Writing a best seller is one thing, writing a book that sells more than 50 million copies is quite another. These authors tapped into something that led to record-breaking book sales. Are you an aspiring author wondering how many self-published tomes you need to sell to achieve the upper echelons of publishing fame? Check out our list of the 21 best-selling books of all time (as of 2007).
| Title/Author | Copies Sold (millions)
| ||
| 1. The Bible
|
5,000 - 6,000
| ||
2. Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong by Mao Zedong |
900 | ||
3. The Qur'an |
800 | ||
4. Xinhua Zidian |
400
| ||
5. The Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith, Jr. |
120
| ||
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling |
107
| ||
7. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie |
100
| ||
8. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien |
100
| ||
9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling |
65
| ||
10. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown |
65
| ||
11. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling |
60
| ||
12. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger |
60
| ||
13. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling |
55
| ||
14. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling |
55
| ||
15. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling |
55
| ||
16. Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace |
50
| ||
17. Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning by Johanna Spyri |
50
| ||
18. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho |
50
| ||
19. The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care by Dr. Benjamin Spock |
50
| ||
20. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry |
50
| ||
21. The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley |
50
|
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:
Helen Davies, Marjorie Dorfman, Mary Fons, Deborah Hawkins, Martin Hintz, Linnea Lundgren, David Priess, Julia Clark Robinson, Paul Seaburn, Heidi Stevens, and Steve Theunissen
