Who is the Top selling Author of all-time?

Question

where does Sidney Sheldon rank?

Answer 1

J.K. Rowling would not have have reached near the top yet, though her books are huge sellers she only has a few books compared to a number of the authors who make the best sellers list with each book that they write.

I know John Grisham was the top selling author of the 90's followed by Stephen King and Daniel Steele.

Dean Koontz has sold about 200 million copies of his 80 something books.

But you definatly have to go back further for an answer to your question.

Aa check of the Guinness
World Records' entry for Best-selling Fiction Author finds Agatha Christie at
the top, with an estimated 2 billion copies of her works sold."



I did find a list of the best selling books of all time.

The Top 10 Bestselling Books of All Time (according to IPL):

1. The Bible
"No one really knows how many copies of the Bible have been printed, sold, or
distributed. The Bible Society's attempt to calculate the number printed
between 1816 and 1975 produced the figure of 2,458,000,000. A more recent
survey, for the years up to 1992, put it closer to 6,000,000,000 in more than
2,000 languages and dialects. Whatever the precise figure, the Bible is by far
the bestselling book of all time."

2. Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (Little Red Book)
"Chairman Mao's Little Red Book could scarcely fail to become a bestseller:
between the years 1966 and 1971 it was compulsory for every Chinese adult to
own a copy."

3. American Spelling Book by Noah Webster
"First published in 1783, this reference book by the American man of letters
Noah Webster (1758-1843) remained a bestseller in the U.S. throughout the 19th
century."

4. The Guinness Book of Records
"First published in 1955, The Guinness Book of Records stands out as the
greatest contemporary publishing achievement. There have now been 37 editions
in the UK alone (it was not published annually until 1964), as well as numerous
foreign-language editions."

5. The McGuffey Readers by William Holmes McGuffey
"Published in numerous editions from 1853, some authorities have put the total
sales of these educational textbooks, originally compiled by American
anthologist William Holmes McGuffey (1800-73), as high as 122,000,000. It has
also been claimed that 60,000,000 copies of the 1879 edition were printed, but -
since this is some 10,000,000 more than the entire population of the U.S. at
that time - the publishers must have been extremely optimistic about its
success."

6. A Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard
"Now forgotten, Hubbard's polemic on the subject of labor relations was
published in 1899 and within a few years had achieved these phenomenal sales,
largely because many American employers purchased bulk supplies to distribute
to their employees."

7. The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care by Dr. Benjamin Spock
"Dr. Spock's 1946 manual became the bible of infant care for subsequent
generations of parents. Most of the sales have been of the paperback edition of
the book."

8. World Almanac
"Having been published annually since 1868 (with a break from 1876 to 1886),
this wide-ranging reference book has remained a constant bestseller ever
since."

9. The Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
"This tale of sex, violence, and drugs by Jacqueline Susann (1921-74), first
published in 1966, is perhaps surprisingly the world's bestselling novel.
Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, which has achieved sales approaching
28,000,000, is its closest rival."

10. In His Steps: "What Would Jesus Do?" by Rev. Charles Monroe Sheldon
"Although virtually unknown today, American clergyman Charles Sheldon (1857-
1946) achieved fame and fortune with this 1896 instructive religious treatise
on moral dilemnas."

Answer 2

The bible was written by many different people and edited by many others, the term author doesn't really apply.

Shakespeare is high on such a list.

In terms of modern authors Ayn Rand is easily in the top three.

Answer 3

I've heard that the Bible is the best selling book of all time, the author being God inspired.

Answer 4

If God doesn't count then the best selling author of all time is...............Mao Zedong,
followed by Muhammad (who must count since he is a historical person and not a supernatural entity)
I can't see the one you are looking for on the list.

Answer 5

I would say JK Rowling is high up. I just read recently that she was the first to reach a billion in sales or something like that.

Answer 6

Kind James version of the Bible