Fifty Shades of Grey is Britain's best-selling book ever - according to the publishers at least - but how does it compare?
Publisher Cornerstone (part of Random House) announced this week that the erotic novel has sold in excess of 5.3m copies in print and ebook – more than The Highway Code or Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.
The book has remained in the top slot in the UK bestseller lists for the 16th week running. The second and third books, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, are also selling fast, with UK sales of 3.6m and 3.2m respectively. Combined UK sales for the trilogy are in excess of 12m copies, with rights to the book sold around the world and published in languages including Albanian, Chinese, Russian, Serbian and Vietnamese.
But is it right? Proving sales across platforms independently is very difficult as there are so many outlets. Nielsen Bookscan, which collects the retail sales information from point of sale systems in more than 31,500 bookshops around the world, does not provide collated sales across e-books and physical books, which means we' are reliant on publishers.
So, bearing that in mind, Nielsen have given us their top 100 list of all-time Uk book sales. It shows volumes of each book, its publisher and genre. So, how does Fifty Shades compare?
It's not top on this list: that's got Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code at number one, followed by the Harry Potter novels.
First thing to say is that the Highway Code dominates everything - but because it has been around for so long it artificially jumps near the top of the list with the many versions since 1998 selling over 4.8m copies. So we've removed it from this list although it's easy to compare.
But considering the Fifty Shades books have only just been published, they are already a powerful force. Fifty Shades itself has sold 3,758,936 copies, with the two follow-ups, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed selling over two million copies each. This is how the big series compare:
The list is fascinating in its own right, even without the dominance of the big writers. Just for these other top books:
• Top children's book: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, with 1,783,535 sales. Julia Donaldson's The Gruffalo is right behind with 1,781,269 sales
• Top cookery book: Jamie's 30-Minute Meals, by Jamie Oliver with 1,743,266 sales
• Top non-fiction humour: The World According to Clarkson by Jeremy Clarkson with 1,489,403 sales
The full data is below. What can you do with it?
Data summary
|
Rank
|
Title
|
Author
|
Volume Sales
|
Publisher
|
Genre
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
SOURCE: NIELSEN BOOK SCAN |
|||||
| 1 | Da Vinci Code,The | Brown, Dan | 5,094,805 | Transworld | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 2 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | Rowling, J.K. | 4,475,152 | Bloomsbury | Children's Fiction |
| 3 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | Rowling, J.K. | 4,200,654 | Bloomsbury | Children's Fiction |
| 4 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Rowling, J.K. | 4,179,479 | Bloomsbury | Children's Fiction |
| 5 | Fifty Shades of Grey | James, E. L. | 3,758,936 | Random House | Romance & Sagas |
| 6 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Rowling, J.K. | 3,583,215 | Bloomsbury | Children's Fiction |
| 7 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Rowling, J.K. | 3,484,047 | Bloomsbury | Children's Fiction |
| 8 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Rowling, J.K. | 3,377,906 | Bloomsbury | Children's Fiction |
| 9 | Angels and Demons | Brown, Dan | 3,193,946 | Transworld | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 10 | Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince:Children's Edition | Rowling, J.K. | 2,950,264 | Bloomsbury | Children's Fiction |
| 11 | Fifty Shades Darker | James, E. L. | 2,479,784 | Random House | Romance & Sagas |
| 12 | Twilight | Meyer, Stephenie | 2,315,405 | Little, Brown Book | Young Adult Fiction |
| 13 | Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,The:Millennium Trilogy | Larsson, Stieg | 2,233,570 | Quercus | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 14 | Fifty Shades Freed | James, E. L. | 2,193,928 | Random House | Romance & Sagas |
| 15 | Lost Symbol,The | Brown, Dan | 2,183,031 | Transworld | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 16 | New Moon | Meyer, Stephenie | 2,152,737 | Little, Brown Book | Young Adult Fiction |
| 17 | Deception Point | Brown, Dan | 2,062,145 | Transworld | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 18 | Eclipse | Meyer, Stephenie | 2,052,876 | Little, Brown Book | Young Adult Fiction |
| 19 | Lovely Bones,The | Sebold, Alice | 2,005,598 | Pan Macmillan | General & Literary Fiction |
| 20 | Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,The | Haddon, Mark | 1,979,552 | Random House | General & Literary Fiction |
| 21 | Digital Fortress | Brown, Dan | 1,928,900 | Transworld | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 22 | Short History of Nearly Everything,A | Bryson, Bill | 1,852,919 | Transworld | Popular Science |
| 23 | Girl Who Played with Fire,The:Millennium Trilogy | Larsson, Stieg | 1,814,784 | Quercus | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 24 | Breaking Dawn | Meyer, Stephenie | 1,787,118 | Little, Brown Book | Young Adult Fiction |
| 25 | Very Hungry Caterpillar,The:The Very Hungry Caterpillar | Carle, Eric | 1,783,535 | Penguin | Picture Books |
| 26 | Gruffalo,The | Donaldson, Julia | 1,781,269 | Pan Macmillan | Picture Books |
| 27 | Jamie's 30-Minute Meals | Oliver, Jamie | 1,743,266 | Penguin | Food & Drink: General |
| 28 | Kite Runner,The | Hosseini, Khaled | 1,629,119 | Bloomsbury | General & Literary Fiction |
| 29 | One Day | Nicholls, David | 1,616,068 | Hodder & Stoughton | General & Literary Fiction |
| 30 | Thousand Splendid Suns,A | Hosseini, Khaled | 1,583,992 | Bloomsbury | General & Literary Fiction |
| 31 | Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest,The:Millennium Trilogy | Larsson, Stieg | 1,555,135 | Quercus | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 32 | Time Traveler's Wife,The | Niffenegger, Audrey | 1,546,886 | Random House | General & Literary Fiction |
| 33 | Atonement | McEwan, Ian | 1,539,428 | Random House | General & Literary Fiction |
| 34 | Bridget Jones's Diary:A Novel | Fielding, Helen | 1,508,205 | Pan Macmillan | General & Literary Fiction |
| 35 | World According to Clarkson,The | Clarkson, Jeremy | 1,489,403 | Penguin | Humour: Collections & General |
| 36 | Captain Corelli's Mandolin | Bernieres, Louis de | 1,352,318 | Random House | General & Literary Fiction |
| 37 | Sound of Laughter,The | Kay, Peter | 1,310,207 | Random House | Autobiography: General |
| 38 | Life of Pi | Martel, Yann | 1,310,176 | Canongate | General & Literary Fiction |
| 39 | Billy Connolly | Stephenson, Pamela | 1,231,957 | HarperCollins | Biography: The Arts |
| 40 | Child Called It,A | Pelzer, Dave | 1,217,712 | Orion | Autobiography: General |
| 41 | Gruffalo's Child,The | Donaldson, Julia | 1,208,711 | Pan Macmillan | Picture Books |
| 42 | Angela's Ashes:A Memoir of a Childhood | McCourt, Frank | 1,204,058 | HarperCollins | Autobiography: General |
| 43 | Birdsong | Faulks, Sebastian | 1,184,967 | Random House | General & Literary Fiction |
| 44 | Northern Lights:His Dark Materials S. | Pullman, Philip | 1,181,503 | Scholastic Ltd. | Young Adult Fiction |
| 45 | Labyrinth | Mosse, Kate | 1,181,093 | Orion | General & Literary Fiction |
| 46 | Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince | Rowling, J.K. | 1,153,181 | Bloomsbury | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
| 47 | Help,The | Stockett, Kathryn | 1,132,336 | Penguin | General & Literary Fiction |
| 48 | Man and Boy | Parsons, Tony | 1,130,802 | HarperCollins | General & Literary Fiction |
| 49 | Memoirs of a Geisha | Golden, Arthur | 1,126,337 | Random House | General & Literary Fiction |
| 50 | No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency,The:No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency S. | McCall Smith, Alexander | 1,115,549 | Little, Brown Book | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 51 | Island,The | Hislop, Victoria | 1,108,328 | Headline | General & Literary Fiction |
| 52 | PS, I Love You | Ahern, Cecelia | 1,107,379 | HarperCollins | General & Literary Fiction |
| 53 | You are What You Eat:The Plan That Will Change Your Life | McKeith, Gillian | 1,104,403 | Penguin | Fitness & Diet |
| 54 | Shadow of the Wind,The | Zafon, Carlos Ruiz | 1,092,349 | Orion | General & Literary Fiction |
| 55 | Tales of Beedle the Bard,The | Rowling, J.K. | 1,090,847 | Bloomsbury | Children's Fiction |
| 56 | Broker,The | Grisham, John | 1,087,262 | Random House | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 57 | Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution:The No-hunger, Luxurious Weight Loss P | Atkins, Robert C. | 1,054,196 | Random House | Fitness & Diet |
| 58 | Subtle Knife,The:His Dark Materials S. | Pullman, Philip | 1,037,160 | Scholastic Ltd. | Young Adult Fiction |
| 59 | Eats, Shoots and Leaves:The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation | Truss, Lynne | 1,023,688 | Profile Books Group | Usage & Writing Guides |
| 60 | Delia's How to Cook:(Bk.1) | Smith, Delia | 1,015,956 | Random House | Food & Drink: General |
| 61 | Chocolat | Harris, Joanne | 1,009,873 | Transworld | General & Literary Fiction |
| 62 | Boy in the Striped Pyjamas,The | Boyne, John | 1,004,414 | Random House Childrens Books G | Young Adult Fiction |
| 63 | My Sister's Keeper | Picoult, Jodi | 1,003,780 | Hodder & Stoughton | General & Literary Fiction |
| 64 | Amber Spyglass,The:His Dark Materials S. | Pullman, Philip | 1,002,314 | Scholastic Ltd. | Young Adult Fiction |
| 65 | To Kill a Mockingbird | Lee, Harper | 998,213 | Random House | General & Literary Fiction |
| 66 | Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus:A Practical Guide for Improvin | Gray, John | 992,846 | HarperCollins | Popular Culture & Media: General Interest |
| 67 | Dear Fatty | French, Dawn | 986,753 | Random House | Autobiography: The Arts |
| 68 | Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian,A | Lewycka, Marina | 986,115 | Penguin | General & Literary Fiction |
| 69 | Hannibal | Harris, Thomas | 970,509 | Random House | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 70 | Lord of the Rings,The | Tolkien, J. R. R. | 967,466 | HarperCollins | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
| 71 | Stupid White Men:...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Natio | Moore, Michael | 963,353 | Penguin | Current Affairs & Issues |
| 72 | Interpretation of Murder,The | Rubenfeld, Jed | 962,515 | Headline | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 73 | Sharon Osbourne Extreme:My Autobiography | Osbourne, Sharon | 959,496 | Little, Brown Book | Autobiography: The Arts |
| 74 | Alchemist,The:A Fable About Following Your Dream | Coelho, Paulo | 956,114 | HarperCollins | General & Literary Fiction |
| 75 | At My Mother's Knee ...:and Other Low Joints | O'Grady, Paul | 945,640 | Transworld | Autobiography: The Arts |
| 76 | Notes from a Small Island | Bryson, Bill | 931,312 | Transworld | Travel Writing |
| 77 | Return of the Naked Chef,The | Oliver, Jamie | 925,425 | Penguin | Food & Drink: General |
| 78 | Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Fielding, Helen | 924,695 | Pan Macmillan | General & Literary Fiction |
| 79 | Jamie's Italy | Oliver, Jamie | 906,968 | Penguin | National & Regional Cuisine |
| 80 | I Can Make You Thin | McKenna, Paul | 905,086 | Transworld | Fitness & Diet |
| 81 | Down Under | Bryson, Bill | 890,847 | Transworld | Travel Writing |
| 82 | Summons,The | Grisham, John | 869,671 | Random House | Crime, Thriller & Adventure |
| 83 | Small Island | Levy, Andrea | 869,659 | Headline | General & Literary Fiction |
| 84 | Nigella Express | Lawson, Nigella | 862,602 | Random House | Food & Drink: General |
| 85 | Brick Lane | Ali, Monica | 856,540 | Transworld | General & Literary Fiction |
| 86 | Memory Keeper's Daughter,The | Edwards, Kim | 845,858 | Penguin | General & Literary Fiction |
| 87 | Room on the Broom | Donaldson, Julia | 842,535 | Pan Macmillan | Picture Books |
| 88 | About a Boy | Hornby, Nick | 828,215 | Penguin | General & Literary Fiction |
| 89 | My Booky Wook | Brand, Russell | 820,563 | Hodder & Stoughton | Autobiography: The Arts |
| 90 | God Delusion,The | Dawkins, Richard | 816,907 | Transworld | Popular Science |
| 91 | "Beano" Annual,The | 0 | 816,585 | D.C. Thomson | Children's Annuals |
| 92 | White Teeth | Smith, Zadie | 815,586 | Penguin | General & Literary Fiction |
| 93 | House at Riverton,The | Morton, Kate | 814,370 | Pan Macmillan | General & Literary Fiction |
| 94 | Book Thief,The | Zusak, Markus | 809,641 | Transworld | General & Literary Fiction |
| 95 | Nights of Rain and Stars | Binchy, Maeve | 808,900 | Orion | General & Literary Fiction |
| 96 | Ghost,The | Harris, Robert | 807,311 | Random House | General & Literary Fiction |
| 97 | Happy Days with the Naked Chef | Oliver, Jamie | 794,201 | Penguin | Food & Drink: General |
| 98 | Hunger Games,The:Hunger Games Trilogy | Collins, Suzanne | 792,187 | Scholastic Ltd. | Young Adult Fiction |
| 99 | Lost Boy,The:A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family | Pelzer, Dave | 791,507 | Orion | Biography: General |
| 100 | Jamie's Ministry of Food:Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours | Oliver, Jamie | 791,095 | Penguin | Food & Drink: General |
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