10 Best Selling Book Series of All Time

Some book series began with sales of the first book in the series being strong enough to support the idea of a sequel featuring the same main characters. Others were designed by the publisher from the start to produce a series aimed at a specific demographic, such as young adults, known in the publishing industry as YA, or kids. It’s no coincidence that seven of the top ten best-selling book series were written for these two markets.

All but one of the series are available in English. In fact, all but one were created in English and translated into other languages for international audiences. Most have been adapted into other media, including film, television, radio, and animation, as well as toys and games. One of them has been cited in over 200 U.S. courtroom decisions. The list here is based on the ten best-selling book series listed in World Atlas Here are the 10 best-selling book series of all time.

10. Noddy

For the uninitiated, Noddy is a wooden toy. Made by a woodcarver in a toy shop, Noddy ran away but was rescued by a brownie named Big Ears. He lives in Toyland , where his adventures include rescuing other toys, driving a car as a taxi, and interacting with characters such as Tessie Bear and Bumpy the Dog. Noddy must be wary of goblins, although when they cause him trouble, Big Ears often scares them away. Big Ears is also capable of defeating wizards.

As you might guess, the series was written for younger children, with the first book published in 1949. The work was created by Enid Blyton, an English children's book writer whose work has sold over 600 million copies worldwide. Series books about Noddy was one of the most popular books of the 1950s, and the final book in the series, Noddy and the Aeroplane" was published in 1963.

There were many television and film adaptations of Noddy and his friends, as well as live-action productions. According to World Atlas, the 24 books in the original Noddy series continue to sell well enough to rank as the tenth best-selling book series of all time, with more than 200 million books sold since 1949.

9. Nancy Drew Mysteries

According to the book covers and title pages, all of the Nancy Drew books were written by Carolyn Keene. Carolyn Keene was a pseudonym used collectively by a number of ghostwriters who produced books for Stratemeyer Syndicate The syndicate was also responsible for a number of young adult book series, including The Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, and The Bobbsey Twins, to name a few.

Nancy Drew first appeared in 1930. Teenage amateur detective Nancy shares traits with several of the main characters in Stratemeyer's books. She is a gifted housekeeper for her lawyer father, who lost her mother before the series began. She is a master of cars and boats, a talented dancer, speaks fluent French, has a lot of money, and somehow maintains a sense of humility and reserve. As with Stratemeyer's other series, the early books were rewritten beginning in the late 1950s to reflect changes in public consciousness.

Original "Nancy Drew Mystery Stories" ended in 2003, although several spin-offs continued, including crossovers with the Hardy Boys and others featuring a more mature Nancy. Her books have been translated into more than two dozen languages, and she has appeared in films and television series. The original series includes 175 books. She has also appeared in graphic novels, comic books, and video games. Several of the original books continue to sell well, including the first in the "The Secret of the Old Clock".

8. Railway series

42 books included in series "Railway" , written between 1945 and 2011, introduce Thomas the Tank Engine and his many friends to the fictional Island of Sodor. The series and its characters originated in the mind of the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, who wrote the books until 1972. At that time, he retired, and ten years later, his son, Christopher Awdry, began publishing the final 16 books in the series. The final book in the series, Thomas and his friends " ends with the words "The End".

Both Awdrys were railway enthusiasts, and both used the series to depict the problems with British railways in the post-war era and later modernisation. From the outset, the books were published in a format accessible to young children, and featured fully coloured illustrations, which was unusual for publishers in the post-war UK. Several different illustrators drew Thomas and his many friends over the years, and the full-colour illustrations undoubtedly contributed to the series' success.

By the time the final book in the series was released, Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends have become a media franchise. Toys, games, and train sets feature Thomas and his many friends. Ringo Starr was the narrator of the Thomas & Friends television program Shining Time Station. So did comedian George Carlin. The popularity of the Railway Series has not waned, and it is now the eighth best-selling book series in the world.

7. San Antonio

What's surprising about the San Antonio series' high sales figures is that few of the books are available in English, which limits their appeal in North America, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. The books follow the adventures of Antoine San Antonio, officially a police commissioner who finds himself drawn into the adventures of James Bond, albeit without the exotic locales and fancy gadgets provided to help him.

Total author Frederic Dard wrote 175 San Antonio adventures. Less than a dozen are available in English translations , although many of them were translated from French into Spanish, Italian, and Russian. San Antonio also served as a pseudonym for books in which he appeared as a character, and Dard is known to have used at least 17 pseudonyms. He wrote between 250 and 300 books during his career.

It is known that more than 200 million copies of the series have been sold in France alone. San -Antonio , with additional sales in French-speaking countries increasing that number each year. Although virtually unknown in the United States and largely ignored in the United Kingdom, it is the seventh best-selling book series in the world. Which leaves open the question of how many copies of his many books would sell each year if English translations were to appear.

6. Robert Langdon

Dan Brown's character first appeared in "Angels and Demons" in 2000. Langdon is a fictional character who teaches fictional object, symbolism , at Harvard University. In the books of the series, Langdon explores the secrets and conspiracies of the Illuminati, the Knights Templar, the Vatican, Freemasonry, and other organizations of a mysterious nature.

Robert Langdon has appeared in five books so far, although Dan Brown has written other novels that do not feature the character. Each of Langdon's books has generated controversy. They have been called anti-Christian, anti-Catholic, blasphemous, and worse, by evangelical conservatives. The suggestion that Jesus Christ got married is just one of the controversies the series has generated.

Despite the controversy, or perhaps to some extent because of the controversy, the books have sold well enough over just over two decades to make the five-book series the sixth best-selling book series in the world. Four of the books have been made into films (starring Tom Hanks) and another has been adapted into a TV series. In 2017, Dan Brown announced that he was taking a break from the character Robert Langdon , although he did not say that he was completely abandoning his bestseller.

5. Sweet Valley School

Author Francine Pascal introduced twin girls Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield in 1983. The girls remained at Sweet Valley High School for the next 20 years, appearing in 181 books. The sisters live in the fictional Sweet Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles, and deal with the problems faced by suburban high school students. The series has spawned several spin-offs and continuations , almost all of them are written ghostwriters under the name of Pascal.

Between dating, meeting new students, appearance, and other areas of teenage angst, the girls and their many friends go on several adventures, including treasure hunts, strange secrets, and more. In one book, Jessica is accused of cheating on her SATs. In another, the sisters take an internship in London, England. In yet another, Elizabeth is charged with manslaughter after a car accident that kills her friend.

Throughout the series, the twins feud with each other, then reunite, only to be torn apart again. The series was adapted for television in 1994 and ran for four seasons, mostly in syndication. Another episode is in development. Despite the flippant treatment from most critics, Sweet Water High is the fifth best-selling book series in the world, with nearly 300 million copies of its many titles and spin-offs sold.

4. The Berenstain Bears

Husband and wife Stan and Ian Berenstain introduced anthropomorphic grizzlies named the Berenstain Bears in "The Great Honey Hunt" in 1962. Six decades later, it is a media franchise that includes toys, books, games, television programs, and books. Stan Berenstain died in 2005, after which their son Mike took over, assisting his mother until her death in 2012. Since her death, Mike Berenstain has continued to publish new books.

The bear family faces challenges that most families face, especially children, and Mom and Dad Berenstain use them as learning opportunities with the young. Some critics find the stories too sweet, too cliche. In one, written Katherine Olney in Salon , it is noted that often Papa Bear "...must learn his lesson as poorly as the children." In 2015, an online debate erupted in which the Berenstain Bears were cited as evidence of the existence of parallel universe.

Like it or not, the Berenstain Bears books, TV shows, and more than 150 franchise products are big business. More than 300 books have been published, translated into about two dozen languages. The series shows no signs of slowing down, as each new generation of children finds the bears hilarious and parents turn to them for bedtime reading. As of 2022, only three book series have outsold the Berenstain Bears series.

3. Perry Mason

Perry Mason first appeared in 1933 in "The Case of the Velvet Claws" written by Erle Stanley Gardner. The author was a practicing attorney with over 20 years of trial experience. The series eventually included 82 novels, the last two of which were completed by Gardner before his death but published posthumously in 1972. There were also four short stories. The character of Perry Mason eventually introduced Americans to their criminal justice system and her work.

From that seed grew 270 television episodes starring Raymond Burr as Perry Mason, thirty television movies starring Burr, a second series starring Monte Markham as Mason, and a third television series in 2020. Many of the books in the series were out of print for decades before the American Bar Association began publishing novels Gardner on Perry Mason in 2015 through his Ankerwycke Publishing House.

Despite being out of print for many years, and in some cases decades, the Perry Mason series is the third best-selling book series in the world, with over 300 million copies sold, and the character's continued popularity indicates that the books will likely continue to sell. It is the highest-selling book series of all time for books aimed at an adult audience.

2. Goosebumps

Author R. L. Stein published 62 books in the Goosebumps series from 1992 to 1997. Over the years, several books in the series have made bestseller lists, including the all-important New York Times Best Seller lists. Stine has released several spin-offs, and the books have been adapted for television and film. They have also been controversial among some, given the nature of their themes. They were written as horror stories for children. Some did not approve this concept.

The American Library Association defines a challenged book as one in which a person or group attempts to force the book out of a library or curriculum. In the 1990s, the ALA reported that the Goosebumps books were 15 -th book , which causes the most calls in the United States. Most of the problems came from the books containing references to the occult, witches, and demons. However, sales continued to grow, and the series, like other successful book series, spawned a media franchise.

To date, only one book series has outsold Goosebumps. The books have been translated into more than 30 languages, including languages as diverse as Hebrew and Chinese. Goosebumps continues to sell about 2 million books a year, and accounts for more than 400 million books sold. Apparently, many children in many countries enjoy a little scare in their reading.

1. Harry Potter

Of course, this is not surprising. The success of the Harry Potter series of books and films is hardly newsworthy. But it appears here because it is the undisputed bestseller in the world. The Harry Potter series includes seven novels and three companion books as canon. Harry Potter and His World is the first appeared in 1997 in the book "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" Since then, the series has sold more than half a billion copies.

In 2019, a Catholic school in Nashville banned books , because the spells in the books could "... when read by a human being risk calling forth evil spirits in the presence of the person reading the text." Apparently there is no concern for non-human readers, wherever they may be. Disputes Problems of this nature have haunted books throughout the history of their publication and still arise quite frequently.

Books, films and licensing have created a franchise that was estimated to be worth over $100 million in 2016. money.com exceeded 25 billion dollars. Harry Potter books, originally intended for children's literature, attracted an audience of children, youth and adults. He also earned and continues to bring in very large sums of money.