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 1947
Jan 5, 1947 → Dec 28, 1947 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Laura Z. Hobson393
- 2Russell Janney338
- 3Kenneth Roberts299
- 4Thomas B. Costain285
- 5Frank Yerby231
- 6Samuel Shellanbarger215
- 7Sinclair Lewis193
- 8Willard Motley190
- 9Ben Ames Williams186
- 10John P. Marquand178
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laura Z. Hobson | 393 | 7.55% | 14.53% | 12.67% | 14 | 30 | 36 |
| 2 | Russell Janney | 338 | 6.50% | 12.64% | 10.42% | 0 | 25 | 41 |
| 3 | Kenneth Roberts | 299 | 5.76% | 14.53% | 11.62% | 12 | 19 | 29 |
| 4 | Thomas B. Costain | 285 | 5.49% | 14.53% | 11.82% | 12 | 22 | 22 |
| 5 | Frank Yerby | 231 | 4.44% | 12.64% | 8.68% | 0 | 14 | 31 |
| 6 | Samuel Shellanbarger | 215 | 4.13% | 12.64% | 9.61% | 0 | 14 | 22 |
| 7 | Sinclair Lewis | 193 | 3.71% | 14.53% | 8.78% | 2 | 15 | 20 |
| 8 | Willard Motley | 190 | 3.65% | 8.34% | 6.61% | 0 | 9 | 31 |
| 9 | Ben Ames Williams | 186 | 3.57% | 14.53% | 11.10% | 8 | 14 | 14 |
| 10 | John P. Marquand | 178 | 3.42% | 14.53% | 11.16% | 4 | 12 | 18 |
| 11 | John Steinbeck | 169 | 3.26% | 12.64% | 8.56% | 0 | 11 | 20 |
| 12 | Sholem Asch | 162 | 3.11% | 12.64% | 9.57% | 0 | 10 | 20 |
| 13 | A.B. Guthrie Jr | 115 | 2.22% | 9.58% | 5.37% | 0 | 5 | 20 |
| 14 | Taylor Caldwell | 114 | 2.20% | 11.01% | 9.24% | 0 | 7 | 19 |
| 15 | Pearl S. Buck | 105 | 2.01% | 9.58% | 6.22% | 0 | 8 | 15 |
| 16 | Paul I. Wellman | 104 | 2.00% | 9.58% | 5.46% | 0 | 8 | 16 |
| 17 | Lion Feuchtwanger | 96 | 1.84% | 11.01% | 5.78% | 0 | 5 | 13 |
| 18 | Marcia Davenport | 90 | 1.73% | 12.64% | 7.05% | 0 | 7 | 8 |
| 19 | Pat Frank | 89 | 1.71% | 5.50% | 4.40% | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 20 | Norman Collins | 84 | 1.61% | 7.26% | 4.03% | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 21 | Thomas W. Duncan | 72 | 1.39% | 9.58% | 4.50% | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| 22 | Benedict Freedman | 71 | 1.37% | 4.17% | 2.83% | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| 23 | Nancy Freedman | 71 | 1.37% | 4.17% | 2.83% | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| 24 | Ludwig Bemelmans | 70 | 1.34% | 9.58% | 4.26% | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 25 | Nevil Shute | 68 | 1.31% | 7.26% | 3.56% | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| 26 | Frances Parkinson Keyes | 66 | 1.27% | 11.01% | 5.43% | 0 | 6 | 7 |
| 27 | Peter Bourne | 63 | 1.22% | 8.34% | 3.91% | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 28 | Nancy Wilson Ross | 62 | 1.20% | 5.50% | 3.18% | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 29 | James Hilton | 61 | 1.18% | 9.58% | 4.77% | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 30 | Natalie Anderson Scott | 59 | 1.14% | 8.34% | 3.89% | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| 31 | Gerald Warner Brace | 57 | 1.10% | 7.26% | 3.60% | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 32 | Mary O'Hara | 52 | 1.01% | 8.34% | 5.05% | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 33 | Arthur Koestler | 52 | 1.00% | 6.32% | 4.74% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 34 | Upton Sinclair | 45 | 0.87% | 6.32% | 3.14% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 35 | W Somerset Maughan | 35 | 0.67% | 6.32% | 2.67% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 36 | Odell Shepard | 31 | 0.59% | 4.17% | 2.41% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 37 | Willard Shepard | 31 | 0.59% | 4.17% | 2.41% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 38 | Thomas Heggen | 30 | 0.57% | 5.50% | 3.33% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 39 | Maurice Samuel | 28 | 0.54% | 4.79% | 1.96% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 40 | Budd Schulberg | 28 | 0.54% | 4.79% | 2.08% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 41 | Irving Stone | 28 | 0.54% | 6.32% | 2.10% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 42 | Idwal Jones | 27 | 0.52% | 4.17% | 1.96% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 43 | Stuart David Engstrand | 26 | 0.50% | 4.79% | 1.63% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 44 | Pierre Andrezel | 26 | 0.49% | 5.50% | 2.14% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 45 | Eric Hodgins | 25 | 0.48% | 4.79% | 1.62% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 46 | Mildred Walker | 21 | 0.41% | 3.63% | 1.44% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 47 | Malcolm Lowry | 21 | 0.40% | 4.17% | 1.50% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 48 | Bruce Lancaster | 19 | 0.37% | 4.17% | 1.48% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 49 | Arthemise Goertz | 19 | 0.36% | 4.17% | 1.52% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 50 | Inglis Fletcher | 17 | 0.33% | 3.63% | 1.90% | 0 | 0 | 6 |