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 1938
Jan 3, 1938 → Dec 26, 1938 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1A. J. Cronin514
- 2Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings458
- 3Howard Spring373
- 4Kenneth Roberts269
- 5Phyllis Bottome181
- 6Daphne Du Maurier174
- 7Louis Bromfield166
- 8Hervey Allen118
- 9Rachel Field118
- 10Mary Roberts Rinehart99
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A. J. Cronin | 514 | 9.88% | 14.53% | 13.94% | 16 | 43 | 45 |
| 2 | Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | 458 | 8.80% | 14.53% | 12.81% | 12 | 36 | 37 |
| 3 | Howard Spring | 373 | 7.18% | 14.53% | 12.58% | 11 | 30 | 30 |
| 4 | Kenneth Roberts | 269 | 5.17% | 12.64% | 12.59% | 0 | 22 | 28 |
| 5 | Phyllis Bottome | 181 | 3.49% | 12.64% | 8.49% | 0 | 16 | 18 |
| 6 | Daphne Du Maurier | 174 | 3.35% | 14.53% | 10.64% | 8 | 12 | 13 |
| 7 | Louis Bromfield | 166 | 3.19% | 11.01% | 8.92% | 0 | 14 | 19 |
| 8 | Hervey Allen | 118 | 2.26% | 14.53% | 7.17% | 2 | 9 | 11 |
| 9 | Rachel Field | 118 | 2.26% | 14.53% | 8.51% | 2 | 9 | 9 |
| 10 | Mary Roberts Rinehart | 99 | 1.89% | 11.01% | 6.54% | 0 | 8 | 10 |
| 11 | Sinclair Lewis | 85 | 1.64% | 14.53% | 5.98% | 1 | 6 | 8 |
| 12 | Laura Krey | 80 | 1.54% | 11.01% | 5.86% | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| 13 | Thomas Mann | 65 | 1.25% | 12.64% | 5.37% | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 14 | Pearl S. Buck | 63 | 1.21% | 9.58% | 4.05% | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 15 | Taylor Caldwell | 55 | 1.06% | 11.01% | 4.54% | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| 16 | James M. Cain | 44 | 0.84% | 11.01% | 4.15% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 17 | Margery Sharp | 43 | 0.82% | 8.34% | 3.35% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 18 | Vincent Sheean | 42 | 0.81% | 9.58% | 3.71% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 19 | John O'Hara | 39 | 0.74% | 9.58% | 3.39% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 20 | Ann Bridge | 37 | 0.72% | 9.58% | 6.27% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 21 | Elizabeth Goudge | 26 | 0.51% | 8.34% | 2.30% | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 22 | Robert Nathan | 25 | 0.48% | 8.34% | 2.44% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 23 | Charles Nordloff | 24 | 0.47% | 4.79% | 1.51% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 24 | James Norman Hall | 24 | 0.47% | 4.79% | 1.51% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 25 | Charles G. Norris | 23 | 0.44% | 8.34% | 2.25% | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 26 | F. Van Wyck Mason | 23 | 0.44% | 8.34% | 2.18% | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 27 | Rose Wilder Lane | 23 | 0.44% | 8.34% | 1.88% | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 28 | Stuart Cloethe | 21 | 0.40% | 8.34% | 4.99% | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 29 | Margaret Mitchell | 19 | 0.37% | 11.01% | 1.99% | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 30 | Gilbert Frankau | 19 | 0.36% | 6.32% | 1.58% | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 31 | Frances Parkinson Keyes | 17 | 0.32% | 9.58% | 1.53% | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 32 | Myron Brinig | 16 | 0.30% | 8.34% | 1.61% | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 33 | Nevil Shute | 16 | 0.30% | 8.34% | 1.54% | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 34 | G. B. Lancaster | 14 | 0.28% | 9.58% | 1.26% | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 35 | Evan John | 14 | 0.26% | 7.26% | 1.41% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 36 | Franz Werfel | 14 | 0.26% | 7.26% | 1.40% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 37 | Gwen Bristow | 14 | 0.26% | 7.26% | 1.32% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 38 | Mary Ellen Chase | 13 | 0.24% | 6.32% | 1.08% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 39 | Vaughan Wilkins | 13 | 0.24% | 6.32% | 5.39% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 40 | Elmer Rice | 11 | 0.21% | 5.50% | 2.78% | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 41 | John P. Marquand | 10 | 0.18% | 9.58% | 1.05% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 42 | Joseph C. Lincoln | 8 | 0.16% | 8.34% | 0.91% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 43 | Margaret Ayer Barnes | 8 | 0.16% | 8.34% | 0.91% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 44 | Ruth McKenney | 8 | 0.16% | 8.34% | 0.91% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 45 | Vicki Baum | 8 | 0.16% | 8.34% | 0.91% | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 46 | Ernest Hemingway | 7 | 0.14% | 7.26% | 4.25% | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 47 | Gunnar Gunnarsson | 7 | 0.14% | 7.26% | 0.79% | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 48 | Hugh Walpole | 7 | 0.14% | 7.26% | 0.79% | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 | Josephine Lawrence | 6 | 0.12% | 6.32% | 0.69% | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 50 | William Blake | 6 | 0.12% | 6.32% | 0.69% | 0 | 0 | 1 |