List of best-selling fiction authors
This is a list of best-selling fiction authors to date, in any language. While finding precise sales numbers for any given author is nearly impossible, the list is based on approximate numbers provided or repeated by reliable sources.

List of best-selling fiction authors

Section Title:
Table Section Text: This is a list of best-selling fiction authors to date, in any language. While finding precise sales numbers for any given author is nearly impossible, the list is based on approximate numbers provided or repeated by reliable sources.

Author	Min. estimated sales	Max. estimated sales	Original language	Genre or title	Number of books	Citizenship

William Shakespeare	2 billion	4 billion	English	Plays and poetry	42	English

Agatha Christie	2 billion	4 billion	English	Whodunits including the Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot series	85	British

Barbara Cartland	500 million	1 billion	English	Romance	723	British

Danielle Steel	500 million	800 million	English	Romance	120	American

Harold Robbins	750 million	750 million	English	Adventure	23	American

Georges Simenon	500 million	700 million	French	Detectives, Maigret, romans dur	570	Belgian

Enid Blyton	400 million	600 million	English	Children's literature, Noddy, The Famous Five, The Secret Seven	800	British

Sidney Sheldon	370 million	600 million	English	Suspense	21	American

J. K. Rowling	500 million	English	Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them	15	British

Gilbert Patten	125 million	500 million	English	Adolescent adventures	209	American

Dr. Seuss	100 million	500 million	English	Children's literature	44	American

Eiichiro Oda	450 million	457 million	Japanese	Manga, One Piece	92	Japanese

Leo Tolstoy	413 million	Russian	War and Peace, Anna Karenina	48	Russian

Corín Tellado	400 million	400 million	Spanish	Romance	4,000	Spanish

Jackie Collins	250 million	500 million	English	Romance	25	British

Horatio Alger	200 million	400 million	English	Dime novels	135	American

R. L. Stine	100 million	400 million	English	Goosebumps series, Fear Street series, horror, comedy	430+	American

Dean Koontz	325 million	400 million	English	Horror, thriller, science fiction, fantasy	91	American

Nora Roberts	145 million	400 million	English	Romance	200+	American

Akira Toriyama	397 million	Japanese	Manga, Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Super	66	Japanese

Alexander Pushkin	357 million	Russian	Plays, poetry, prose, Eugene Onegin	17	Russian

Stephen King	300 million	350 million	English	Horror, science fiction, fantasy, It, The Shining, The Stand, Bag of Bones, Needful Things, The Green Mile	70	American

Paulo Coelho	225 million	350 million	Portuguese	The Alchemist	28	Brazilian

Louis L'Amour	230 million	330 million	English	Western	101	American

René Goscinny	325 million	French	Franco-Belgian comics, Asterix, Lucky Luke, Iznogoud	108	French

Erle Stanley Gardner	100 million	325 million	English	Mystery, Perry Mason	140	American

Edgar Wallace	300 million	English	Detective	175	British

Jin Yong	100 million	300 million	Chinese	Wuxia	15	Hong Kong Chinese

Jirō Akagawa	300 million	Japanese	Mystery	500+	Japanese

Janet Dailey	300 million	300 million	English	Romance	93	American

Robert Ludlum	110 million	290 million	English	Espionage, Jason Bourne	40	American

Osamu Tezuka	276 million	Japanese	Manga, Astro Boy, Black Jack, Buddha	62	Japanese

James Patterson	150 million	275 million	English	Thriller, Alex Cross	98	American

Frédéric Dard	200 million	270 million	French	Detective, San Antonio	300	Swiss

Jeffrey Archer	120 million	270 million	English	Crime thriller The Clifton Chronicles	30	British

Stan and Jan Berenstain	200 million	260 million	English	Berenstain Bears	300+	American

Roald Dahl	200 million	250 million	English	Children's literature	50	British

John Grisham	100 million	250 million	English	Legal thriller	22	American

Zane Grey	250 million	English	Western	American

Irving Wallace	250 million	English	Suspense	American

J. R. R. Tolkien	200 million	250 million	English	The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, classical fantasy	36	British

Masashi Kishimoto	235 million	Japanese	Manga, Naruto	72	Japanese

Karl May	100 million	200 million	German	Western, adventure	80	German

Mickey Spillane	100 million	200 million	English	Detective, Mike Hammer	American

C. S. Lewis	100 million	200 million	English	The Chronicles of Narnia, fantasy, popular theology	38	British

Kyotaro Nishimura	200 million	Japanese	Mystery	400+	Japanese

Mitsuru Adachi	200 million	Japanese	Manga	Japanese

Rumiko Takahashi	200 million	Japanese	Manga	Japanese

Gosho Aoyama	200 million	Japanese	Manga	Japanese

Dan Brown	200 million	200 million	English	Thriller, Robert Langdon	7	American

Ann M. Martin	172 million	180 million	English	The Baby-sitters Club	335	American

Ryōtarō Shiba	180 million	Japanese	Historical	350	Japanese

Arthur Hailey	150 million	170 million	English	Thriller	11	British/Canadian

Gérard de Villiers	150 million	French	Detectives, SAS	170	French

Beatrix Potter	100 million	150 million	English	Peter Rabbit	23	British

Michael Crichton	150 million	150 million	English	Techno thriller	25	American

Richard Scarry	100 million	150 million	English	Illustrated children's books	250	American

Clive Cussler	40 million	150 million	English	Adventure, Dirk Pitt	37	American

Alistair MacLean	150 million	200 million	English	Adventure, thriller, war stories	32	British

Ken Follett	90 million	150 million	English	Spy thriller, historical thriller	30	British

Astrid Lindgren	100 million	145 million	Swedish	Children's literature	100	Swedish

Debbie Macomber	60 million	140 million	English	Romance	American

EL James	100 million	125 million	English	Fifty Shades of Grey	3	British

Tite Kubo	120 million	Japanese	Manga, Bleach	74	Japanese

Eiji Yoshikawa	120 million	Japanese	Musashi	7	Japanese

Catherine Cookson	100 million	120 million	English	Romance	103	British

Stephenie Meyer	100 million	116 million	English	The Twilight Saga, The Host, romance	6	American

Norman Bridwell	100 million	110 million	English	Clifford the Big Red Dog	80	American

David Baldacci	110 million	English	Thriller	25	American

Nicholas Sparks	90 million	105 million	English	Romance	22	American

Hirohiko Araki	100 million	Japanese	Manga, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure	Japanese

Evan Hunter	100 million	100 million	English	Detective (Ed McBain)	94	American

Andrew Neiderman	100 million	100 million	English	V. C. Andrews, The Devil's Advocate	60	American

Roger Hargreaves	100 million	100 million	English	Children's literature, Mr. Men	British

Anne Rice	75 million	100 million	English	Gothic fiction, vampires, Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles)	27	American

Robin Cook	100 million	100 million	English	Medical thriller Coma	27	American

Wilbur Smith	80 million	100 million	English	African adventure	32	South African/British

Erskine Caldwell	80 million	100 million	English	Literature	25	American

Judith Krantz	80 million	100 million	English	Romance	12	American

Eleanor Hibbert	100 million	100 million	English	Romance, historical, suspense	200	British

Lewis Carroll	100 million	English	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, absurdist literature	5	British

Denise Robins	100 million	English	Romance	200	British

Cao Xueqin	100 million	Chinese	Dream of the Red Chamber	Chinese

Ian Fleming	100 million	100 million	English	James Bond	14	British

Hermann Hesse	100 million	100 million	German	Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, The Glass Bead Game	45	German-Swiss

Rex Stout	100 million	100 million	English	Nero Wolfe	50	American

Anne Golon	100 million	100 million	French	Angélique	14	French

Frank G. Slaughter	100 million	English	Medical	62	American

Edgar Rice Burroughs	100 million	100 million	English	Tarzan, Barsoom and Pellucidar series, science fantasy	American

John Creasey	100 million	English	Crime thriller	600	British

James A. Michener	100 million	English	Historical	47	American

Yasuo Uchida	100 million	Japanese	Mystery	130+	Japanese

Seiichi Morimura	100 million	Japanese	Mystery	350+	Japanese

Mary Higgins Clark	100 million	100 million	English	Thriller	American

Penny Jordan	90 million	100 million	English	Romance	200+	British

Patricia Cornwell	100 million	English	Thriller	34+	American

Tom Clancy	100 million	English	Jack Ryan	30+	American

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