Upon completing the first novel of the series, The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins signed a contract with Scholastic Publishing for a 3 book series. The novel was originally slated to print 50,000 copies and ended up printing 200,000. The Hunger Games was released in hardcover September 14, 2008 with the audiobook version following in December of the same year.

The second book of the series, Catching Fire, was published in hardback and audio version September 8, 2009 with 350,000 copies. Mockingjay, the final book in the series, was released on August 24, 2010 with 1,600,000 copies printed. It was released in both hardback and audiobook that day.

To date, The Hunger Games trilogy has sold over 24 million copies in the US and has been published in at least 26 different languages. Suzanne Collins was also announced to be the Best Selling Kindle Author of all time in March of 2012. The book series has set a record number of weeks atop the New York Times Best Seller List.

All three books in the series have received positive critical reception. Along with critical reception, the fan reception is overwhelming. Being widely compared to the likes of Harry Potter and Twilight, there is a huge fan following. Though the first book was released in 2008, the series did not actually ‘catch fire’ until 2010.

After the release of Mockingjay in 2010, the first two books in the series sold record numbers. There are currently over 35 million copies of the books collectively in print. The breakdown being The Hunger Games – 17.5 million, Catching Fire – 10 million, Mockinjay – 9 million. Because of the popularity, many book stores held midnight release events for Mockingjay.