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 1937
Jan 4, 1937 → Dec 27, 1937 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Margaret Mitchell382
- 2Kenneth Roberts344
- 3Walter D. Edmonds258
- 4Virginia Woolf226
- 5A. J. Cronin205
- 6Somerset Maugham196
- 7Millen Brand189
- 8Vaughan Wilkins187
- 9Michael Foster136
- 10John P. Marquand125
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Margaret Mitchell | 382 | 7.35% | 14.53% | 14.19% | 8 | 32 | 35 |
| 2 | Kenneth Roberts | 344 | 6.62% | 14.53% | 12.55% | 15 | 25 | 25 |
| 3 | Walter D. Edmonds | 258 | 4.95% | 14.53% | 12.59% | 4 | 18 | 25 |
| 4 | Virginia Woolf | 226 | 4.34% | 14.53% | 10.46% | 4 | 18 | 19 |
| 5 | A. J. Cronin | 205 | 3.94% | 14.53% | 11.53% | 9 | 15 | 15 |
| 6 | Somerset Maugham | 196 | 3.77% | 14.53% | 8.82% | 5 | 12 | 19 |
| 7 | Millen Brand | 189 | 3.63% | 14.53% | 9.14% | 7 | 13 | 17 |
| 8 | Vaughan Wilkins | 187 | 3.59% | 12.64% | 8.96% | 0 | 14 | 18 |
| 9 | Michael Foster | 136 | 2.62% | 12.64% | 7.92% | 0 | 12 | 13 |
| 10 | John P. Marquand | 125 | 2.40% | 12.64% | 6.89% | 0 | 8 | 14 |
| 11 | John Steinbeck | 121 | 2.33% | 9.58% | 5.89% | 0 | 7 | 16 |
| 12 | Jerome Weldman | 110 | 2.11% | 11.01% | 6.02% | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| 13 | Louis Bromfield | 98 | 1.88% | 11.01% | 7.05% | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| 14 | James Hilton | 90 | 1.72% | 12.64% | 6.18% | 0 | 7 | 9 |
| 15 | Esther Forbes | 85 | 1.63% | 11.01% | 5.02% | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| 16 | Alice Tisdale Hobart | 76 | 1.46% | 11.01% | 6.83% | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| 17 | Myron Brinig | 73 | 1.40% | 12.64% | 4.61% | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 18 | Ann Bridge | 71 | 1.36% | 8.34% | 5.15% | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| 19 | Ernest Hemingway | 67 | 1.30% | 11.01% | 4.73% | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| 20 | Stuart Cloethe | 67 | 1.28% | 9.58% | 5.14% | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| 21 | Jolan Foldes | 61 | 1.17% | 11.01% | 4.64% | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| 22 | Phillip Gibbs | 61 | 1.17% | 9.58% | 4.59% | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 23 | P. G. Wodehouse | 48 | 0.92% | 9.58% | 3.71% | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 24 | Elmer Rice | 38 | 0.73% | 9.58% | 3.40% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 25 | Sally Salminen | 38 | 0.73% | 9.58% | 2.65% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 26 | Helen Reilly | 37 | 0.71% | 9.58% | 2.77% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 27 | Marcia Davenport | 34 | 0.65% | 8.34% | 3.36% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 28 | Margery Sharp | 32 | 0.61% | 9.58% | 2.87% | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 29 | Frederic Prokosch | 32 | 0.61% | 9.58% | 2.47% | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 30 | Erich Maria Remarque | 30 | 0.58% | 8.34% | 2.81% | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 31 | Walter Duranty | 30 | 0.58% | 11.01% | 2.74% | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 32 | Lloyd C. Douglas | 26 | 0.49% | 11.01% | 7.73% | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 33 | Robert Briffault | 25 | 0.48% | 9.58% | 2.47% | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 34 | Hugh Walpole | 21 | 0.40% | 8.34% | 3.77% | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 35 | R. C. Hutchinson | 21 | 0.40% | 7.26% | 2.02% | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 36 | Elizabeth Goudge | 20 | 0.38% | 7.26% | 1.24% | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 37 | Trygve Gulbranssen | 19 | 0.37% | 8.34% | 1.71% | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 38 | Maxence van der Meersch | 18 | 0.34% | 9.58% | 1.84% | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 39 | Dorothy L. Sayers | 15 | 0.28% | 8.34% | 1.52% | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 40 | David Pilgrim | 15 | 0.28% | 7.26% | 1.50% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 41 | Kathleen Norris | 14 | 0.27% | 8.34% | 1.43% | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 42 | James M. Cain | 13 | 0.24% | 6.32% | 1.30% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 43 | Heinrich Mann | 8 | 0.16% | 8.34% | 0.91% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 44 | Joseph C. Lincoln | 8 | 0.16% | 8.34% | 0.91% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 45 | Leonard Q. Ross | 7 | 0.14% | 7.26% | 0.79% | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 46 | Cecil Roberts | 6 | 0.12% | 6.32% | 0.69% | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 47 | Clyde Brion Davis | 6 | 0.12% | 6.32% | 0.69% | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 48 | Josephine Lawrence | 6 | 0.12% | 6.32% | 0.71% | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 | C. S. Forrester | 6 | 0.11% | 5.50% | 0.60% | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 50 | E. Phillips Oppenheim | 6 | 0.11% | 5.50% | 0.80% | 0 | 0 | 1 |