The SFF All-Time Sales List

[Werthead]

Details on the list: this was assembled based on Wikipedia details, sales figures via author blogs and websitse, or info released publicly by publishers. Some of these figures have not been updated since 2008 (when I assembled the last list) or earlier, due to figures not being updated. Some have required some speculative guesswork based on new information released, such as Robert Jordan and R.A. Salvatore's previously-published figures being for the USA alone, meaning that their worldwide sales are likely twice as large or even larger.


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.

The list seems broadly correct, but it is not 100% accurate due to the figures being given out by publishers being often rather vague.


1) J.K Rowling (c. 450 million)
2) Stephen King (c. 350 million)
3) JRR Tolkien (c. 300 million)
4) CS Lewis (120 million+)
5) Stephanie Meyer (116 million)
6) Anne Rice (100 million)
7) Robert Jordan (80 million+)
8) Sir Terry Pratchett (65 million+)
9) Richard Adams (50 million+)
10) Suzanne Collins (50 million+)
11) Christopher Paolini (33 million)
12) R.A. Salvatore (30 million+)
13) Kaoru Kurimoto (28 million)
14) George Orwell (25 million+)
15) Terry Goodkind (25 million)
16) Cassandra Clare (24 million)
17) Terry Brooks (21 million+)
18) Eoin Colfer (21 million)
19) George R.R. Martin (20 million+)
20) Isaac Asimov (20 million+)
21) Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (c. 20 million)
22) Brian Jacquies (c. 20 million)
23) Kazumasa Hirai (c. 20 million)
24) Charlaine Harris (c. 20 million)
25) Frank Herbert (18 million)
26) Hideyuki Kikuchi (18 million)
27) Diana Gabaldon (17 million)
28) Douglas Adams (16 million)
29) Kevin J. Anderson (16 million)
30) Raymond E. Feist (15 million+)
31) Rick Riordan (15 million)
32) Philip Pullman (15 million)
33) Yoshiki Tanaka (15 million)
34) Stephen Donaldson (10 million)
35) Neil Gaiman (10 million + )
36) Alice Sebold (10 million+)
37) Madeline L'Engle (10 million+)
38) Timothy Zahn (8 million)
39) Laurell K. Hamilton (6 million+)
40) Frank L. Baum (5 million+)
41) Guy Gavriel Kay (3 million)
42) John Ringo (3 million)
43) Joe Abercrombie (3 million)
44) Harry Turtledove (2.5 million)
45) Peter F. Hamilton (2 million+)
46) Dan Abnett (1.2 million+)
47) Robin Hobb (1 million+)
48) David Gemmell (1 million+)
49) Steven Erikson (1 million+)
50) Trudi Canavant (1 million+)
51) Chris Wooding (450,000+)
52) R. Scott Bakker (125,000+)

 

[Brian G Turner]

Cheers for posting this - quite an incredible list and a few surprises, but interesting to see how different authors compare.

Just a quick question - which ones are the 2008 figures? I was hoping you'd asterisk those or similar.

 

[Werthead]

Updated list with requested asterikness:

1) J.K Rowling (c. 450 million)
2) Stephen King (c. 350 million) *
3) JRR Tolkien (c. 300 million) *
4) CS Lewis (120 million+) *
5) Stephanie Meyer (116 million)
6) Anne Rice (100 million) *
7) Robert Jordan (80 million+)
8) Sir Terry Pratchett (75 million+)
9) Richard Adams (50 million+)
10) Suzanne Collins (50 million+)
11) Christopher Paolini (33 million)
12) R.A. Salvatore (30 million+)
13) Kaoru Kurimoto (28 million)
14) George Orwell (25 million+)
15) Terry Goodkind (25 million+) *
16) George R.R. Martin (25 million+)
17) Cassandra Clare (24 million)
18) Terry Brooks (21 million+) *
19) Eoin Colfer (21 million)
20) Isaac Asimov (20 million+)
21) Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (c. 20 million) *
22) Brian Jacques (c. 20 million)
23) Kazumasa Hirai (c. 20 million)
24) Charlaine Harris (c. 20 million)
25) Raymond E. Feist (20 million+)
26) Frank Herbert (18 million) *
27) Hideyuki Kikuchi (18 million)
28) Diana Gabaldon (17 million) *
29) Douglas Adams (16 million) *
30) Michael Ende (16 million)
31) Kevin J. Anderson (16 million) *
32) Rick Riordan (15 million)
33) Philip Pullman (15 million)
34) Yoshiki Tanaka (15 million)
35) Stephen Donaldson (10 million) *
36) Neil Gaiman (10 million + ) *
37) Alice Sebold (10 million+)
38) Madeline L'Engle (10 million+)
39) Timothy Zahn (8 million) *
40) David Weber (7 million)
41) Laurell K. Hamilton (6 million+) *
42) Frank L. Baum (5 million+)
43) Guy Gavriel Kay (3 million)
44) John Ringo (3 million) *
45) Joe Abercrombie (3 million)
46) Harry Turtledove (2.5 million) *
47) Peter F. Hamilton (2 million+) *
48) Brent Weeks (2 million)
49) Andrzej Sapkowski (2 million+)
50) Dan Abnett (1.2 million+)
51) Robin Hobb (1 million+) *
52) David Gemmell (1 million+) *
53) Steven Erikson (1 million+)
54) Alastair Reynolds (1 million)
55) Trudi Canavan (1 million+)
56) Alison Croggon (500,000+)
57) Chris Wooding (450,000+) *
58) Peter V. Brett (310,000+)
59) R. Scott Bakker (125,000+)

 

[Brian G Turner]

Cheers, much appreciated.

 

[The Ace]

I fear for the human race when I see Stephanie Meyer placed so high, and as for Anne Rice....

 

[Rodders]

Now, now. Whether we like them or not, they're selling books and we can't begrudge them that.

Interesting to see how the Harry Potter craze exploded and put JK Rowling at number 1.

I must confess, of the authors listed, i have only read 19.

 

[Montero]

Surprised not to see Vernor Vinge, David Brin or John Scalzi on it.

Some names on the list I've never heard of, highest one is Suzanne Collins

Edited to add - and having looked her up, that is because she is writing kids books.

 

[Ursa major]

Some names on the list I've never heard of, highest one is Suzanne Collins

But you'll have heard of one of her books, The Hunger Games, which is part one of a trilogy; and she'd written a five-book best selling series before that, The Underland Chronicles.

 

[Werthead]

A lot of figures are simply unavailable. So Vinge, Brin and Scalzi, not to mention Clive Barker, Jim Butcher, Brandon Sanderson and so on, have simply never revealed sales figures.

I don't think Vinge, Brin and Scalzi would be very high though. The degree to which Fantasy and Horror completely destroy sales of SF is startling, as I think the list demonstrates.

 

[Werthead]

Updated list, as new info has come in throughout the day:

1) J.K. Rowling (c. 450 million)
2) Stephen King (c. 350 million)
3) JRR Tolkien (c. 300 million)
4) CS Lewis (120 million+)
5) Stephanie Meyer (116 million)
6) Anne Rice (100 million)
7) Robert Jordan (80 million+)
8) Sir Terry Pratchett (75 million+)
9) Richard Adams (50 million+)
10) Suzanne Collins (50 million+)
11) Christopher Paolini (39 million)
12) Stanislaw Lem (30 million+)
13) R.A. Salvatore (30 million+)
14) Kaoru Kurimoto (28 million)
15) Terry Brooks (26.5 million)
16) George Orwell (25 million+)
17) Terry Goodkind (25 million+)
18) George R.R. Martin (25 million+)
19) Cassandra Clare (24 million)
20) Kevin J. Anderson (23 million)
21) Eoin Colfer (21 million)
22) Isaac Asimov (20 million+)
23) Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (c. 20 million)
24) Brian Jacques (c. 20 million)
25) Kazumasa Hirai (c. 20 million)
26) Charlaine Harris (c. 20 million)
27) Raymond E. Feist (20 million+)
28) Frank Herbert (18 million)
29) Hideyuki Kikuchi (18 million)
30) Diana Gabaldon (17 million)
31) Douglas Adams (16 million)
32) Michael Ende (16 million)
33) Rick Riordan (15 million)
34) Philip Pullman (15 million)
35) Yoshiki Tanaka (15 million)
36) Timothy Zahn (15 million)
37) Stephen Donaldson (10 million)
38) Neil Gaiman (10 million + )
39) Alice Sebold (10 million+)
40) Madeline L'Engle (10 million+)
41) David Weber (7 million)
42) Laurell K. Hamilton (6 million+)
43) Frank L. Baum (5 million+)
44) Guy Gavriel Kay (3 million)
45) John Ringo (3 million)
46) Joe Abercrombie (3 million)
47) Harry Turtledove (2.5 million)
48) Peter F. Hamilton (2 million+)
49) Brent Weeks (2 million)
50) Andrzej Sapkowski (2 million+)
51) Dan Abnett (1.2 million+)
52) Robin Hobb (1 million+)
53) David Gemmell (1 million+)
54) Steven Erikson (1 million+)
55) Alastair Reynolds (1 million+)
56) Trudi Canavan (1 million+)
57) Hugh Howey (500,000+)
58) Alison Croggon (500,000+)
59) Chris Wooding (450,000+)
60) Peter V. Brett (310,000+)
61) Mark Lawrence (250,000+)
62) Michael J. Sullivan (250,000+)
63) Scott Lynch (145,000+)
64) R. Scott Bakker (125,000+)

 

[Mouse]

I've read 12 on the list. Started one and then binned it. So almost 13. Have a couple of the others on my shelf to-read.

Nice to see so many Brits and women up near the top.

 

[The Ace]

Read 45, although wondering why with some of them.

 

[Foxbat]

I thought Frank Herbert and Stephen Donaldson would have earned more.

Suppose it shows why I'm not a Simon Cowell sort for a big publishing firm

 

[biodroid]

Ive read 19 on that list

 

[Parson]

Count me for at least 22 of the list. I suppose this shows that I tend to read things by people who are never going to make a living as authors. Is that my good taste or poor taste? It certainly doesn't seem to match up with so many others.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Messing about with the statistics above I get:

Total book sales: 2,336,730,000

Written by men: 1,488,230,000 (63.7%)
Written by women: 868,500,000 (37.1%)

Written by men (excluding the top 3 best-selling male authors): (45.8%)
Written by women (excluding the top 3 best-selling female authors): (12.9%)

From this data selection, it appears that there are a small number of women who have outstanding sales, but that male authors easily outsell women writers under normal circumstances - using this dataset.

However, it must be remembered these are not exclusive sales lists - but does echo what Voyager previously posted about their sales.

Even still, the most outstanding individual sales have come from new women authors over the past 15 years.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

I think I have read 13 of these authors, all old stuff.

It's amazing that I have never heard of most of these people.

Interesting to see Lem so high up on the list. (Eastern European sales?)

 

[Ursa major]

At the top end of sales, we're dealing with the very out of the ordinary, which is why, in genres said to be male dominated, more than a quarter of these sales (666 million out of 2336.7 million) are of books by just three women.

I'm not sure what can be done about this: I expect the data for the midlist will be even more patchy than it is with these big sellers.

 

[Boneman]

I've read 31 of the updated list, and I'm pretty sure Patrick Rothfuss should be on it...

 

[ratsy]

I have read 24 of these authors, many only one of their books but some I have read all of them.

I really hate to see Hobb only selling 1million+ while Goodkind has sold 25million+ but hey, I have read them both so I shouldnt talk.

I wonder what Sanderson's number would be??