I have based my results on two factors: the number of books sold by living authors and the richest fiction authors alive today.
It can be argued that these are not the only measurements of a successful author. Other factors such as critical acclaim, awards, conversion of books to films, world-wide readership, impact and legacy are also important.
However, to be a successful author commercially, an author must be selling books and making money. These authors not only stand out for the number of books they have sold and their financial success, but they are also Award Winners and New York Times Best sellers. Some are even Guinness Book of World Record Holders!
Here are the results:
It is perhaps unsurprising to find the same authors on both lists, but their achievements are incredibly interesting and there seems to be some patterns.
So, what can we learn from these results?
- The more books you write, the more likely it is that you will be successful. On average these authors have produced 2.6 books per year. Nora Roberts on average 5.9 books per year, Danielle Steel 3 books and James Patterson 2.1 books.
- Once you get a best-selling formula, stick with it. Some of these authors have created extremely successful series, for example, Harry Potter and Alex Cross.
- Don’t stop writing. Keep on writing books. Theses authors have been writing books for many years, on average it represents 40 years! They are masters of their craft. They are prolific writers: committed, focused and driven. They also have a writing habit that they stick to, for example, Danielle Steel works 20-22 hours per day.
- Any genre can be a success.
- Ever doubt you are a writer? Don’t! Even rich and successful authors experience that same sensation when they write: the pleasure, the pain, the excitement, the butterflies, the need to write and the knowing that writing makes them happy.
- There is always an exception to the rule. J.K. Rowling has only written 15 books, been writing for 19 years and has produced 0.78 books per year of her writing years. Compared to the other authors on this list, who have produced far more and written for much longer, she appears to be an anomaly. However, the books she has produced have experienced phenomenal success. This implies the quality of the books written is also important, not only the quantity.
- Readers are loyal and will keep reading books from the authors they enjoy.
What do these very successful authors have to say about writing?
Stephen King: “Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
Stephen King: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
James Patterson: “I’m a very good storyteller; I have a lot of compassion for people. That’s very useful for a novelist.”
James Patterson: Brainy Quote
J.K. Rowling: “Writing for me is a kind of compulsion, so I don’t think anyone could have made me do it or prevented me from doing it.”
J.K. Rowling: Goodreads
Danielle Steel: “I wrote because I needed to and I wanted to. It never occurred to me that I’d become famous.”
Danielle Steel: The Age: Lonely Heart
Nora Roberts: “I need to write to be happy.”
Nora Roberts: Goodreads
Dean Koontz: “Writing a novel is like making love, but it’s also like having a tooth pulled. Pleasure and pain. Sometimes it’s like making love while having a tooth pulled.”
Dean Koontz: Goodreads
Figures sourced from: Wikipedia: List of best selling fiction authors and Wealthy Gorilla: The 20 Richest Authors in 2019 by Emmy Wallin