James Patterson sells 1 million Kindle books
James Patterson is now the second member of the “Kindle Million Club.” Amazon announced yesterday that Patterson had sold 1,005,803 e-books through Amazon's Kindle Store.
The Kindle Million Club recognizes authors whose books have sold more than 1 million copies in the Kindle Store. The first – and only other – author to hit the million mark so far is Stieg Larsson, author of the "Millennium" trilogy.
The only surprise in yesterday's announcement was the fact that the astoundingly prolific Patterson (who often works with coauthors) had not been the first inductee into the Kindle Million Club. Although he is perhaps best known for his thrillers featuring forensic psychologist Alex Cross, Patterson has written 65 books since retiring from advertising 34 years ago. He has had 19 consecutive No.1 New York Times bestselling novels and holds the Guinness World Record for "most hardcover fiction bestselling titles by a single author." (His total in that category is 56.)
Patterson is believed to be the world's bestselling author. In the United States, his novels account for 1 in 17 of all hardcover novel sales.
Larsson, by contrast, is the author of only three books. But those three – the books of the "Millennium" Trilogy, which feature unusual protagonist Lisbeth Salander, aka The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – have sold an estimated 27 million copies worldwide.
Marjorie Kehe is the Monitor's book editor.
