Authors
Career leaders on NYT Hardcover Fiction, ranked by Peak Power. Click a column to re-sort.
Ranked by Peak Power, part of the ChartReign Power model — not a list published by anyone else. How it works →
| # | Author | Career Power | Peak Power | Peak Year | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Longevity | Dominance | Comebacks | Markets | Charting span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J. K. Rowling | 1,648 | 29.00% | 1,289 | 57 | 68 | 97 | 31.04% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1998 → 2013 |
| 2 | Rebecca Yarros | 1,769 | 21.82% | 868 | 56 | 93 | 133 | 30.78% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 2023 → 2026 |
| 3 | Robert James Waller | 1,913 | 21.18% | 904 | 67 | 106 | 174 | 24.03% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1992 → 2002 |
| 4 | Dan Brown | 3,183 | 19.20% | 901 | 102 | 222 | 269 | 21.49% | 4 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 2003 → 2026 |
| 5 | James Hilton | 1,599 | 16.49% | 545 | 27 | 113 | 155 | 22.85% | 4 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1934 → 1954 |
| 6 | Stephen King | 8,547 | 16.03% | 730 | 169 | 568 | 986 | 22.57% | 12 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1977 → 2025 |
| 7 | Erich Segal | 1,282 | 14.46% | 728 | 48 | 81 | 133 | 14.53% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1970 → 1992 |
| 8 | James A. Michener | 4,537 | 14.45% | 731 | 132 | 299 | 478 | 14.72% | 10 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1949 → 1993 |
| 9 | James Michener | 1,915 | 14.44% | 720 | 69 | 137 | 170 | 14.53% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1963 → 1989 |
| 10 | Herman Wouk | 3,623 | 14.43% | 740 | 91 | 248 | 375 | 14.53% | 7 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1947 → 1994 |
| 11 | Richard Bach | 1,569 | 14.42% | 714 | 38 | 90 | 191 | 14.53% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1972 → 1989 |
| 12 | Lloyd C. Douglas | 2,307 | 14.35% | 695 | 52 | 173 | 233 | 14.91% | 4 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1932 → 1954 |
| 13 | Leon Uris | 3,838 | 14.30% | 725 | 66 | 260 | 405 | 14.53% | 7 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1953 → 1999 |
| 14 | James Redfield | 1,558 | 14.29% | 679 | 22 | 99 | 165 | 18.61% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1994 → 1997 |
| 15 | John le Carré | 3,345 | 14.27% | 647 | 78 | 225 | 370 | 14.72% | 10 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1964 → 2021 |
| 16 | Annemarie Selinko | 625 | 14.23% | 622 | 32 | 43 | 54 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1953 → 1954 |
| 17 | Mario Puzo | 1,364 | 14.20% | 673 | 29 | 99 | 137 | 14.53% | 4 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1969 → 2000 |
| 18 | Robert Traver | 690 | 14.20% | 615 | 29 | 44 | 72 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1958 → 1962 |
| 19 | Margaret Mitchell | 819 | 14.19% | 677 | 33 | 60 | 78 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1936 → 1992 |
| 20 | Jacqueline Susann | 1,756 | 14.18% | 670 | 49 | 128 | 158 | 14.53% | 3 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1966 → 1977 |
| 21 | Betty Smith | 951 | 14.16% | 636 | 28 | 66 | 96 | 14.53% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1943 → 1963 |
| 22 | Arthur Hailey | 2,305 | 14.12% | 667 | 53 | 171 | 229 | 14.53% | 5 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1965 → 1990 |
| 23 | Grace Metalious | 814 | 14.09% | 702 | 29 | 55 | 79 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1956 → 1960 |
| 24 | Saul Bellow | 1,008 | 14.07% | 526 | 29 | 55 | 127 | 14.53% | 4 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1953 → 2000 |
| 25 | J.D. Salinger | 1,128 | 14.02% | 599 | 36 | 76 | 126 | 14.53% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1951 → 1963 |
| 26 | Delia Owens | 1,391 | 13.99% | 704 | 57 | 94 | 132 | 14.63% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 2018 → 2022 |
| 27 | Boris Pasternak | 642 | 13.98% | 627 | 24 | 49 | 57 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1958 → 1959 |
| 28 | Irving Stone | 2,931 | 13.97% | 704 | 51 | 198 | 325 | 14.53% | 7 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1934 → 1985 |
| 29 | Hervey Allen | 1,328 | 13.95% | 703 | 35 | 105 | 123 | 14.53% | 4 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1933 → 1948 |
| 30 | A. J. Cronin | 2,618 | 13.94% | 636 | 70 | 188 | 259 | 14.53% | 8 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1932 → 1964 |
| 31 | Allen Drury | 2,658 | 13.94% | 708 | 42 | 198 | 258 | 14.53% | 5 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1959 → 1975 |
| 32 | Katherine Anne Porter | 506 | 13.87% | 506 | 26 | 33 | 44 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1962 → 1963 |
| 33 | Elia Kazan | 609 | 13.86% | 521 | 23 | 41 | 55 | 14.53% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1967 → 1975 |
| 34 | Henry Morton Robinson | 747 | 13.83% | 621 | 24 | 49 | 75 | 14.63% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1950 → 1960 |
| 35 | Morton Thompson | 756 | 13.80% | 630 | 24 | 43 | 82 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1950 → 1955 |
| 36 | James Gould Cozzens | 501 | 13.72% | 481 | 24 | 33 | 47 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1936 → 1958 |
| 37 | J.R.R. Tolkien | 740 | 13.72% | 543 | 24 | 46 | 85 | 16.77% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1977 → 2018 |
| 38 | Kristin Hannah | 1,657 | 13.65% | 659 | 20 | 102 | 214 | 19.93% | 4 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 2001 → 2025 |
| 39 | Charles Frazier | 646 | 13.63% | 555 | 18 | 41 | 75 | 14.91% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1997 → 2018 |
| 40 | Robert Crichton | 680 | 13.61% | 541 | 18 | 42 | 68 | 14.53% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1966 → 1973 |
| 41 | John P. Marquand | 1,559 | 13.61% | 400 | 37 | 104 | 162 | 14.53% | 5 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1937 → 1959 |
| 42 | John Steinbeck | 1,912 | 13.60% | 458 | 47 | 131 | 206 | 14.53% | 6 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1937 → 1961 |
| 43 | Agatha Christie | 1,142 | 13.60% | 427 | 26 | 71 | 126 | 14.53% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1934 → 1977 |
| 44 | Gore Vidal | 1,931 | 13.53% | 453 | 30 | 124 | 235 | 14.53% | 6 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1948 → 1998 |
| 45 | Helen MacInnes | 2,327 | 13.45% | 503 | 18 | 148 | 307 | 14.53% | 9 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1942 → 1984 |
| 46 | Edwin O'Connor | 934 | 13.44% | 579 | 20 | 55 | 107 | 14.53% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1956 → 1967 |
| 47 | William Styron | 924 | 13.38% | 453 | 27 | 47 | 115 | 14.53% | 3 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1951 → 1980 |
| 48 | Frederic Wakeman | 385 | 13.38% | 369 | 19 | 26 | 38 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1946 → 1957 |
| 49 | Rachel Field | 851 | 13.37% | 484 | 22 | 62 | 74 | 14.53% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1935 → 1942 |
| 50 | Norman Mailer | 917 | 13.33% | 575 | 19 | 47 | 127 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1948 → 2007 |
| 51 | Mary McCarthy | 615 | 13.28% | 568 | 19 | 41 | 63 | 14.53% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1952 → 1971 |
| 52 | Thomas B. Costain | 2,284 | 13.26% | 648 | 44 | 156 | 243 | 14.53% | 6 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1945 → 1960 |
| 53 | Mika Waltari | 1,012 | 13.26% | 558 | 16 | 65 | 124 | 14.53% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1949 → 1961 |
| 54 | James Jones | 879 | 13.23% | 559 | 20 | 46 | 116 | 14.53% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1951 → 1978 |
| 55 | Lillian Smith | 429 | 13.19% | 429 | 22 | 32 | 32 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1944 → 1944 |
| 56 | Paula Hawkins | 982 | 13.15% | 568 | 25 | 69 | 102 | 14.69% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 2015 → 2024 |
| 57 | Franz Werfel | 744 | 13.04% | 477 | 15 | 56 | 64 | 15.38% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1934 → 1946 |
| 58 | John Fowles | 979 | 13.03% | 578 | 12 | 62 | 116 | 14.53% | 3 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1963 → 1985 |
| 59 | Ben Ames Williams | 783 | 13.01% | 430 | 15 | 54 | 93 | 14.53% | 3 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1941 → 1954 |
| 60 | Hamilton Basso | 450 | 12.96% | 395 | 14 | 25 | 53 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1954 → 1959 |
| 61 | Stark Young | 351 | 12.94% | 343 | 11 | 24 | 28 | 15.31% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1934 → 1935 |
| 62 | Frederick Forsyth | 2,054 | 12.88% | 519 | 21 | 135 | 233 | 14.53% | 3 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1971 → 2018 |
| 63 | Robert Ludlum | 3,445 | 12.85% | 446 | 81 | 208 | 406 | 14.53% | 9 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1973 → 2006 |
| 64 | Francoise Sagan | 587 | 12.82% | 411 | 12 | 41 | 61 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1955 → 1960 |
| 65 | Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | 596 | 12.81% | 486 | 12 | 40 | 60 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1938 → 1953 |
| 66 | Laura Z. Hobson | 413 | 12.67% | 393 | 14 | 30 | 42 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1947 → 1951 |
| 67 | Bonnie Garmus | 814 | 12.66% | 586 | 14 | 57 | 99 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 2022 → 2024 |
| 68 | Colleen McCullough | 1,240 | 12.64% | 672 | 30 | 83 | 126 | 14.53% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1977 → 2000 |
| 69 | Walter D. Edmonds | 589 | 12.59% | 493 | 4 | 44 | 56 | 14.53% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1936 → 1947 |
| 70 | Kenneth Roberts | 1,308 | 12.59% | 598 | 36 | 94 | 127 | 14.53% | 3 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1934 → 1956 |
| 71 | Howard Spring | 869 | 12.58% | 382 | 11 | 56 | 115 | 14.53% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1938 → 1962 |
| 72 | William Brinkley | 429 | 12.53% | 429 | 15 | 30 | 39 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1956 → 1957 |
| 73 | Morris L. West | 957 | 12.52% | 495 | 14 | 48 | 125 | 14.53% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1959 → 1974 |
| 74 | MacKinlay Kantor | 741 | 12.47% | 528 | 12 | 51 | 82 | 14.53% | 3 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1934 → 1962 |
| 75 | Richard Llewellyn | 527 | 12.45% | 445 | 13 | 39 | 53 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1940 → 1961 |
| 76 | Bel Kaufman | 658 | 12.45% | 611 | 8 | 47 | 61 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1965 → 1966 |
| 77 | Philip Roth | 766 | 12.42% | 462 | 14 | 38 | 109 | 14.53% | 4 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1962 → 2008 |
| 78 | Kathryn Stockett | 1,047 | 12.41% | 547 | 10 | 78 | 126 | 15.97% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 2009 → 2026 |
| 79 | Daphne Du Maurier | 3,059 | 12.38% | 381 | 60 | 210 | 319 | 14.53% | 9 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1936 → 1973 |
| 80 | Alexandra Ripley | 348 | 12.36% | 348 | 16 | 22 | 34 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1991 → 1992 |
| 81 | Sidney Sheldon | 3,050 | 12.35% | 353 | 51 | 184 | 342 | 15.03% | 11 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1974 → 2000 |
| 82 | Alice Sebold | 629 | 12.34% | 528 | 11 | 42 | 71 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 2002 → 2007 |
| 83 | John Grisham | 8,538 | 12.27% | 530 | 193 | 575 | 905 | 17.94% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1991 → 2026 |
| 84 | Harper Lee | 1,152 | 12.26% | 584 | 6 | 87 | 131 | 14.53% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1960 → 2016 |
| 85 | Tom Wolfe | 834 | 12.24% | 527 | 18 | 60 | 92 | 14.53% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1987 → 2012 |
| 86 | Eric Knight | 345 | 12.24% | 345 | 14 | 27 | 27 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1941 → 1941 |
| 87 | Mary Stewart | 2,335 | 12.22% | 387 | 16 | 160 | 294 | 14.53% | 8 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1959 → 1984 |
| 88 | Taylor Caldwell | 3,842 | 12.20% | 460 | 9 | 240 | 524 | 14.53% | 10 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1938 → 1981 |
| 89 | Garrison Keillor | 915 | 12.18% | 511 | 6 | 58 | 121 | 14.53% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1982 → 2007 |
| 90 | William Peter Blatty | 584 | 12.17% | 568 | 12 | 47 | 56 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1971 → 1983 |
| 91 | Patrick Dennis | 1,396 | 12.17% | 540 | 5 | 91 | 192 | 14.53% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1955 → 1963 |
| 92 | James Finn Garner | 678 | 12.16% | 546 | 6 | 48 | 78 | 14.74% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1994 → 1996 |
| 93 | Tom Clancy | 3,813 | 12.16% | 504 | 70 | 260 | 432 | 14.82% | 6 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1985 → 2014 |
| 94 | Caro Claire Burke | 293 | 12.16% | 293 | 5 | 22 | 22 | 16.60% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 2026 → 2026 |
| 95 | Richard Adams | 575 | 12.13% | 358 | 13 | 37 | 64 | 14.53% | 0 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1974 → 1978 |
| 96 | Khaled Hosseini | 698 | 12.12% | 496 | 18 | 51 | 74 | 14.60% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 2007 → 2018 |
| 97 | Kurt Vonnegut | 1,201 | 12.12% | 328 | 15 | 67 | 153 | 14.53% | 4 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1969 → 1997 |
| 98 | James Clavell | 1,367 | 12.12% | 497 | 19 | 88 | 159 | 14.53% | 4 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1962 → 1993 |
| 99 | E. L. Doctorow | 850 | 12.08% | 456 | 13 | 55 | 111 | 14.53% | 2 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1975 → 2009 |
| 100 | Somerset Maugham | 603 | 12.06% | 379 | 8 | 44 | 54 | 14.53% | 1 | 1 · #1 in 1 | 1934 → 1944 |