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Mary Shelley by Richard Rothwell from

15 Most Successful Teen Authors in the World

There are teen authors that caught the world by storm. Their work crossed their local borders during their teenage years. They grew to become renowned authors yet for some it鈥檚 little known to their readers when they began writing.

Mary Shelley penned Frankenstein in her teenage years, and Christopher Paolini self-published the Eragon at 15. The Outsiders was published when S.E. Hinton was sixteen and read on for more.

Here are the 15 Most Successful Teen Authors in the World.

1. Mary Shelley

The Frankenstein author was born on August 30, 1797, in the UK. According to a Time magazine article dated January 1, 2015, her inspiration for the book was a nightmare she had in Geneva.

The article explained that her 1831 preface to the novel revealed Shelley spend her evenings in Geneva listening and sharing chilling stories. Hence the nightmare that birthed the gothic novel.

She began writing the book when she was 19 but it was published in 1818 when she was 21. It went on to become a best seller. She died on 1 February 1851 in the UK.

Facts about Mary Shelley

2. Christopher Paolini

Christopher Paolini in 2019 by Daily Coffee from

He is an American author known for the four-book series The Inheritance Cycle. The first book of the series was the Eragon which Paolini self-published when he was 15 years.

The book was noticed by Random House Children鈥檚 Books. It went through editing and was released again. It rose to a top New York Times bestseller. In 2006 it was adapted into a movie by the same name.

The Eragon author was born in Los Angeles on November 17, 1983. Currently, he offers publishing and writing advice to young authors on various platforms.

3. S.E. Hinton

The Outsiders novel published in 1967 is her most famed work. She wrote the book when she was 16 years. It was inspired by her high school鈥檚 rival gangs. The book picks an empathetic point of view of one of the groups.

Additionally, she became a household name in her teenage years. In 2017, the Viking Press reported the book sells over 500,000 copies a year.

She was given a Margaret Edwards Award in 1988 for her efforts in teen content creation. She was born Susan Eloise Hinton on July 22, 1948, in Oklahoma. She chose to write under initials to avoid gender prejudices.

4. Gordon Korman

Gordon Korman at the 2019 Texas Book Festival by Larry D. Moore from

Korman鈥檚 most famous work is the Macdonald Hall series. He published the first book of the series with Scholastic Press in 1978. He was 14 years old at the time. The book became a New York Times bestseller.

The Canadian-American author has penned over 70 books and sold millions of copies worldwide. He was born on October 23, 1963, in Canada.

5. Flavia Bujor

Flavia Bujor by La chouette cheveche from

She was born on 8 August 1988 in Romania but moved to France when she was a child. She became famous for the children’s story, The Prophecy of the Stones.

The book is the story of three teenage girls Jade, Opal, and Amber who are selected to fulfill an ancient prophecy. The girls leave their families at fourteen in a quest to fulfill their mandate. Hence end up in a land full of magic where no evil abounds.

Bujor鈥檚 book was first published in 2002 when she was about 13 years. On 31 Mar 2004, she was named Author of the month alongside Christopher Paolini (earlier) by The Guardian.

Famous Children鈥檚 Authors your Kids will Love

6. Kody Keplinger

She was born in Kentucky on August 8, 1991. Her debut novel The DUFF pushed her to the limelight. The book was published in 2010 when she was about 19 years. It was adapted into a movie by the same name in 2015.

Furthermore, she has written titles like A Midsummer Nightmare in 2012, Lying Out Loud in 2015, That’s Not What Happened in 2020, and more.

7. Beth Reekles

“Kissing Booth” sign by Mary from

She is a Welsh author born on 7 June 1995 in Wales. Her rise to stardom was the novel, The Kissing Booth. She started publishing it on Wattpad in 2011, chapter by chapter. Thus won the Wattpad 2011 prize for Most Popular Teen Fiction.

In 2012, when she was 17 Penguin Random House offered her a publishing contract. Hence, her book was published in 2012. Subsequently, she was among Time magazine鈥檚 鈥�16 Most Influential Teens of 2013″ ranking.

In 2014 she was listed in The Times’s “Top 25 under 20鈥� category of 鈥淭he new icons of a generation”. To add on, The Kissing Booth was adapted into a Netflix film in 2018. The novel鈥檚 sequels have also been adapted into films.

8. Samantha Shannon

She was born on 8 November 1991 in England. Her famed work is The Bone Season novel first published in 2013. The book is the first of a seven-book series.

Moreover, she secured a publishing deal with Bloomsbury Publishing in 2012. In 2019, Bloomsbury also published her fantasy novel The Priory of the Orange Tree.

9. Kat Zhang

Kat Zhang 2019 at the 2019 Texas Book Festival by Larry D. Moore from

She is celebrated for her three-volume book The Hybrid Chronicles. The first of the three was published in 2012, What’s Left of Me. It was followed by Once We Were, published in 2013, and Echoes of Us in 2014. The books exist in over five different languages. Zhang was born on 1 April 1991 in Texas to Chinese immigrants.

10. Percy Shelley

He was born on 4 August 1792 in England. His first work was Zastrozzi: A Romance which was first published in 1810. Percy was 18 years at the time and wrote under the initials P.B.S (Percy Bysshe Shelley).

His later popular works are Ozymandias in 1818, Prometheus Unbound (1820), and Hellas (1822). He was married to writer Mary Shelley (earlier) from 1816 until his demise. He died from drowning in a personal sailing boat on 8 July 1822 aged 29.

Love Quotes by Famous Authors Around the World

11. Helen Oyeyemi

Helen Oyeyemi in 2021 by H-minus from

Oyeyemi started writing in her teens and had her first novel The Icarus Girl published in 2005 when she was 21. In 2016, her novel What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours propelled her to the spotlight. She went on to release Gingerbread in 2019 and Peaces in 2021.

She prides herself in a PEN Open Book Award won in 2016 for the What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours story collection. The short story writer was born on 10 December 1984 in Nigeria. She moved to South London when she was a child but currently lives in Prague.

12. Joyce Maynard

Joyce Maynard at the 2010 Texas Book Festival by Larry D. Moore from

Maynard began her journey as a journalist in her teenage years. She wrote for publications such as Seventeen magazine and The New York Times.

What鈥檚 more, she finished her first nonfiction work Looking Back in 1973. She was about 19 or 20 years old. Her other prominent creations include To Die For in 1992. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 1995.

In 2009, her novel Labor Day was published. It was made into a film of the same name in 2013. She penned Influence in 2016, and Count the Ways (2021) is her most recent title. She was born on November 5, 1953, in New Hampshire, U.S.

13. Susan Hill

Hill was born on 5 February 1942 in England. The Enclosure was her first novel. The book was first published in 1961 when Susan was 19 years.

Her acclaimed works include 1983s The Woman in Black and The Mist in the Mirror. The 1970 novel I’m the King of the Castle was also a big win for the author. It earned her a Somerset Maugham Award in 1971.

Additionally, the author boasts of many accolades. Her most recent was the 2020 Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).

14. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

She was born on April 16, 1984, in Maryland. At 14, she published her first novel In the Forests of the Night. Her headlined novels are The Kiesha’ra Series published from 2003 to 2007. Den of Shadows series(2008-2013), and The Maeve鈥檙a Trilogy (2014-2016) are also notable works by the author.

15. Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane in 1943 by an Unknown author from

Crane was an American poet who began writing when he was 16 years. In 1893, he published the novella Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. His novel The Red Badge of Courage was his rise to fame. The writer was born on November 1, 1871, in New Jersey. He died on June 5, 1900, aged 28 in the German Empire.

Check out 10 of the Most Romantic Poets.

Here are extra Successful Teen Authors.

Stefan Bachmann

This Swiss-American author was born on 7 June 1993 in Colorado in the United States. But he was raised in Switzerland. The Peculiar was his debut novel which was published in 2012 when Bachmann was 19 years. The book earned him international recognition and is present in at least 15 countries.

Jake Marcionette

Marcionette is famous for the Just Jake book series which was first published in 2014. The series has ranked as a New York Times bestseller under the children’s middle-grade books listing. Jake was born on March 20, 2001.