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 1948
Jan 4, 1948 → Dec 26, 1948 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Norman Mailer410
- 2Ross Lockridge301
- 3Ben Ames Williams244
- 4Elizabeth Goudge235
- 5F. Van Wyck Mason212
- 6A. J. Cronin197
- 7Marcia Davenport195
- 8Agnes Sligh Turnbull184
- 9Frances Parkinson Keyes180
- 10Frank Yerby180
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norman Mailer | 410 | 7.89% | 14.53% | 13.33% | 19 | 30 | 32 |
| 2 | Ross Lockridge | 301 | 5.79% | 14.53% | 11.46% | 4 | 23 | 29 |
| 3 | Ben Ames Williams | 244 | 4.69% | 14.53% | 13.01% | 7 | 18 | 26 |
| 4 | Elizabeth Goudge | 235 | 4.51% | 14.53% | 10.13% | 4 | 16 | 24 |
| 5 | F. Van Wyck Mason | 212 | 4.08% | 14.53% | 9.26% | 5 | 13 | 23 |
| 6 | A. J. Cronin | 197 | 3.79% | 14.53% | 8.90% | 3 | 13 | 21 |
| 7 | Marcia Davenport | 195 | 3.74% | 14.53% | 11.02% | 2 | 14 | 20 |
| 8 | Agnes Sligh Turnbull | 184 | 3.53% | 8.34% | 6.43% | 0 | 7 | 32 |
| 9 | Frances Parkinson Keyes | 180 | 3.46% | 11.01% | 8.38% | 0 | 13 | 25 |
| 10 | Frank Yerby | 180 | 3.46% | 12.64% | 8.04% | 0 | 12 | 24 |
| 11 | Thornton Wilder | 157 | 3.02% | 14.53% | 8.39% | 2 | 12 | 17 |
| 12 | Betty Smith | 155 | 2.97% | 12.64% | 8.10% | 0 | 12 | 17 |
| 13 | Evelyn Waugh | 152 | 2.93% | 12.64% | 7.77% | 0 | 13 | 17 |
| 14 | Taylor Caldwell | 128 | 2.46% | 11.01% | 6.45% | 0 | 9 | 17 |
| 15 | Irwin Shaw | 125 | 2.41% | 14.53% | 8.84% | 4 | 10 | 10 |
| 16 | Hervey Allen | 108 | 2.09% | 11.01% | 6.06% | 0 | 7 | 15 |
| 17 | Graham Greene | 103 | 1.97% | 11.01% | 5.66% | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| 18 | Pearl S. Buck | 96 | 1.85% | 11.01% | 5.45% | 0 | 5 | 14 |
| 19 | Carl Sandburg | 93 | 1.79% | 11.01% | 6.52% | 0 | 8 | 10 |
| 20 | Henry Bellamann | 77 | 1.48% | 11.01% | 4.92% | 0 | 4 | 12 |
| 21 | Esther Forbes | 75 | 1.44% | 9.58% | 5.12% | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| 22 | Thomas B. Costain | 63 | 1.20% | 9.58% | 10.88% | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| 23 | Mary Roberts Rinehart | 62 | 1.20% | 8.34% | 3.81% | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 24 | Guy McCrone | 60 | 1.16% | 7.26% | 3.44% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 25 | Lloyd C. Douglas | 58 | 1.11% | 14.53% | 5.26% | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| 26 | Margery Sharp | 55 | 1.07% | 8.34% | 3.58% | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| 27 | Alice Tisdale Hobart | 52 | 1.00% | 5.50% | 2.91% | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 28 | Gerald Warner Brace | 52 | 1.00% | 8.34% | 4.94% | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| 29 | Nelia Gardner White | 47 | 0.91% | 4.79% | 2.67% | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 30 | Ellin Berlin | 46 | 0.89% | 6.32% | 3.02% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 31 | Hiram Haydn | 45 | 0.87% | 6.32% | 2.87% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 32 | Stefan Heym | 45 | 0.86% | 7.26% | 3.19% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 33 | Robert Wilder | 41 | 0.80% | 6.32% | 2.40% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 34 | Martin Boyd | 40 | 0.77% | 7.26% | 2.87% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 35 | Neil H. Swanson | 39 | 0.75% | 6.32% | 3.07% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 36 | Alan Paton | 37 | 0.72% | 3.63% | 1.85% | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 37 | W. Somerset Maugham | 36 | 0.69% | 6.32% | 2.92% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 38 | George R. Stewart | 36 | 0.69% | 5.50% | 2.27% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 39 | Hollister Noble | 34 | 0.65% | 6.32% | 2.17% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 40 | Albert Camus | 32 | 0.62% | 5.50% | 2.20% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 41 | Truman Capote | 32 | 0.61% | 6.32% | 2.10% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 42 | Willa Cather | 32 | 0.61% | 5.50% | 2.33% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 43 | Mildred Jordan | 32 | 0.61% | 4.79% | 2.38% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 44 | Willard Motley | 31 | 0.60% | 6.32% | 5.17% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 45 | Dodie Smith | 31 | 0.60% | 6.32% | 2.62% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 46 | Merle Miller | 31 | 0.60% | 6.32% | 2.10% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 47 | James Hilton | 30 | 0.57% | 8.34% | 5.33% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 48 | Baynard Kendrick | 29 | 0.56% | 5.50% | 2.22% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 49 | Zoe Oldenbourg | 29 | 0.55% | 6.32% | 2.26% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 50 | Dalton S. Reymond | 28 | 0.55% | 4.79% | 2.20% | 0 | 0 | 8 |