Best selling authors can literally be born overnight. Well maybe not over night but let us take the example of one of the most successful authors of late and see how in two years he went from obscurity to inordinate fame. The author of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown, has sold 25 million copies and is currently at work on his follow-up novel. This blockbuster novel has been published in 44 languages and has sold 10 times as many books as other industry giants, such as John Grisham and Nora Roberts, sell on average. This would throw this book into the category of fastest-selling adult novels of all time. This author published three earlier novels that made not even a splash yet are now being grabbed up to the tune of seven million copies by the feeding frenzy of his fans. So not overnight but two years; ain't too shabby.
It is the dream of many to become a best selling author, me included. Just for fun lets look at the top 10 best selling books of all time and see what we might have in common with their authors, shall we?
1. Holy Bible |
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Prophets of Old |
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More than 6 billion |
2. Quotations from Chairman Mao |
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Mao Tse-Tung |
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900,000,000 |
3. The American Spelling Book |
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Noah Webster |
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100,000,000 |
4. Guiness Book of World Records |
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Mark C. Young |
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More than 90,000,000 |
5. World Almanac |
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Various contributors |
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73,500,000 |
6. The McGuffey Readers |
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William Holmes McGuffey |
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60,000,000 |
7. The Common Sense Book of Baby & Child Care |
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Benjamin Spock |
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More than 50,000,000 |
8. A Message to Garcia |
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Elbert Hubbard |
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More than 40,000,000 |
9. In His Steps, What Would Jesus Do? |
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Charles Monroe Sheldon |
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More than 30,000,000 |
10. Valley of the Dolls |
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Jacqueline Susann |
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More than 30,000,000 |
Wow! Prophets, doctors, wordsmiths; I don't know about you but Dan Brown is about to find himself in some pretty lofty company with his modest 25 million. Many things influence the outcome of a best selling book and the author might have little to do with it. Oprah's book club can take an obscure book and make it an overnight best seller, this time literally. J. K. Rowling is the decade's most successful author taking five of the top six spots on the 100 best-selling books of the past 10 years. With access to books on the Internet curling up on the couch with a book from your all-time favorite author has taken on a whole new meaning. Maybe they will compile 'the most often read blog' list soon and we will all have a chance at number one!
There are many genres that can boast of current top selling authors where before these genres were never seen on any best selling list. The popularity of religious titles has soared. The Left Behind series is one great example of a book that now graces the shelves of Wal-Mart instead of just Christian bookstores. Everyone wanted Chicken Soup for the Soul or one of its clones even if they didn't have a cold. And authors aren't just selling a lot of books they are gathering awards too. Eight of the decade's 100 most popular books won major literary awards. Some began with modest first printings and then in the end sold millions such as author Frank McCourt's memoir, Angela's Ashes and author Charles Frazier's debut novel, Cold Mountain (also made into a successful movie). This virtually leaves all territories in the book market available to all of us who want to become a successful author with a best selling book to our credit. So what are we waiting for?