adventure: "The Choose Your Own Adventure DVD movies are adaptations of the original books, which sold more than 250 million copies. " (22 August 2006)
^Forbes on Sweet Valley High: "But despite 250 million copies in print, in 25 languages, Sweet Valley's sugar rush has been on the decline. " (28 October 2002)
^The Wall Street Journal on the Star Wars books: "According to a Random House spokesman, the publisher has more than 160 million copies of "Star Wars" books in print." (1 April 2005)
^CityWire on Chicken Soup: "His Chicken Soup for the Soul series, co-authored with Jack Canfield, has sold over 130 million copies in 54 languages and spans 105 different titles." (17 August 2008
^The Berkshire Eagle on American Girl: "This extraordinary success has resulted in over 120 million books and 14 million dolls sold (at $90 a pop these days)" (20 March 2008)
^The Los AngelesDaily News on OSS 117: "Jean Bruce wrote 265 OSS 117 novels, selling some 75 million copies and spawning seven movies between 1956 and 1970." (1 August 2008)
^AFP on Terry Pratchett: "The 59-year-old author -- whose Discworld books have sold 55 million copies worldwide and have been translated into some 27 languages -- announced in December that he had been diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy, a rare form of the degenerative brain disease." (13 March 2008)
^ABC7 Chicago on Mary Pope Osborne: "Since its debut in 1992, the mega-bestselling Magic Tree House series has sold nearly 53 million copies in North America, securing its coveted spot on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list as one of the top 5 bestselling series." (28 March 2008)
^The Star on the Mars Venus series: " You must be from another planet if you have not heard of Gray and his Mars Venus universe. Fifty million of his books have been sold in 40 different languages." (24 February 2008)
^The Alameda Sun on Junie B. Jones: "The series, launched in 1992, offers 27 books and an interactive journal, and has sold 44 million copies around the world." (27 June 2008)
^The Coventry Telegraph on The Wheel of Time: "The Wheel of Time series has sold 44 million copies worldwide and spawned computer, trading-card and role-playing games; a soundtrack; comicbooks; and numerous fan sites." (18 August 2008)
^The Australian on "Twilight vampire series smashes Da Vinci Code sales record." (6 February 2009)
^Daily Mail on Paddington Bear: "To date, Paddington books have sold more than 35 million copies worldwide and are available in more than 40 languages." (2 June 2008)
^Map Repoat May 2004 "The Michelin Guide France 2004 Celebrates Its. 30 Millionth Copy", p.20
^Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Kiyosaki: "Mr. Kiyosaki's and Mrs. Lechter's book series have sold more than 28 million copies worldwide since release in 1997." (21 February 2008
^The Guardian on Wallander: "[...] the crime novels by Swedish author Henning Mankell, which have sold 25 million copies worldwide." (21 September 2008)
^The Miami Herald on the South Beach Diet books: "The South Beach Diet became a No. 1 New York Times Bestseller and the six books in the series have sold 22 million copies." (15 January 2008
^However further 'Foundation' books were written by Asimov from 1982, extending the direct series to seven books, however these four further novels tell two largely independent stories. Ultimately many of Asimov's works join to form a single time line encompassing 20,000 years of future-history. To further add the extent of the series, a 'Second Foundation Trilogy' of books by contemporary Sci-Fi writers also explicitly join with the series.
^The Stage on Horrible Histories: "[...] based on the hugely successful (20 million copies sold worldwide) series of children’s books by Terry Deary, who also wrote this adaptation." (1 October 2008)
^The Telegraph on Erast Fandorin: "The two authors share a quality that has seen Akunin shift 18 million copies of his Fandorin stories" (25 February 2007)
^The Press Asspciation on Artemis Fowl: "His Artemis Fowl series went on to sell more than 18 million copies worldwide and a film adaptation is due to go into production next year." (17 September 2008)
^Publisher's Weekly on Vampire Hunter D: "The books have sold more than 17 million copies around the world." (30 September 2008)
^BBC on The Hichhiker's Guide: "About 16 million copies of the books have been sold worldwide" (17 September 2008)
^BBC on Alexander McCall Smith: "His books, featuring the unconventional No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, have sold 15 million copies in English, not counting the 42 languages they've been published in elsewhere." 7 March 2008
^The New York Times on His Dark Materials: "His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman's trilogy inspired by Paradise Lost, has sold 15 million copies worldwide, while the film version of the first volume, The Golden Compass, has earned more than $150 million." (13 January 2008)
^The Scarborough Evening News on Inheritance: "The book is the third in the Inheritance series, the first two books of which have so far sold 15 million copies worldwide. " (17 September 2008)
