No prizes for guessing which writer takes the top spot on the bestselling authors of the decade list – JK Rowling's Harry Potter series sees her out front by a wizarding mile – but some of her companions in the top 10 are less predictable. With the list sorted by volume sold rather than value, Mr Men author Roger Hargreaves is a surprising second, having sold a whopping 14m volumes of his low-cost children's tales. Hargreaves and Rowling are joined by two and a half other children's authors in the top 10 – former children's laureate Jacqueline Wilson of Tracey Beaker fame at number four, the perennial Enid Blyton at number 10 and Terry Pratchett, author of both children's and adult fiction at number five.
With Dan Brown at number three and John Grisham, Danielle Steel and James Patterson also in the top 10, the first literary, or non-genre, author doesn't emerge until number 37 – Ian McEwan with sales exceeding 4m books. He is just ahead of Sebastian Faulks, the only other literary novelist in the top 50. They are both well behind the celebrity cooks Jamie Oliver at 13 (and whose sales value is second only to JK Rowling), Delia Smith at 26 and even Jeremy Clarkson (29). The first non-fiction author comes in at number 11 – the author of light-hearted travel and science books Bill Bryson.
Crime, children's books and chick-lit are the main winners in the top 50, which features such household names as Ian Rankin, Patricia Cornwell, Maeve Binchy and Marian Keyes. Horrid Henry author Francesca Simon is ahead of Roald Dahl and Philip Pullman, while Stephenie Meyer, of Twilight fame, might seem a surprisingly low ranker at number 23 but the first book in her vampire series was not released until 2005.
Longevity does not always guarantee a high placing, however. William Shakespeare just creeps into the top 50 at 45, only one ahead of Carol Vorderman.
Author Books Sold (Value)
1 JK Rowling 29,084,999 (£225.9m)
2 Roger Hargreaves 14,163,141 (£26.6m)
3 Dan Brown 13,372,007 (£74.1m)
4 Jacqueline Wilson 12,673,148 (£69.9m)
5 Terry Pratchett 10,455,397 (£77.2m)
6 John Grisham 9,862,998 (£65.9m)
7 Richard Parsons 9,561,776 (£49.2m)
8 Danielle Steel 9,119,149 (£51m)
9 James Patterson 8,172,647 (£53.8m)
10 Enid Blyton 7,910,758 (£31.2m)
11 Bill Bryson 7,409,656 (£61.2m)
12 Patricia Cornwell 7,355,180 (£49.8m)
13 Jamie Oliver 7,244,620 (£89.5m)
14 Daisy Meadows 7,149,788 (£24.1m)
15 Ian Rankin 6,848,039 (£44.3m)
16 Julia Donaldson 6,621,594 (£33.7m)
17 Alexander McCall Smith 6,609,779 (£40.6m)
18 Francesca Simon 6,564,681 (£31.6m)
19 Bernard Cornwell 6,297,911 (£45.5m)
20 Roald Dahl 6,169,406 (£33.8m)
21 Martina Cole 6,021,960 (£41.7m)
22 Philip Pullman 5,544,376 (£35.8m)
23 Stephenie Meyer 5,487,313 (£32m)
24 Maeve Binchy 5,476,134 (£37.6m)
25 J R R Tolkien 5,280,406 (£50.6m)
26 Delia Smith 5,269,783 (£58.7m)
27 Stephen King 5,268,577 (£38m)
28 Marian Keyes 5,029,363 (£31.7m)
29 Jeremy Clarkson 4,913,989 (£35.1m)
30 Josephine Cox 4,651,166 (£24m)
31 Sophie Kinsella 4,528,095 (£27.7m)
32 Jodi Picoult 4,514,620 (£24.1m)
33 Terry Deary 4,495,655 (£21.6m)
34 Anthony Horowitz 4,304,041 (£23.6m)
35 Lemony Snicket 4,220,508 (£23.9m)
36 Andy McNab 4,123,633 (£30.4m)
37 Ian McEwan 4,040,887 (£27.7m)
38 Wilbur Smith 3,871,484 (£30.1m)
39 Michael Connelly 3,785,330 (£23.5m)
40 Sebastian Faulks 3,782,665 (£27.5m)
41 Kathy Reichs 3,514,087 (£22.2m)
42 Helen Fielding 3,473,003 (£22m)
43 Cecelia Ahern 3,422,899 (£19.5m)
44 Joanne Harris 3,392,198 (£21.2m)
45 William Shakespeare 3,333,670 (£17.8m)
46 Carol Vorderman 3,315,641 (£11.2m)
47 Chris Ryan 3,289,855 (£21m)
48 Lee Child 3,274,928 (£20.2m)
49 Dave Pelzer 3,217,905 (£20.2m)
50 R L Stine 3,096,584 (£13.1m)
51 Catherine Cookson 3,020,751 (£16.8m)
52 Dean Koontz 3,010,242 (£17.5m)
53 W Awdry 2,991,572 (£9.9m)
54 Michael Morpurgo 2,989,161 (£15.1m)
55 Jeffery Deaver 2,972,145 (£16.9m)
56 Khaled Hosseini 2,957,026 (£21.1m)
57 Nick Hornby 2,956,544 (£19.6m)
58 Ben Elton 2,907,294 (£20m)
59 Katie Price 2,856,697 (£21.8m)
60 Jill Mansell 2,798,518 (£14.2m)
61 Mark Haddon 2,783,600 (£16.8m)
62 Lucy Daniels 2,768,332 (£11.2m)
63 Dr Seuss 2,760,156 (£14.8m)
64 Tess Gerritsen 2,745,556 (£14.7m)
65 Tony Parsons 2,731,436 (£17.3m)
66 Alan Titchmarsh 2,707,834 (£27.5m)
67 Harlan Coben 2,672,713 (£15.1m)
68 Lauren Child 2,632,369 (£13.4m)
69 Darren Shan 2,617,959 (£14.4m)
70 Nigella Lawson 2,616,955 (£39.2m)
71 Robert C Atkins 2,591,073 (£17.3m)
72 Philippa Gregory 2,577,235 (£17.4m)
73 Jane Green 2,498,100 (£14.8m)
74 Clive Cussler 2,435,718 (£16.5m)
75 Fiona Watt 2,431,376 (£14.1m)
76 Cathy Kelly 2,391,540 (£13.2m)
77 Penny Vincenzi 2,358,041 (£14.6m)
78 Charles Dickens 2,341,980 (£9.3m)
79 Eric Hill 2,334,612 (£12.1m)
80 Joanna Trollope 2,333,337 (£14.5m)
81 Meg Cabot 2,309,844 (£12.1m)
82 Jackie Collins 2,295,308 (£14.4m)
83 Lesley Pearse 2,261,007 (£12.6m)
84 A A Milne 2,255,346 (£14.5m)
85 Paulo Coelho 2,229,564 (£16.3m)
86 Eric Carle 2,225,336 (£12.1m)
87 Louis de Bernières 2,221,481 (£15.3m)
88 Jack Higgins 2,207,100 (£12.4m)
89 Anita Shreve 2,198,899 (£13.4m)
90 Karin Slaughter 2,196,031 (£12.6m)
91 Louise Rennison 2,172,395 (£11.9m)
92 Sheila O'Flanagan 2,162,811 (£10.8m)
93 Robert Harris 2,150,818 (£16m)
94 Paul McKenna 2,114,476 (£16.6m)
95 Alice Sebold 2,106,630 (£13.2m)
96 Gordon Ramsay 2,094,376 (£23.4m)
97 Roderick Hunt 2,077,092 (£7.3m)
98 Frank McCourt 2,055,939 (£14.9m)
99 Dav Pilkey 2,051,622 (£9.4m)
100 Lyn Andrews 2,027,382 (£9.2m)
Data supplied by Nielsen Bookscan