1. Agatha Christie, with an estimated two billion copies of her works sold, is arguably the bestselling author of all time. As the world’s best known mystery writer, Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie also wrote romances under the name Mary Weinberg Pritman. In addition to the two billion copies sold in English, Christie has sold another billion copies in over forty five foreign languages.

Christie, who was born September 15, 1890 and died January 12, 1976, is also known as the “Queen of Crime.” She was an innovator in the development of the mystery, and she published over eighty novels and plays, often using the recurring characters of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.

In her writing, Christie always made sure to reveal enough information for the reader to solve the mystery before the main character, but she did challenge the established form for detective stories.

Her plays were, and continue to be, big public draws. “The Mousetrap” had the longest run ever on a London stage. It opened on November 25, 1952 and is still running today at the Ambassadors Theatre after more than 20,000 performances. Most of her books and short stories have been translated to film.

2. With over three hundred million books in print, J.K. Rowling has established herself as one of the bestselling authors of all time. As the author of the Harry Potter book series, she has reached across genres to audiences of all ages in countries across the world. Every title in her Harry Potter series has been on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists, not to mention those in other countries.

Born Joanne Rowling on July 31, 1965, she is the winner of the Hugo Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and others. Rowling has also been named an Officer of the British Empire. Her wide ranging success has made her the wealthiest woman in the United Kingdom and if the estimates of her fortune are correct at US$1 billion, she is the first person to become a billionaire by writing books.

All six of the seven Harry Potter books have been bestsellers, and each will be made into a movie. After the series is complete, Rowling says she intends to continue writing under a pseudonym.

3. Stephen King has also sold around three hundred million copies of his books. His first novel, Carrie, was a bestseller and since then, he has gone on to write over forty worldwide bestsellers.

Born on September 21, 1947, Stephen Edwin King is best known for is horror novels. He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Book Awards and the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Most of King’s work has been translated into film and television productions. He has also written specifically for the small and big screen.

Most of King’s work involves the supernatural circumstances encountered by ordinary people. But he also writes stories outside of the horror genre. “The Green Mile,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” and “Stand by Me” are all movies adapted from King’s novellas.

King’s nonfiction book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, is a respected and much sought after work on the life and work of an author. In this book, King promotes his own style of writing which comes from freewriting, or writing without knowledge of where the story will end.

4. Nora Roberts, fondly called “The Nora” by other romance authors, has over two hundred and fifty million copies of her books in print. Born on October 10, 1950, Roberts spent her entire life making up stories and loving books. Her first attempts at writing were rejected, but when Irish Thoroughbred was published by Silhouette in 1981, an incredibly successful writing career was born.

Roberts has over one hundred and thirty titles under her belt. She writes not only romances, but also futuristic crime novels under the pseudonym J.D. Robb. In 1997, the Romance Writers of America gave her the Lifetime Achievement Award. She was also the first author to be inducted into that group’s Hall of Fame.

She is a legend for her prolific turn out, releasing as many as ten or eleven new novels per year. Reportedly, she writes eight hours a day, seven days a week.

5. J.R.R. Tolkien was born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien in South Africa on January 3, 1892 and has sold around two hundred million books, and counting. Best known for the classic books, The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien also worked as a reader and English professor at the University of Leeds and at Oxford.

Tolkien fought in World War I and was considered one of the most distinguished philologists of his time. He retired in 1959 after serving as a fellow of Pembroke College and Merton College, and died on September 2, 1973.

As a committed Catholic, Tolkien was close friends with fellow author C.S. Lewis. He published other fiction, including The Silmarillion. His son, Christopher Reuel Tolkien has also published many of his works posthumously as taken from his notes. Due to the longevity of his popularity, Tolkien is often referred to as the “father of the modern high fantasy genre.”

6. C.S. Lewis was fascinated with fairy tales, myths, and ancient legends, and he turned this fascination into a writing career that has sold nearly one hundred and fifty million books over the years. Born Clive Staples Lewis on November 29, 1898, Lewis was known as Jack to his friends.

His most popular work, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, has now been translated to film and will be followed by the remaining six books in the Chronicles of Narnia. The last book in the series, The Last Battle, was awarded the Carnegie Medal of excellence in children’s literature.

Lewis was an Irish Protestant and was also known for his Christian apologetics. He wrote on themes of sin, the Fall from grace, and redemption.

7. John Grisham is the author of eighteen novels and has over one hundred million books in print that have been translated into twenty nine languages.

His first book, A Time to Kill, was rejected by numerous publishers but was eventually a bestseller when it was published in 1988.

Born on February 8, 1955, Grisham is a former member of the Mississippi Congress and attorney and has translated his knowledge of the American legal system into his work of modern legal drama.

Grisham’s second novel, The Firm, became a bestseller in 1991 and went on to become a successful film. The Pelican Brief, published in 1992, was the bestselling novel of the 1990s, and was the only novel to sell ten million copies in that decade. He continues to release an average of one book a year, most of them bestsellers. He has now moved beyond the legal thrillers to work on novels set in the rural South.

8. James Patterson is a publishing legend. Having sold over one hundred million books, Patterson is one of the pioneers in the marketing field of publishing. He has become more of a brand than simply an author and works with other writers to produce prolific work. Overall, his work has grossed over US$1 billion in worldwide sales.

Crossing literary genres, Patterson writes thrillers, featuring Alex Cross, that are the best selling detective books in the US for the last twenty years. Sixteen novels in a row were at the top of the New York Times bestseller list and many of his stories have been adapted for film.

Now, Patterson is moving into the children’s and young adult markets. In 2004, he was awarded the Reader’s Digest Readers’ Choice Award.

9. Tom Clancy was graced with overnight success after President Ronald Reagan told press that Clancy’s first book, The Hunt for Red October, was “the perfect yarn.” Since then, Clancy has gone on to publish over eighty million copies of his thrillers. Several of the novels in the Jack Ryan series have become successful films, including Patriot Games and The Sum of All Fears.

Clancy, born Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. on April 12, 1947, writes techno thrillers and his Commander military science series. His detailed telling of espionage and military command made him the bestselling author of the 1980s, and his book, Clear and Present Danger was the bestselling novel of that decade.

His name is now a brand for similar books written by other people.

10. Dan Brown is a recent publishing phenomenon. Author of several bestselling novels translated into forty languages, Brown came to the forefront of the publishing world when his novel The Da Vinci Code hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list and stayed there for a record number of weeks. Shortly afterward, all four of Brown’s books held spots on the list at the same time.

Born on June 22, 1964, Brown writes thrillers and is a former English teacher. The Da Vinci Code, influenced by his wife who is an art historian, is being adapted for the screen by Ron Howard. The keys and codes prevalent in the story are recurring themes in Brown’s work.