Eras
Who was the most powerful author in a year, who dominated a decade, who held #1 the longest. Every figure is a defined metric summed or maximised over a date range of stored weekly rows — nothing is weighted by opinion.
Leader of every year
Column height = the leader's average Power Share over the period. Click a column to explore that range.
- Robert Ludlum5 periods
- John Grisham5 periods
- James Patterson5 periods
- Lloyd C. Douglas3 periods
- Leon Uris3 periods
- Stephen King3 periods
- Dan Brown3 periods
- Hervey Allen2 periods
- Margaret Mitchell2 periods
- Herman Wouk2 periods
- James A. Michener2 periods
- Robert James Waller2 periods
- James Redfield2 periods
- Danielle Steel2 periods
- J. K. Rowling2 periods
- Gillian Flynn2 periods
- Anthony Doerr2 periods
- Delia Owens2 periods
- Rebecca Yarros2 periods
- John Galsworthy1 period
- Charles Morgan1 period
- A. J. Cronin1 period
- John Steinbeck1 period
- Richard Llewellyn1 period
- James Hilton1 period
- Franz Werfel1 period
- Lillian Smith1 period
- Samuel Shellaburger1 period
- Taylor Caldwell1 period
- Laura Z. Hobson1 period
- Norman Mailer1 period
- Henry Morton Robinson1 period
- James Jones1 period
- Annemarie Selinko1 period
- Morton Thompson1 period
- Francoise Sagan1 period
- Edwin O'Connor1 period
- Grace Metalious1 period
- Robert Traver1 period
- Harper Lee1 period
- Katherine Anne Porter1 period
- Morris L. West1 period
- John le Carré1 period
- Bel Kaufman1 period
- Jacqueline Susann1 period
- Elia Kazan1 period
- Arthur Hailey1 period
- Mario Puzo1 period
- Erich Segal1 period
- Frederick Forsyth1 period
- Peter Benchley1 period
- James Michener1 period
- Paul E. Erdman1 period
- J.R.R. Tolkien1 period
- James Clavell1 period
- Tom Wolfe1 period
- Tom Clancy1 period
- Khaled Hosseini1 period
- Stephenie Meyer1 period
- Kathryn Stockett1 period
- Donna Tartt1 period
- Matt Haig1 period
- Bonnie Garmus1 period
- Virginia Evans1 period
Leaders in 1936
Jan 6, 1936 → Dec 28, 1936 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Margaret Mitchell371
- 2George Santayana330
- 3Walter D. Edmonds256
- 4Sinclair Lewis214
- 5Charles Morgan179
- 6Mary Roberts Rinehart151
- 7Aldous Huxley149
- 8Hervey Allen128
- 9Lloyd C. Douglas117
- 10Rebecca West112
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Margaret Mitchell | 371 | 7.14% | 14.53% | 13.77% | 25 | 26 | 26 |
| 2 | George Santayana | 330 | 6.34% | 14.53% | 11.41% | 11 | 25 | 29 |
| 3 | Walter D. Edmonds | 256 | 4.92% | 12.64% | 11.40% | 0 | 21 | 21 |
| 4 | Sinclair Lewis | 214 | 4.12% | 14.53% | 10.84% | 2 | 18 | 21 |
| 5 | Charles Morgan | 179 | 3.44% | 14.53% | 9.62% | 5 | 13 | 15 |
| 6 | Mary Roberts Rinehart | 151 | 2.91% | 14.53% | 8.49% | 4 | 12 | 13 |
| 7 | Aldous Huxley | 149 | 2.87% | 12.64% | 8.30% | 0 | 12 | 14 |
| 8 | Hervey Allen | 128 | 2.46% | 11.01% | 6.63% | 0 | 12 | 15 |
| 9 | Lloyd C. Douglas | 117 | 2.25% | 11.01% | 7.20% | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| 10 | Rebecca West | 112 | 2.15% | 12.64% | 7.10% | 0 | 8 | 11 |
| 11 | Vincent Sheean | 104 | 2.00% | 14.53% | 6.56% | 1 | 7 | 11 |
| 12 | Josephine Lawrence | 97 | 1.87% | 14.53% | 6.67% | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| 13 | Rosamond Lehmann | 94 | 1.80% | 14.53% | 5.60% | 1 | 7 | 10 |
| 14 | Daphne Du Maurier | 79 | 1.52% | 11.01% | 5.00% | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| 15 | E. Phillips Oppenheim | 74 | 1.42% | 9.58% | 3.54% | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| 16 | Mazo de la Roche | 68 | 1.32% | 11.01% | 4.27% | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 17 | John Dos Passos | 68 | 1.30% | 9.58% | 4.52% | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 18 | Charles Nordloff | 67 | 1.29% | 6.32% | 3.96% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 19 | James Norman Hall | 67 | 1.29% | 6.32% | 3.96% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 20 | Alice Tisdale Hobart | 65 | 1.24% | 11.01% | 5.35% | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 21 | Dorothy L. Sayers | 62 | 1.19% | 9.58% | 4.66% | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 22 | Pearl S. Buck | 61 | 1.18% | 9.58% | 4.41% | 0 | 6 | 7 |
| 23 | Hugh Walpole | 58 | 1.12% | 11.01% | 4.35% | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| 24 | Johan Fabricius | 54 | 1.05% | 12.64% | 4.61% | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| 25 | Kathleen Norris | 51 | 0.97% | 9.58% | 3.92% | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 26 | Robert Briffault | 42 | 0.81% | 12.64% | 11.44% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 27 | H. L. Davis | 40 | 0.78% | 11.01% | 3.50% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 28 | Thomas Mann | 40 | 0.78% | 9.58% | 3.35% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 29 | Lion Feuchwanger | 37 | 0.71% | 9.58% | 3.44% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 30 | P. G. Wodehouse | 36 | 0.69% | 11.01% | 2.19% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 31 | E. M. Delafield | 32 | 0.62% | 9.58% | 3.03% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 32 | Ethel Boileau | 31 | 0.60% | 8.34% | 2.86% | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 33 | Booth Tarkington | 27 | 0.52% | 7.26% | 2.51% | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 34 | Mary Ayer Barnes | 26 | 0.49% | 11.01% | 5.77% | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 35 | Fanny Hurst | 24 | 0.46% | 6.32% | 1.81% | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 36 | S. S. Van Dine | 24 | 0.46% | 6.32% | 2.05% | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 37 | Elizabeth Bowen | 23 | 0.44% | 8.34% | 2.25% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 38 | T. S. Stribling | 23 | 0.44% | 11.01% | 2.24% | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 39 | Dennis Wheatley | 22 | 0.43% | 4.17% | 1.69% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 40 | J. H. Links | 22 | 0.43% | 4.17% | 1.69% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 41 | Winifred Holtby | 21 | 0.40% | 7.26% | 1.96% | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 42 | Marcia Davenport | 20 | 0.39% | 7.26% | 1.76% | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 43 | Arnold Zweig | 19 | 0.37% | 11.01% | 1.98% | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 44 | J. B. Priestley | 19 | 0.37% | 7.26% | 1.73% | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 45 | Barry Benefield | 15 | 0.28% | 8.34% | 5.69% | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 46 | John Buchan | 13 | 0.24% | 6.32% | 1.30% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 47 | Winifred Van Etten | 13 | 0.24% | 6.32% | 1.18% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 48 | John T. McIntyre | 11 | 0.21% | 5.50% | 1.14% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 | Mary Ellen Chase | 10 | 0.18% | 9.58% | 4.40% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 50 | Ellen Glasgow | 7 | 0.14% | 7.26% | 7.99% | 0 | 0 | 1 |