Million-Selling Czech Authors | 2025 Update

Behind the success of Mornštajnová, her seven books, there are also attractive themes connected, in most cases, to our past. She built loyal fans mainly with the publication of Hana (2017), a book that is highly rated by readers and critics.

It sold over 250,000 copies, as reported this year by the publishing house Host, of which Mornštajnová is the most prominent face. The popular writer – who writes openly mainstream titles, which she publishes every two years on average – has a relatively certain market, that is, if she doesn’t so-called “spoil herself”. And since the last title Time of the Wasp (2025) is not this example, he continues his high bar of writing.

Time of the Wasp became a bestseller, just like the previous pieces: Forest in the House (2023), November (2021), Silent Years (2019) and the aforementioned Hana. Each of them is approaching the hundred thousand mark.

“When I wrote the first one, I had no idea where the stories of my books would take me. I wrote for myself, out of a need to understand the world,” commented the writer herself, whose works have long since become a cultural phenomenon. Just randomly. Hana is performed at the National Theater in Brno, at the Vinohrady Theater in Prague, and should also be made into a film, thanks to director Milan Cieslar.

And who else is in the million Czech prestigious club? The Albatros Media publishing house, which dominates the Czech market, mentions the name of Halina Pawlovská from Czechs and Czechs. “It’s without cookbooks,” the Novinkám publishing house clarified, adding that the author, who has already written over 40 titles, “only” needed fiction to join the list of VIP authors.

If foreigners are also included in the list of books sold in the Czech Republic, according to Albatros, JK Rowling, Jeff Kinney (among other things, Diary of a Little Rascal) and the author of detective stories, Jo Nesbo, have surpassed the million mark, while the author of the Harry Potter books dominates the best-selling list.

Smaller publishing houses, such as Moba, also report their millionaires. Vlastimil Vondruška is the golden grail there. His Přemysl epic, which has four parts, sold around two hundred thousand copies. At the same time, there is also interest in his name in libraries, in recent years he has been one of the most read Czech authors there.

“To date, nearly two million of his printed books have been sold in our country. To this respectable number, we must add over half a million audiobooks and e-books. Some of his titles have also been published abroad: in USA, Germany, Greece, Poland, Serbia or Slovakia,” she told Novinky Moba.

This year Vondrušek published a historical detective novel Prague Vampire. And just for the record, said author has already written over 130 books. He belongs to the most diligent “millionaires”, or two millionaires. “My goal is not a place at the top of the charts, but a satisfied reader. In my opinion, art should give people joy, distract them from everyday worries and convince them that goodness and justice exist and that there are also good people,” said the writer.

Patrik Hartl also has a certain place in the club. He also had a new book published this year, Marriage. In terms of sales, it has been at the top of the bestseller charts for weeks. In his case, it is a rule. Each of his titles broke the hundred thousand mark with an overview soon after release.

Among the most successful are Prvok, Šampón, Tečka and Karel (2020), based on which a very successful (also commercially) comedy was created. Hartl didn’t leave anything to chance, he directed it straight away.

Michal Viewegh, an almost classic of Czech literature, belongs to the millionaires thanks to his varied and long work. He has fifty books to his credit. This year he published Caressing and Scalping and – this is my personal opinion – after a bit of a slump he’s re-entered the ranks of mainstream writers worth watching.

More names are now very high on the list of those approaching the milestone. It is certainly about Radka Třeštíková, or Evžen Boček (this year Aristocrat on the couch of death).

Other Czech authors, although sold, are quite far from the finish line. However, according to the publishing house, they have hope. In future years, according to publishers’ estimates, the detective Michaela Klevisová may be included among the “millionaires” (she published Summer Solstice this year).

On the other hand, other strong names will have to wait, they may never even cross the million mark. After all, they keep secret how many titles they sell. Among others, award-winning Karin Lednická is on the list of those who “do not reveal”.

On the contrary, Martin Moravec, author of best-selling interviews with interesting personalities, is – as far as the sales of his books are concerned – much more shared. He also had a new release this year, Helena Sováková – Colonel of Human Souls. “Over 320,000 of my titles have been sold together,” he told Novinky, adding that he is very grateful for every reader and buyer.

After all, this is what unites the most successful writers. They go to talks, give lectures, the younger ones have strong social networks. And just to clarify, Patrik Hartl (116 thousand followers on Instagram) and Radka Třeštíková (100 thousand followers, Instagram) stand out among the bestsellers in the social space in the Czech Republic.