How successful was Rand as a writer?
If success is measured in terms of books sold, then Rand was eventually very successful, although not as much as some authors. Rand’s writing career had a couple of early successes, with the sale of a screenplay (Red Pawn) and a successful Broadway play (Night of January 16th). But her career stalled. Her first two novels sold poorly and fell out of print, and a play based on one of them flopped. Lasting success finally came when her third novel, The Fountainhead, became a best seller. She sold the movie rights and also obtained a contract to write movie screenplays. Her fourth and final novel, Atlas Shrugged, was another best seller. Rand’s later success raised her profile and she was able to have her earlier works re-published to greater circulation than they initially achieved. Some of her subsequent non-fiction books have also sold relatively well considering their content. As of 2008, the total sales of Rand’s books were over 25 million copies, with the most popular being the foll
