It looks like the habits of highly effective people are indeed hard to break—when it comes to audiobooks, that is. Back in 1996—the last time we compiled an all-time audiobook bestseller list—Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Simon & Schuster Audio) had become the first audiobook ever to sell a million copies. Today, listeners continue to form the Covey habit and the recording is still king of the sales mountain.

But plenty of other audio titles are making some sales noise, too. This latest all-time audio list closely mirrors the trends of print publishing, illustrating not only the slow-and-steady strength of backlist, but also the positive effect of fast-out-of-the-gate, full-throttle marketing strategies for new, simultaneous book-and-audio releases in recent years. Backlist stalwarts, often reissued in new formats to meet demand or value-priced as an incentive, have kept on trucking, while blockbusters Harry Potter and The DaVinci Code are predictable frontrunners here. Self-help largely dominates here, while last summer's buzz-heavy autiobiography of former President Clinton (read by Himself) ranks high, and the oeuvres of brand names Grisham and Clancy have made strong showings.

The general growth of the $800-million audio industry is reflected in the increased number of titles on the all-time list (54 today, with a cutoff at 200,000 units, vs. 29 in 1996, when the cut-off was 175,000), as well as by the burgeoning number of titles—more than 200—just below the cutoff that have been reported as selling between 75,000—199,000 copies. In a field where selling 25,000 copies of a title is still considered a very solid success, these leading titles are truly the crème de la crème.

Our list includes only net sales of physical product (all editions combined) in trade retail channels and does not account for downloads of digital formats. And, as it goes in the publishing world, since our 1996 tally some publishers have merged or been acquired, others have gone out of business and some declined to participate in our accounting. Nonetheless, we think this is as accurate as possible a snapshot of where things stand as we move into Audiobook Month, the annual Audio Publishers Association awareness campaign celebrating all things audiobook. (Note: publishers who would not reveal specific units sold ranked their titles in order of numbers sold.)


1,700,000 +


The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) Stephen Covey (Simon & Schuster Audio)

1,200,000+


Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus(1993) John Gray (HarperAudio)

500,001+


Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000) J.K. Rowling (Listening Library/Random House Audio)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003) J.K. Rowling (Listening Library/Random House Audio)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (1999) J.K. Rowling (Listening Library/Random House Audio)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1999) J.K. Rowling (Listening Library/Random House Audio)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2000) J.K. Rowling (Listening Library/Random House Audio)
The DaVinci Code(2003) Dan Brown (Random House Audio)

450,001—500,000


Awaken the Giant Within (1991) Anthony Robbins (Simon & Schuster Audio)

350,001—400,000


Who Moved My Cheese? (1998) Spencer Johnson (Simon & Schuster Audio)
The Celestine Prophecy (1994) James Redfield (Time Warner AudioBooks)
First Things First (1994) Stephen Covey (Simon & Schuster Audio)

300,001—350,000


Creative Visualization Meditations (1989) Shakti Gawain (New World Library)
The Power of Positive Thinking (1987) Norman Vincent Peale (Simon & Schuster Audio)
My Life (2004) Bill Clinton (Random House Audio)
The Chamber (1994) John Grisham (Random House Audio)

250,001—300,000


The Way Things Ought to Be (1999) Rush Limbaugh (Simon & Schuster Audio)
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (1994) Deepak Chopra (New World Library)
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff (1997) Richard Carlson (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Meditations for Manifesting (1995) Wayne Dyer (Hay House)
Principles of Leadership (1992) Stephen Covey (Simon & Schuster Audio)
How to Get What You Want (1987) Zig Ziglar (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Debt of Honor (1994) Tom Clancy (Random House Audio)
The Brethren (2000) John Grisham (Random House Audio)
The Client (1993) John Grisham (Random House Audio)
The Partner (1997) John Grisham (Random House Audio)
The Rainmaker (1995) John Grisham (Random House Audio)
The Runaway Jury (1996) John Grisham (Random House Audio)

200,000—250,000


Body for Life (1999) Bill Phillips (HarperAudio)
See, I Told You So (1999) Rush Limbaugh (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Unlimited Power (1986) Anthony Robbins (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Rich Dad, Poor Dad (2000) Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Time Warner AudioBooks)
How to Get Your Point Across (1985) Milo O. Frank (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Self Matters (2001) Philip C. McGraw (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Clear and Present Danger (1994) Tom Clancy (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Life Strategies (1999) Philip C. McGraw (Simon & Schuster Audio)
Your Best Life Now (2004) Joel Osteen (Time Warner AudioBooks)
Ageless Body, Timeless Mind (1993) Deepak Chopra (Random House Audio)
Cold Mountain (1997) Charles Frazier (Random House Audio)
Executive Orders (1996) Tom Clancy (Random House Audio)
The Lord of the Rings (1993) J.R.R. Tolkien (Random House Audio)
Lost World (1995) Michael Crichton (Random House Audio)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1995) John Berendt (Random House Audio)
Nine Steps to Financial Freedom (1997) Suze Orman (Random House Audio)
Rainbow Six (1998) Tom Clancy (Random House Audio)
The Firm (1991) John Grisham (Random House Audio)
The Greatest Generation (1998) Tom Brokaw (Random House Audio)
The Horse Whisperer (1995) Nicholas Evans (Random House Audio)
The King of Torts (2003) John Grisham (Random House Audio)
The Last Juror (2004) John Grisham (Random House Audio)
The Street Lawyer (1998) John Grisham (Random House Audio)
The Summons (2002) John Grisham (Random House Audio)
The Testament (1999) John Grisham (Random House Audio)
Without Remorse (1993) Tom Clancy (Random House Audio)