[Werthead]

Full details here, but the quick version is as follows:

If an author is not present, that's likely because official sales figures have not been released yet. Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss, for example, should definitely be on here but as they have no official figures, I can't place them. That's also true for older authors like Arthur C. Clarke and Philip K. Dick.

Figures in [] are authors who have written SF or fantasy works, but only as part of a larger career spanning numerous other, non-SFF books, or if their work is borderline (like Jean Auel, whom some people consider to be writing alternate history rather than 'real' historical novels).

1) J.K. Rowling (c. 450 million)
2) Stephen King (c. 350 million)
3) JRR Tolkien (c. 300 million)
[Dean Koontz (c. 200 million)]
[Michael Crichton (200 million)]
4) Anne Rice (136 million)
5) CS Lewis (120 million+)
6) Stephanie Meyer (116 million)
7) Edgar Rice Burroughs (100 million+)
8) Sir Arthur C. Clarke (100 million+)
9) Andre Norton (90 million+)
10) Sir Terry Pratchett (85 million+)
11) Robert Jordan (80 million+)
[John Saul (60 million+)]
12) James Herbert (54 million+)
13) Richard Adams (50 million+)
14) Suzanne Collins (50 million+)
[Dennis Wheatley (50 million)]
[Jean M. Auel (45 million)]
[Morgan Llywelyn (40 million)]
15) Christopher Paolini (39 million)
16) Michael Ende (35 million)
17) Charlaine Harris (32.5 million)
18) Stanislaw Lem (30 million+)
19) R.A. Salvatore (30 million+)
20) Sherrilyn Kenyon (30 million+)
21) Robert Heinelin (30 million+)
22) George R.R. Martin (28 million+)
23) Kaoru Kurimoto (28 million)
24) Terry Brooks (26.5 million)
25) George Orwell (25 million+)
26) Marion Zimmer Bradley (25 million+)
27) Darren Shan (25 million+)
28) Terry Goodkind (25 million+)
29) Diana Gabaldon (25 million)
30) Cassandra Clare (24 million)
31) Kevin J. Anderson (23 million)
32) Eoin Colfer (21 million)
33) Isaac Asimov (20 million+)
34) Margaret Weis (c. 20 million)
35) Tracy Hickman (c. 20 million)
36) Brian Jacques (c. 20 million)
37) Kazumasa Hirai (c. 20 million)
38) Raymond E. Feist (20 million+)
39) Michael Moorcock (20 million)
40) Mercedes Lackey (20 million)
41) David Eddings (18 million+)
42) Frank Herbert (18 million)
43) Hideyuki Kikuchi (18 million)
44) Anne McCaffrey (18 million+)
45) Tad Williams (17 million)
46) Larry Niven (17 million)
47) Douglas Adams (16 million)
48) Brandon Sanderson (15 million+) (12 million WoT)
49) Rick Riordan (15 million)
50) Philip Pullman (15 million)
51) Yoshiki Tanaka (15 million)
52) Timothy Zahn (15 million)
53) Diana Wynne Jones (10 million+)
54) Robert E. Howard (10 million+)
55) Stephen Donaldson (10 million)
56) Neil Gaiman (10 million + )
57) Alice Sebold (10 million+)
58) Madeline L'Engle (10 million+)
59) Jerry Pournell (10 million+)
60) Chris Bunch (10 million+)
61) Allan Cole (10 million+)
62) Peter Straub (10 million+)
63) Frederik Pohl (10 million+)
64) Cyril M. Kornbluth (10 million+)
65) Gordon R. Dickson (10 million+)
66) Ray Bradbury (8 million+)
67) Christopher Golden (8 million+)
68) F. Paul Wilson (8 million+)
[Bernard Cornwell (7 million+)]
69) David Weber (7 million)
70) Orson Scott Card (7 million+)
71) Roger Zelazny (6.5 million+)
72) William Gibson (6.5 million+)
73) Peter S. Beagle (6 million+)
74) Gregory Maguire (6 million+)
74) Laurell K. Hamilton (6 million+)
76) Jim Butcher (6 million+)
77) Jonathan Stroud (6 million+)
78) Barbara Hambly (6 million+)
79) L. Frank Baum (5 million+)
80) Daniel Keyes (5 million+)
81) Garth Nix (5 million)
82) Robert R. McCammon (5 million+)
83) Vonda N. McIntyre (5 million+)
84) Audrey Niffenegger (5 million+)
85) Sergei Lukyanenko (5 million+)
86) Frank Schatzing (4.2 million+)
87) Fritz Leiber (4 million+)
88) Lian Hearn (4 million)
89) David Drake (4 million)
90) Veronica Roth (4 million)
91) Tamora Pierce (4 million+)
92) Aaron Allston (3.3. million+)
93) Robert Harris (3 million+) (SF only)
94) Alan Dean Foster (3 million+)
95) Ursula K. Le Guin (3 million+)
96) Guy Gavriel Kay (3 million)
97) Lloyd Alexander (3 million)
98) Dan Abnett (3 million+)
99) John Ringo (3 million)
100) Joe Abercrombie (3 million)
101) Margaret Atwood (3 million+) (SF only)
102) Robert Silverberg (3 million+)
103) Eric Flint (3 million)
104) Scott Westerfield (3 million+)
105) Robert Asprin (3 million)
106) Rick Hautala (3 million+)
107) Brian Lumley (3 million+)
108) Neal Stephenson (3 million+)
109) Simon R. Green (2.7 million)
110) Kim Stanley Robinson (2.5 million+)
111) Harry Turtledove (2.5 million)
112) S.M. Stirling (2.5 million)
113) Michelle Paver (2.5 million+)
114) Max Brooks (2.4 million+)
115) James Dashner (2.3 million+)
116) Susan Cooper (2 million+)
117) Hans Dominik (2 million+)
118) Peter F. Hamilton (2 million+)
119) Brent Weeks (2 million)
120) Andrzej Sapkowski (2 million+)
121) Lois McMaster Bujold (2 million)
122) Katherine Kurtz (2 million)
123) Trudi Canavan (2 million+)
124) Stephen Lawhead (2 million+)
125) Robert Rankin (2 million+)
126) Maggie Stiefvater (2 million+)
127) Gregory Benford (2 million+)
128) Greg Bear (2 million+)
129) Jacqueline Carey (2 million+)
130) Piers Anthony (2 million+)
131) L.E. Modesitt, Jr. (2 million+)
132) David Gemmell (2 million+)
133) Justin Cronin (2 million+)
134) Kevin Crossley-Holland (2 million+)
135) Melanie Rawn (1.8 million+)
136) Jennifer Roberson (1.7 million)
137) Elizabeth Moon (1.5 million+)
138) Deborah Harkness (1.5 million+)
139) Susanna Clarke (1.5 million+)
140) Markus Heitz (1.5 million+)
141) Libba Bray (1.5 million+)
142) Seth Grahame-Smith (1.4 million+)
143) Dan Simmons (1.25 million+)
144) Stan Nicholls (1.25 million+)
145) Naomi Novik (1.2 million+)
146) Jack Campbell (1.2 million+)
147) Tanya Huff (1.2 million+)
148) Iain M. Banks (1.1 million+) (SF only)
149) Kelley Armstrong (1 million+)
150) Samuel R. Delany (1 million+)
151) Ed Greenwood (1 million+)
152) Paul S. Kemp (1 million+)
153) Connie Willis (1 million)
154) Sara Douglass (1 million)
155) Robin Hobb (1 million+)
156) Steven Erikson (1 million+)
157) Alastair Reynolds (1 million+)
158) Jasper Fforde (1 million+)
159) Ian Irvine (1 million+)
160) Richard A. Knaak (1 million+)
161) Katherine Kerr (1 million+)
162) Dave Duncan (1 million+)
163) A.C. Crispin (1 million+)
164) Hugh Howey (1 million+)
165) Joe Haldeman (1 million+)
166) Glen Cook (1 million+)
167) David Brin (1 million+)
168) Henry N. Beard (1 million+)
169) Douglas C. Kenney (1 million+)
170) Alexey Pehov (1 million+)
171) John Gregory Betancourt (1 million+)
172) Jo Clayton (1 million+)
173) Christie Golden (1 million+)
174) Drew Karpyshyn (1 million+)
175) David Mitchell (1 million+)
176) Ransom Riggs (1 million+)
177) Elizabeth Haydon (1 million+)
178) Peter V. Brett (925,000)
179) Chris Wooding (750,000+)
180) William King (750,000+)
181) Erin Morgenstern (650,000+)
182) Janny Wurts (500,000+)
183) Kevin Hearne (500,000+)
184) Alison Croggon (500,000+)
185) Michael Gerber (500,000+)
186) Hugh Cook (500,000+)
187) Gail Carriger (400,000+)
188) Gail Z. Martin (400,000+)
189) Lawrence Watt Evans aka Nathan Archer (400,000+)
190) Ben Aaronovitch (400,000+)
191) Lynn Flewelling (350,000)
192) Kate Elliott (300,000+)
193) Ernest Cline (300,000)
194) Mark Smith aka Jonathan Wylie aka Julia Gray (300,000+)
195) Julia Smith aka Jonathan Wylie aka Julia Gray (300,000+)
196) Scott Lynch (300,000+)
197) J.V. Jones (250,000+)
198) Mark Lawrence (250,000+)
199) Michael J. Sullivan (250,000+)
200) Karen Miller (250,000+)
201) Sharon Lee (250,000+)
202) Steve Miller (250,000+)
203) Karen Russell (210,000+)
204) James Barclay (200,000+)
205) R. Scott Bakker (200,000+)
206) Paolo Bacigalupi (200,000+)
207) Jaye Wells (200,000+)
208) David Dalglish (175,000+)
209) Daniel H. Wilson (160,000+)
210) Adam Roberts (150,000+)
211) Glen Duncan (150,000+)
212) Glenda Larke (120,000+)
213) James Lovegrove (100,000+)
214) Tom Lloyd (70,000+)
215) Russell Kirkpatrick (70,000+)
216) Hannu Rajaniemi (40,000+)

This post has been edited by Werthead: 11 October 2013 - 04:41 PM

[champ]

I weep for 116 million people

[Werthead]

champ, on 29 August 2013 - 11:26 AM, said:

I weep for 116 million people

I'm assuming that most people who bought the books got all four of them, so that's 'only' about 29 million people who need your tears

[McLovin]

Huh. Eddings didn't make that list? I figured he wouldn't be high on the list, but surely above Bakker.

[Werthead]

Eddings is likely 15-20 million, but I haven't found a reliable source confirming that.

[Coco with marshmallows]

What, no Robert Stanek?

[QuickTidal]

Goodkind is sadly high on that list.

[Werthead]

Cocoreturns, on 29 August 2013 - 12:59 PM, said:

What, no Robert Stanek?

All of the 60+ names on the list are actually pseudonyms of Robert Stanek

[Salt-Man Z]

It warms my heart to see Richard Adams in the top 10.

What currency are we going by here?

[Werthead]

Salt-Man Z, on 29 August 2013 - 01:21 PM, said:

It warms my heart to see Richard Adams in the top 10.

What currency are we going by here?

Units (print books/ebooks) shifted. Unfortunately, publishers normally make no distinction between 'units sold' and 'books in print', which means these figures also include a large number of copies sat in warehouses and on shelves in shops somewhere. However, broadly speaking, only high-selling books get lots of copies printed, so the correlation is roughly there.

[Sinisdar Toste]

please tell me glen cook is one of the ones without official sales figures?? pretty sure SE would despair to see his name up there but not cook's

[Werthead]

Sinisdar Toste, on 30 August 2013 - 02:16 AM, said:

please tell me glen cook is one of the ones without official sales figures?? pretty sure SE would despair to see his name up there but not cook's

He's actually probably done quite well (maybe more than a million), but without hard figures I can't put him up there.

[D'iversify]

Pretty sure Gemmell sold more than the official figures given he was around quite a while and his books have been very popular for some time (saw most of them in translation on sale when I was in France in July, so he definitely penetrated the overseas market).


I'm guessing a problem with estimating the 'greats' is (1) in the early days, many of them made most of their money selling short stories to magazines (stories which have since been reprinted and resold umpteen times), (2) lots of them got screwed over with what they were being paid per story (Dick is a prime example), which means they can't be measured in terms of their actual sales and impact based on money alone (much like Gone With the Wind had considerably more bums on seats than Avatar ever did, but because of the rate at which tickets were paid for, plus inflation, the latter's streets ahead in box office).



Any guesses for Michael Moorcock and Gene Wolfe, just out of curiosity?

This post has been edited by D'iversify: 02 September 2013 - 07:05 AM

[Cause]

A sobering list. Many big names have not even hit the million mark despite having multiple books. Erikson only on a million with a ten book series?

I wonder whats the typical royalty per book sold?

I weep for Bakker, Lawrence and Lynch

This post has been edited by Cause: 02 September 2013 - 10:11 AM

[Kaamos]

Werthead, on 29 August 2013 - 10:59 AM, said:

5) Stephanie Meyer (116 million)
11) Christopher Paolini (39 million)
19) Cassandra Clare (24 million)
. . .
38) Stephen Donaldson (10 million)
39) Neil Gaiman (10 million + )
64) Steven Erikson (1 million+)

Add my gush of tears to the collective weeping bucket as well.

[Imperial Historian]

It's a shame we can't get official figures. This list makes me reassess the size of the market though, I was sure that some of those authors would have sold much more. But Elizabeth moon who I'd say is a fairly respected author with something like 20 books only has 100,000 sales? That's about 5000 sales a book! Even though Wert is clearly underestimating some of these it does make me wonder what sort of sales an author needs to get books continuously printed.

Any thoughts on what is usually considered a successful run? How big is a first print run usually? Any idea?

[Cause]

The numbers strike me ass odd i agree. Has Erickson really reached only a 100K people with his writing. Framed that way it seems sad.

[amphibian]

These figures are very incomplete and the problem mostly lies within the difficulty of tracking sales in the publishing world.

The publisher is in possession of the most complete set of figures and even then, they may not be fully accurate. The rest of us are limited to BookScan and back of napkin calculations, of which Werthead is kinda good at doing.

So for most of the authors on here, the actual figures are likely to be a bit higher, but not so much so as to totally confound the rankings.

[Aptorian]

Cause, on 02 September 2013 - 10:10 AM, said:

A sobering list. Many big names have not even hit the million mark despite having multiple books. Erikson only on a million with a ten book series?

I wonder whats the typical royalty per book sold?

I weep for Bakker, Lawrence and Lynch

In Denmark the average pay out for a new author is 15% of a sale. Not printed books but actual sales in stores. If its a popular author with an established names it is probably a bit higher but not much.

[birthSqueeze]

How the fuck has lousy Christopher Paolini managed to outsell the great George R.R. Martin. 14 million more sales? I don't believe it. Mr. Paolini hasn't even published very many books.