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 1946
Jan 6, 1946 → Dec 29, 1946 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Taylor Caldwell433
- 2Frederic Wakeman363
- 3Erich Maria Remarque283
- 4Daphne Du Maurier278
- 5Thomas B. Costain229
- 6Mary Jane Ward195
- 7Frank Yerby189
- 8Evelyn Waugh158
- 9Margery Sharp152
- 10Gladys Schmitt141
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Caldwell | 433 | 8.33% | 14.53% | 12.20% | 9 | 33 | 36 |
| 2 | Frederic Wakeman | 363 | 6.98% | 14.53% | 13.38% | 19 | 26 | 29 |
| 3 | Erich Maria Remarque | 283 | 5.44% | 14.53% | 11.02% | 8 | 20 | 27 |
| 4 | Daphne Du Maurier | 278 | 5.34% | 14.53% | 10.90% | 6 | 20 | 28 |
| 5 | Thomas B. Costain | 229 | 4.40% | 14.53% | 12.93% | 4 | 17 | 23 |
| 6 | Mary Jane Ward | 195 | 3.75% | 12.64% | 8.23% | 0 | 17 | 23 |
| 7 | Frank Yerby | 189 | 3.64% | 8.34% | 4.75% | 0 | 1 | 43 |
| 8 | Evelyn Waugh | 158 | 3.03% | 11.01% | 6.36% | 0 | 8 | 24 |
| 9 | Margery Sharp | 152 | 2.93% | 12.64% | 8.13% | 0 | 13 | 17 |
| 10 | Gladys Schmitt | 141 | 2.72% | 11.01% | 7.21% | 0 | 12 | 18 |
| 11 | Russell Janney | 134 | 2.57% | 12.64% | 8.32% | 0 | 11 | 13 |
| 12 | John Jennings | 129 | 2.48% | 11.01% | 6.62% | 0 | 9 | 18 |
| 13 | W. Somerset Maugham | 125 | 2.40% | 11.01% | 6.95% | 0 | 10 | 15 |
| 14 | Frances Parkinson Keyes | 124 | 2.38% | 11.01% | 6.35% | 0 | 8 | 19 |
| 15 | Sholem Asch | 97 | 1.86% | 14.53% | 7.43% | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| 16 | H. Allen Smith | 90 | 1.74% | 9.58% | 5.45% | 0 | 8 | 13 |
| 17 | Kathleen Winsor | 86 | 1.66% | 11.01% | 6.93% | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| 18 | John P. Marquand | 82 | 1.57% | 14.53% | 6.82% | 5 | 5 | 7 |
| 19 | James Ramsey Ullman | 81 | 1.56% | 12.64% | 10.26% | 0 | 5 | 10 |
| 20 | Jo Sinclair | 80 | 1.53% | 8.34% | 4.44% | 0 | 4 | 14 |
| 21 | Rosamond Marshall | 79 | 1.53% | 7.26% | 4.63% | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 22 | Elizabeth Metzger Howard | 73 | 1.41% | 8.34% | 3.83% | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| 23 | Ruth Moore | 71 | 1.37% | 7.26% | 3.90% | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 24 | Charles Jackson | 67 | 1.30% | 11.01% | 4.49% | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| 25 | Garland Roark | 66 | 1.28% | 7.26% | 4.36% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 26 | Helen Howe | 60 | 1.16% | 8.34% | 3.44% | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| 27 | Upton Sinclair | 57 | 1.09% | 8.34% | 3.78% | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 28 | Pat Frank | 56 | 1.08% | 7.26% | 3.56% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 29 | Edmund Wilson | 51 | 0.99% | 6.32% | 2.29% | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 30 | Thomas Heggen | 51 | 0.98% | 5.50% | 2.77% | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 31 | Anya Seton | 49 | 0.94% | 6.32% | 3.40% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 32 | Robert Penn Warren | 49 | 0.94% | 7.26% | 3.62% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 33 | Sinclair Lewis | 49 | 0.94% | 9.58% | 8.57% | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 34 | Robert Wilder | 48 | 0.92% | 6.32% | 2.52% | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 35 | Christine Weston | 47 | 0.91% | 7.26% | 3.13% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 36 | Ann Bridge | 47 | 0.91% | 7.26% | 2.92% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 37 | Howard Fast | 45 | 0.87% | 9.58% | 3.33% | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 38 | Alice Tisdale Hobart | 45 | 0.86% | 7.26% | 6.73% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 39 | Arthur Koestler | 42 | 0.81% | 8.34% | 3.53% | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 40 | Max Shulman | 42 | 0.80% | 5.50% | 2.67% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 41 | James H. Street | 38 | 0.74% | 7.26% | 4.75% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 42 | Theodore Dreiser | 37 | 0.71% | 8.34% | 2.45% | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 43 | Christopher La Farge | 36 | 0.69% | 5.50% | 2.53% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 44 | Mary O'Hara | 35 | 0.68% | 9.58% | 3.19% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 45 | Ayn Rand | 35 | 0.67% | 5.50% | 3.82% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 46 | C. S. Forester | 31 | 0.60% | 8.34% | 2.58% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 47 | Marguerite Steen | 31 | 0.59% | 6.32% | 2.30% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 48 | James M. Cain | 25 | 0.49% | 4.79% | 2.02% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 49 | Pearl S. Buck | 25 | 0.48% | 9.58% | 2.04% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 50 | Sholom Aleichem | 24 | 0.46% | 5.50% | 1.63% | 0 | 0 | 8 |