The best-selling author of all time, as of this writing, remains William Shakespeare, a little-known British playwright from Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, who lived from April 23, 1564 (well, that’s the date of his baptism) to April 23, 1616. He wrote some obscure plays that you’ve probably never heard of. Stuff like “Cardenio,” “The Two Noble Kinsmen,” and “Edward III.” He’s not nearly as well-known as his contemporaries Ben Jonson, Philip Henslowe, or John Fletcher.
But I kid the Bard. There isn’t a student in the English-speaking world who wasn’t forced through at least four or five Shakespeare plays in high school. Raise your hand if you still remember a Shakespearean soliloquy you were required to memorize for your 10th-grade English class.
After Shakespeare, some of the best-selling authors of all time include Agatha Christie, Danielle Steele, Harold Robbins, J.K. Rowling, Eiichiro Oda (the author of the “One Piece” manga), and Jackie Collins. No doubt you’ve explored some of these authors in your spare time at airports. Surprisingly, pulp authors like James Patterson and Dean Koontz have outsold the mega-celebrity Stephen King, although Dr. Seuss and Leo Tolstoy have outsold all three of them.
All of the above authors, perhaps predictably, have had various films and/or TV shows based on their works, each having been transformed into miniature multimedia franchises unto themselves. Shakespeare alone has had hundreds of movies based on his work.
Only one author, however, has had a hit novel on the New York Time bestsellers list, a #1 hit movie playing in theaters, and a hit TV series airing on TV all within the same year. That author is Michael Crichton, the author of “Jurassic Park” and many others. Crichton hasn’t sold as many books as Beatrix Potter, but is still well beyond E.L. James and Stephenie Meyer.
What’s more, he achieved his three-in-one success two times in his career.