Anna Jane — the most published author in Russia

Phenomenal print runs and sales

According to the Russian Book Chamber, Anna Jane has topped the ranking of the most published authors in Russia for three consecutive years. While in 2022 she wasn't in the top 20 (Stephen King took first place that year), by 2023 Jane had risen to the top spot: 56 books with a total print run of 874,000 copies. In 2024, she became the leader again — 79 books with a print run of 2.238 million copies, and in 2025 she retained first place with the same 79 titles and a print run of 2.167 million copies. Thus, over two years, the total annual print run grew by almost 1.3 million copies compared to 2023, after which the figure stabilized at over 2 million copies per year.

In addition to large print runs, Anna Jane has a fairly impressive fan base for a Russian author: nearly 80,000 followers on VKontakte and over 90,000 on Telegram. The writer's team continues to manage the social networks and stated after her death that they would work “as long as her books are published, as long as people read them.”

The high print run figures are also confirmed by retail sales. According to Vedomosti, the novel “Let Me Love” was the best-selling book on Wildberries: from January 1 to December 16 last year, over 80,500 copies were sold. Seven spots in the marketplace's top 10 were occupied by Anna Jane's novels: “Your Heart Will Be Broken," “The Delightful Witch," “Forbid Love," “The Witch in Love," "#LoveHate," “The Admirer.” In book retail, “The Admirer” took fifth place in sales from January to November 2025, and “Your Heart Will Be Broken” took seventh place.

Tatyana Gorskaya, General Director of the AST Publishing House, explained to Realnoe Vremya that Anna Jane's leadership is due to a combination of three factors: she is a “talented domestic author whose work meets the audience's need”; the result is ensured not by one book but by a total of 79 titles, while “the print run of each of Anna's books exceeds the average market indicators”; furthermore, the pricing policy of the Clever publishing house (which holds the rights to part of the writer's books) plays a significant role, allowing sales to accumulate “in the moment” due to lower profitability.

Cinderella from the world of literature

Anna Jane (real name — Anna Nikolaevna Potapkina) was born on January 14, 1988, in Krasnoyarsk, where she lived her entire life. She graduated from Siberian Federal University with degrees in two fields — philology and psychology, and worked as an editor and a child psychologist.

The writer said about herself: “I loved reading very much; books seemed like magical worlds to me... I terribly wanted to become a creator of wonderful stories too. And it's a childhood dream that I'm still fulfilling.” In an interview with the AST publishing house, she clarified that “the first attempts were back in elementary school," she wrote “for herself for many years," and then began publishing texts online, where she “found support and love from readers.”

Little is known about the writer's early years. Her mother recalled that Anna learned to read early: “She wasn't even four yet... She says: 'You don't have to read to me, I can read myself,'" and the family was “simply amazed.” During her school years, Anna tried writing her own texts, and starting in 2010, she posted them on self-publishing sites. She chose her pseudonym in advance and hid her real name for a long time. Many readers believed that a team of authors worked under the name Anna Jane.

The transition from online publications to print editions occurred in 2013. One of the readers sent the manuscript to the AST publishing house, after which Anna received an offer of cooperation. The writer herself said that it all started with correspondence with a reader named Elena (Alena), who offered help and asked a favor from her brother — who turned out to be the singer Dima Bilan. He “took it and sent the manuscript to the AST publishing house.” Unexpectedly for Anna.Within a year, the novels “Musical Love Spell” and “My Perfect Tornado” were published.

From 2015 to 2017, Anna Jane's books were published in the “Star of Runet” series, which featured authors popular on social networks, and in 2017, AST launched a personal series “Anna Jane. Best Books.” Starting in 2018, the novels began to be released by the Trendbooks imprint of the Clever publishing house. By 2019, two books received the “Readers' Choice” award on LiveLib: "#HateLove” in the “Romance Novel” category and “The Admirer” in the Young Adult category. In 2020, “The Delightful Witch” also received this award. The publishers emphasized the growing popularity by launching gift illustrated editions with artwork by artist Karina Yashagina.

Simultaneously, a reader community was forming. Anna actively participated in the life of the public page on social networks: she responded to comments, supported marathons and contests. A user named Shokhzoda recalled that in 2014, after communicating with the writer, she launched a reader's radio: “Anya took part in everything... Sometimes she was a listener on the live streams, came into the chat and even trolled!” Offline meetings were also held — in 2019 in Moscow and in 2021 in Krasnoyarsk.

On February 1, 2023, Anna Jane died in Krasnoyarsk due to health problems. The cause was acute heart failure. She was 35 years old. In February 2023, the AST publishing house reprinted and released 16 books in the “Jane Anna: World of Love” series. Thanks to the publication of the novels in the first half of the year, Anna entered the ranking of the most published authors.

Colleagues and loved ones emphasized her professional focus and involvement. Editor Alina Safronova said that Anna “created her own universes and lived in them," which is why “the works are so believable," and noted that the writer worried about the volume of texts but didn't want to change what readers liked. Representatives of AST stated: “Working with Anna was a continuous pleasure... She approached each new book with great reverence.” Friend Larisa Zabello recalled that Anna “didn't chase popularity” and would respond to praise: “You're so sweet. But I think you only say that because I'm your friend!”

“Genre eclecticism”

Anna Jane's first printed novel was “Musical Love Spell.” The electronic version appeared in 2010 on a self-publishing platform, and in 2014 the book was published in print by the AST publishing house in the “Star of Runet” series. By the time of the print publication, about 500,000 people had read the work online. It is a young adult romance novel about a student, Katrina Radova, who finds herself in a love triangle between Kay, a musician from the rock band “On the Edge," and her classmate Anton.

The publishing house described the book as a novel that “is loved by millions of readers of different ages for its captivating plot, love intrigue, and a whole storm of sincere emotions.” Anna explained the idea simply: not finding a suitable story about modern music and love online, she decided to write one herself. The original title “True Love?” was changed to the more resonant “Musical Love Spell.”

“Musical Love Spell” launched the eponymous cycle of four main novels and several spin-offs. In 2017, the sequels “On the Waves of Origami” and “On the Wings” were released. Among other early hits are “My Perfect Tornado” (2014), the dilogy “Northern Crown” (2015-2016), the books "#LoveHate” and "#HateLove” (2018), “The Delightful Witch” and “The Witch in Love” (2019), “The Admirer” (2019), as well as the trilogy “The Unwanted Bride”: “Heiress of the Black Dragon” (2021), “Secret of the Black Dragon” (2023), “Star of the Black Dragon” (2023). In 2024-2025, “Forbid Love” and “Let Me Love” were released. In total, since 2015, Anna Jane has published over 50 books, each 500-600 pages long.

The main body of her works is young adult literature, aimed at an audience roughly from 14 to 21 years old. Jane wrote about first love, friendship, self-discovery, and raised topics such as bullying, abuse, stalking, and psychological violence. The novels often develop several love stories simultaneously, and secondary characters become heroes of subsequent books. The setting in Anna's works is unnamed, but the characters attend Tolstoy School, play in KVN, and have Russian names with English-language nicknames — Denis becomes Dan, and Nikita becomes Nick.

The writer herself said: “I like genre eclecticism. I write about love, but I use different genres: young adult, thrillers, dramas, fantasy — both romantic and urban.” Fantasy works include the novel “No, Baby, This is Science Fiction!” (co-authored under the pseudonym Anna Selina), and fantasy elements are present in the books “Red Sparks of Light," “Magic Sparks of Sun," as well as in the mystical story “Gift of an Angel.”

Speaking about her characters, Anna emphasized that they have no prototypes: “Characters are born spontaneously in my head... I very rarely put personal things into characters.” Among her favorite characters, she singled out Kay from “Musical Love Spell” and Dan from “My Perfect Tornado," explaining her interest in the “flip side of perfection” and the characters' inner growth.

In December 2021, Anna Jane wrote: “Are writers like Voldemorts? Our souls are split into as many parts as the number of books we've written. So, I have 28 Horcruxes... As long as our books are read, we live in people's hearts.” Her early texts from 2010 spread across the internet and became some of the most famous manuscripts in Runet. Subsequently, a significant portion of these works was published in print and repeatedly reprinted.

“It's an easy read”

Readers describe Anna Jane as an author whose books are “devoured in one sitting” and evoke a strong emotional reaction. Reviews of “Musical Love Spell” note: “I read three books in two days and didn't regret it one bit.” About the novel “Through the Pieces of Your Heart," they write: “I've never cried so much over a book... The book raises quite important problems of modern society: relationships with parents, bullying at school.” A review of “The Delightful Witch” emphasizes the recognizability of the modern environment: the heroines “Google 'how to make a guy fall for you,' create fake profiles... run blogs, lie to their parents," and it's an “incredibly lively and emotional story.”

A reader who started reading Anna Jane's books at 12 calls them “stories for the soul, where there's room for romance and friendship," recalls “reading until dawn," and adds that she continues to love them “for those teenage emotions.” The writer's close friend Larisa Zabello speaks of “living characters and sincerity," noting that the heroes “make mistakes... and experience a multitude of different feelings," so “they seem alive.”

However, on sites with open reader reviews, criticism can also be found. There are no serious academic reviews of the novels, as the genre is considered fiction, but negative reviews exist, though not very many. Criticism is aimed at excessive sentimentality, detachment from reality, the idea that characters just need to talk once to solve a problem, strange and forced metaphors, and not very careful handling of the Russian language.

In a review by Meredith of “Musical Love Spell," the language is called “disgusting, cloying, nauseating," the characters caricatured, and the rock environment implausible. The reader pointed out clichés and exaggerations. User Fari22, in a review of the novel “The Admirer," admits the author “skillfully built up the tension," but believes the thriller quickly turns into a “primitive and talentless soap opera," with “formulaic” characters and romanticization of toxic relationships.

At the same time, PlotWhisperer writes that the beginning “looks like an interesting and promising” story about stalking, and the final part is “dynamic and interesting," though “unrealistic.” In a review by D_lina of “The Witch in Love," the downsides mentioned are “too stupid twists” and frequent coincidences, yet the reading remains “engaging.”

Readers and loved ones explain Anna Jane's popularity phenomenon as a combination of emotional engagement and relatable themes. In a review by netti of “Your Heart Will Be Broken," the narrative threads are listed — loss of a parent, family conflicts, bullying, first love — which “are woven into a multifaceted story," despite the “plot being somewhat implausible, but it's an easy read.” Primarily, readers value her texts for their sincerity and the recognizability of situations. For part of the audience, discovering Anna Jane's novels in their teenage years became a personal coming-of-age experience they continue to revisit.

“First love that lasts forever”

The novel “Your Heart Will Be Broken” is one of Anna Jane's most widely read stories. According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the book has been read online over 6.5 million times, and the total number of reads of the writer's books exceeds 30 million. The dilogy took second place in the top sales of fiction on marketplaces. On LiveLib, the book holds fourth place in the “Romance Novels” category and 32nd in “Books for Teenagers.” 20,623 users have marked it as read, 8,687 plan to read it.

The plot revolves around high school student Polina Tumanova and Bars (Dima Barsov). Every day, through the window of the house opposite, Polina sees him — the coolest guy in school. One day, he saved her from classmates. He said Polina was his girl and kissed her in front of everyone. Here, the writer raises themes characteristic of her works: bullying, loneliness, and conflicts with parents.

The editor-in-chief of the Clever publishing house and the Trendbooks imprint, Elena Izmailova, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta that Anna's books “fulfill an important social mission... that's why 'Your Heart Will Be Broken' is a bestseller with record sales figures and a huge number of fans.”

Reader reviews focus on the emotional component and the theme of traumatic love. User Schollz Alena writes about “the journey: painful, emotionally uneven," calls the work “not just a novel, but an emotional experience," and notes that “a broken heart here is not the end, but a starting point for growth.” Reader gamwife emphasizes that the book “hinges” on Polina's experiences, the theme of school bullying, and first love. User ksantippa draws attention to the development of the bullying storyline and the fact that the author “insists that children should trust adults to solve the problem.”

According to the press service of the KION Stroki service, “Your Heart Will Be Broken” is among Anna Jane's most popular books on the platform. The most active audience is girls aged 18-24; the second largest group is women aged 35-44.

Another surge of interest in this book is related to its film adaptation. It was announced in the summer of 2025 at the “Jane Fest” festival. The premiere is scheduled for March 26 this year. The director is Mikhail Weinberg; starring Veronica Zhuravleva and Daniel Vegas. According to Kinopoisk as of February 18, 54,000 users have already added the film to their “Want to Watch” list.

The film's director said: “I want it to remain on screen as honest, tender, and important — like first love that lasts forever.” Producer Georgy Shabanov noted that the creators “approached the opinion of fans with great respect," studied “versions of the ideal cast," and strived to meet the audience's expectations.

According to KION Stroki data, amid the upcoming film adaptation, consumption of Anna Jane's books in January grew by 32% compared to December 2025, and year-on-year, users spent 57% more time with her books.

Yekaterina Petrova is a literary columnist for the online newspaper Realnoe Vremya and hosts the Telegram channel “Buns with Poppy.”