What Are The Odds Of Writing A Best-Seller?

  

What are the chances of writing a best-seller? What are the odds of anything -- good or bad -- happening. 

A wonderful book, Listified! Britanica’s 300 Lists That Will Blow Your Mind, had an interesting list that handicaps things you may have pondered. You may know the odds of winning the lottery are around 1 in 300 million, but did you know that the chances of being killed by a falling coconut are 1 in 50 million? 

You may know the odds of being left-handed are 1 in 10, but the odds of being born with 11 fingers or toes are 1 in 1,000 -- and is probably not so well known. 

It is easier to win an Olympic gold medal (1 in 662,000) than to become a billionaire (1 in 2.6 million). But it’s much harder to be a parent of identical quadruplets (1 in 15 million). There’s a 1 in 20 million chance of becoming a saint, but a 1 in 10,000 chance of being injured by a toilet. 

Fun stuff. 

Another list featured in this book was of the all-time sales for books sold.  Though it doesn’t say how this was calculated, especially since some of those all-time sellers came out centuries, even millennia ago, the 13 best-selling books of all time across the globe are the following: 

1.      The Holy Quran

      3.0 billion copies

      650 CE published

 

2.      The King James Bible

2.5 billion copies

1611 published

 

3.      Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung  

800 million copies

1964 published

 

4.      Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

500 million copies

1512 published

 

5.      A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

200 million copies

1859 published   

6.      The Lord of The Rings by J.R.R Tolkien

150 million copies

1954 published  

7.      The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery

140 million copies

1943 published   

8.      Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling 

120 million copies

1997 published  

9.      Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin

100 million copies

1754 published  

10.  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

100 million copies

1865 published  

11.  The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkein 

100 million copies

1937 published  

12.  And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

100 million copies

1938published  

13.  The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S Lewis 

85 million copies

1950 published  

What are the odds of having an all-time best-seller? I don’t know, but I do know that many millions of authors are trying hard to break through. Someone will.  

Shall it be you?   

  Did You Know?

  One-third of all states have at least one-third of each state’s population that is obese.
  No state two decades ago was above 25% of its population having obesity.

 

Need Book PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has 30 years of experience in helping thousands of authors in all genres.

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum.