Anne Rice kicked off the modern vampire obsession with Interview with the Vampire, the first installment of the 13-book Vampire Chronicles series. Several of her books have received film adaptations and her gothic literature has drawn over an estimated 150 million copies between 40 novels (Curcic).
Astrid Lindgren was a Swedish writer who dabbled in both children’s fiction and picture books. She published 41 picture books and 34 chapter books that have sold 170 million copies (Curcic). Her most popular stories surround Pippi Longstocking, a lovable character known for her mischievous nature and thrilling adventures.
Ann M. Martin has written a multitude of children’s books and series, including the well-known The Baby-Sitters Club, which on its own has a recorded minimum of 180 million printed books (Curcic). Martin also has several stand-alone novels, two picture books, and numerous other series, including sequels about the younger siblings of her original characters.
Beatrix Potter stands as one of the most well-known children’s literature authors, with 28 books that incorporate her personal illustrations. Of her works, 23 stories revolve around different animals; The Tale of Peter Rabbit is the most popular of these narratives. She is estimated to have sold over 250 million books according to British Heritage Travel and is a well-known inspiration to many other authors.
Jan Berenstain, along with her husband, Stan, wrote and illustrated the The Berenstain Bears series, a very famous children’s series that follows a family of bears and their numerous adventures. The series consists of over 700 books, with more than 250 books accredited to Jan and Stan before being carried on by their children. It is estimated that at least 260 million copies of the series have been sold (Curcic).
Enid Blyton has been an international bestseller of children’s books for nearly a century. She has written 762 books, several of which are published under the pseudonym Mary Pollock. Since the 1930s, she has sold over 600 million copies (Curcic). The Famous Five is her most well known series and follows four children and their dog as they go on thrilling adventures. Blyton is also one of the most translated authors in the world.
JK Rowling is perhaps the most well-known author of children’s fantasy, and each of the seven books in the Harry Potter series have dominated the charts of bestselling novels. The book series has been a widespread phenomenon since its first publication, regarded as one of the best examples of children’s literature. Including fifteen other books in addition to the seven Harry Potter novels, Rowling has sold over 600 million copies (Curcic).
Barbara Cartland, famous for her large number of publications, writes primarily historical romances set in the 1900s, such as Love in the Dark, but was known for dabbling in some nonfiction works as well. With her impressive number of 723 books, she has sold over 1 billion copies (Curcic), and several of her worlds have been adapted into films.
Danielle Steel has an impressive number of more than 200 books published and some that are in the works currently. Her genre is primarily romance, and she has written 182 novels and 18 children’s books, one of which features her own teacup chihuahua in an adventure titled Pretty Minnie in Hollywood. With these various works, Danielle Steel has sold over 1 billion copies worldwide according to her official website.
Agatha Christie, one of the best selling authors for fiction internationally, second only to William Shakespeare, holds the Guinness World Record as the best-selling fiction writer of all time with a total of over two billion copies sold and over 7,000 translations as credited by The Home of Agatha Christie. She mainly wrote murder mysteries and similar crime fiction that leaves audiences amazed until the very end.
Hannah Goerndt, Pine Reads Review Writer