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List of largest book deals

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This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This page provides a list of the largest deals for books and book series to date. It differentiates from the list of best-selling books in that book deals are secured before the book is released, and often before the book is completed. The books are listed according to the highest book deal estimate as reported in reliable, independent sources.

Politician Bill Clinton (left, pictured in 1993), and singer Britney Spears (right, pictured in 2013) hold the highest two spots for largest individual book deals.

American authors hold the record for the largest book deals made for individual books (Bill Clinton and Britney Spears), and for book series (James Patterson and Barack and Michelle Obama). While Patterson's book deal with Hachette Book Group is by far the largest for a book series, Patterson has disputed the reported amount.

Contrary to popular belief, J. K. Rowling's advances for the individual Harry Potter books or series overall do not appear on this list. For the first two books in the series (1997's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and 1998's Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), she received an advance of £2,000 apiece.[1] Rowling's later book The Casual Vacancy, released in 2012 and not affiliated with the Harry Potter series, does appear on this list.

List of largest deals for individual books

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These book deals share some facts in common: The top five book deals have been memoirs and their authors have all been American.

Note: book deals are listed at the time the book deal was made and not adjusted for inflation.

Book Author Author nationality Original language First published Approximate deal Genre
My Life Bill Clinton American English 2004 $15 million[2] Memoir
The Woman in Me Britney Spears American English 2023 $15 million[3] Memoir
Hard Choices Hillary Clinton American English 2014 $14 million[2] Memoir
Born to Run Bruce Springsteen American English 2016 $10 million[2] Memoir
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo Amy Schumer American English 2016 $9 million[2] Memoir
Crossing the Threshold of Hope Pope John Paul II Vatican City Italian 1994 $8.5 million[2] Nonfiction
Life Keith Richards British English 2010 $7.3 million[2] Memoir
Back to Blood Tom Wolfe American English 2008 $7 million[4] Nonfiction
The Maramon Convention Abraham Verghese American Unknown Not yet released $5 million[4] Nonfiction
The Casual Vacancy J. K. Rowling British English 2012 Between $2—$8 million[2] Crime fiction

List of largest deals for books series

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Note: book series deals are listed at the time the deal was made and not adjusted for inflation.

Book series Number of books in series Author(s) Author(s) nationality Original language First published Approximate deal Genre
17 books (11 adult; 6 children's) 17 James Patterson American English 2009 $100—150 million[1][a] Crime fiction
Becoming and A Promised Land 2 Michelle Obama (Becoming)
Barack Obama (A Promised Land)		 American English 2018 (Becoming);
2020 (A Promised Land)		 $65 million+[6] Memoirs
Century trilogy (Fall of Giants, Winter of the World, and Edge of Eternity) 3 Ken Follett British English 2008 (Fall of Giants);
2012 (Winter of the World);
2014 (Edge of Eternity)		 $50 million[1] Historical fiction
The Downing Street Years and The Path to Power 2 Margaret Thatcher British English 1993 (The Downing Street Years);
1995 (The Path to Power)		 £3.5m[1] Memoirs

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ While realiable sources list this amount as $100—150 million, Patterson has disputed this amount, stating it "isn't close". Patterson declined to say whether the amount was too high or too low.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Cain, Sian (March 1, 2017). "Printing money: 10 of the richest book deals of all time". The Guardian. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Tanjeem, Namera (February 24, 2020). "10 Of The Biggest Book Deals In History". Book Riot. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  3. ^ Voytko, Lisette (February 22, 2022). "Britney Spears' $15 Million Book Deal Shows Why Success Is The Best Revenge". Forbes. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Temple, Emily (May 8, 2018). "A Brief History of Seven-Figure Book Advances". LitHub. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  5. ^ Donahue, Deirdre; Wilson, Craig; Minzesheimer, Bob. "Book Buzz: What's new on the list and in publishing". USA Today. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
  6. ^ Grady, Constance (March 2, 2017). "What the Obamas' $65 million book advance actually means". Vox. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
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