Best-Selling Book Series of All Time

• As of 2023, the best-selling book series of all time is Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling, with 600 million copies sold since 1997.
• On average this amounts to 23.08 million copies of the Harry Potter series sold per year since its initial publication.
• Over the course of the 7 book series, 85.71 million copies of each book were sold on average.
• The second best-selling book series of all time is Chicken Soup for the Soul, originally by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, with 500 million copies sold.
• On average this amounts to 16.67 million copies of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series sold per year since its initial publication.
• The third best-selling book selling book series is Goosebumps by R. L. Stine, with 400 million copies sold since 1992.
• On average this amounts to 12.90 million copies of the Goosebumps series sold per year since its initial publication.
• Children’s books have the highest representation (9 titles) amongst the top 20 best-selling book series. 
• This is followed by Young Adult (5 titles) and Mystery/Thriller (4 titles).
• The top 20 best-selling book series have initial publication years that range from 1930 to 2011.
• However, 45% of the titles in the list were first published from 1990 onwards.

Best-selling book series by number of copies sold

• The top 20 best-selling book series titles by total copies sold include the following genres:
  • Children’s (9 titles)
  • Young Adult (5 titles)
  • Mystery/Thriller (4 titles)
  • Self-Help (1 title)
  • Erotic (1 title)
• Children’s book series dominate the best-selling book series list, making up 45% of the top 20 titles.
• Young Adult titles make up 25% of the top 20 titles.
• Mystery/Thriller titles make up 20% of the top 20 titles.
• The oldest title in the list is Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene (a collective pseudonym), which was first published in 1930.
• The newest title in the list is Fifty Shades by E. L. James, which was first published in 2011.
• By decade, the 90’s (4 titles) and the 00’s (4 titles) had the greatest representation in the list. 

#	Initial year published	Series title	Original author(s)	Genre	Copies sold
1	1997	Harry Potter	J. K. Rowling	Young Adult	600 million
2	1993	Chicken Soup for the Soul	Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen	Self-Help	500 million
3	1992	Goosebumps	R. L. Stine	Young Adult	400 million
4	1933	Perry Mason	Erle Stanley Gardner	Mystery/Thriller	300 million
–	1962	Berenstain Bears	Stan and Jan Berenstain	Children’s	300 million
6	2007	Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Jeff Kinney	Children’s	275 million
7	1979	Choose Your Own Adventure	Various authors	Children’s	270 million
8	1983	Sweet Valley High	Francine Pascal and ghostwriters	Young Adult	250 million
–	1971	Mr. Men	Roger Hargreaves	Children’s	250 million
10	2000	Robert Langdon	Dan Brown	Mystery/Thriller	200 million
–	1949	Noddy	Enid Blyton	Children’s	200 million
–	1945	The Railway Series	Rev. W. Awdry, Christopher Awdry	Children’s	200 million
–	1930	Nancy Drew	Carolyn Keene (collective pseudonym)	Mystery/Thriller	200 million
–	1975	Little Critter	Mercer Mayer	Children’s	200 million
–	1949	San-Antonio	Frédéric Dard	Mystery/Thriller	200 million
16	1997	Geronimo Stilton	Elisabetta Dami	Children’s	180 million
–	2005	Percy Jackson & The Olympians	Rick Riordan	Young Adult	180 million
18	1986	The Baby-Sitters Club	Ann Martin	Children’s	176 million
19	2011	Fifty Shades	E. L. James	Erotic	165 million
20	2005	Twilight	Stephenie Meyer	Young Adult	160 million

The best-selling book series captivated readers for decades — word games do much the same thing daily. WordsRated’s Wordle Solver and today’s Connections Hint pages are updated every day. If you want to check a word before playing it in Scrabble, our Scrabble Dictionary covers the full official word list and today’s Wordle Hint is always there if you need it.

Best-selling book series of all time FAQ

What is a book series?

• A book series is a collection of books that can be grouped together based on certain characteristics, for example, a storyline that spans multiple books.
• Each book series can be organized/ordered in different ways based on the desires of an author or publisher.

What is the most popular book series?

• According to the list of best-selling book series of all time, Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling is the most popular book series.
• As of 2023, the series has sold over 600 million copies. 

What is the best mystery book series?

• According to the list of best-selling book series of all time, Perry Mason by Erle Stanley Gardner is the most popular mystery book series.
• As of 2023, the series has sold over 300 million copies.