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 1949
Jan 2, 1949 → Dec 25, 1949 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Lloyd C. Douglas509
- 2John P. Marquand400
- 3Frances Parkinson Keyes316
- 4Edward Streeter252
- 5John O'Hara213
- 6Mika Waltari210
- 7Norman Mailer193
- 8Taylor Caldwell182
- 9Irwin Shaw178
- 10Frank Yerby160
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lloyd C. Douglas | 509 | 9.79% | 14.53% | 12.69% | 14 | 34 | 51 |
| 2 | John P. Marquand | 400 | 7.70% | 14.53% | 13.61% | 22 | 26 | 34 |
| 3 | Frances Parkinson Keyes | 316 | 6.08% | 12.64% | 10.84% | 0 | 24 | 34 |
| 4 | Edward Streeter | 252 | 4.84% | 12.64% | 9.09% | 0 | 18 | 29 |
| 5 | John O'Hara | 213 | 4.09% | 14.53% | 10.39% | 6 | 16 | 17 |
| 6 | Mika Waltari | 210 | 4.03% | 14.53% | 11.67% | 9 | 15 | 16 |
| 7 | Norman Mailer | 193 | 3.72% | 9.58% | 12.09% | 0 | 13 | 30 |
| 8 | Taylor Caldwell | 182 | 3.51% | 12.64% | 8.24% | 0 | 15 | 19 |
| 9 | Irwin Shaw | 178 | 3.43% | 11.01% | 9.92% | 0 | 12 | 24 |
| 10 | Frank Yerby | 160 | 3.08% | 11.01% | 7.35% | 0 | 12 | 22 |
| 11 | F. Van Wyck Mason | 153 | 2.95% | 9.58% | 6.72% | 0 | 11 | 22 |
| 12 | Tom Lea | 150 | 2.89% | 11.01% | 6.76% | 0 | 9 | 22 |
| 13 | Thomas B. Costain | 145 | 2.80% | 11.01% | 7.40% | 0 | 11 | 18 |
| 14 | George Orwell | 139 | 2.67% | 11.01% | 6.47% | 0 | 7 | 20 |
| 15 | Marguerite Steen | 122 | 2.35% | 14.53% | 6.56% | 1 | 8 | 16 |
| 16 | Sholem Asch | 112 | 2.15% | 12.64% | 8.02% | 0 | 9 | 10 |
| 17 | Paul I. Wellman | 90 | 1.73% | 8.34% | 4.26% | 0 | 4 | 20 |
| 18 | Lajos Zilaby | 87 | 1.68% | 8.34% | 4.49% | 0 | 1 | 18 |
| 19 | Theodore Bonnet | 85 | 1.64% | 7.26% | 4.33% | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 20 | A.B. Guthrie Jr | 81 | 1.55% | 9.58% | 5.93% | 0 | 8 | 9 |
| 21 | Carl Sandburg | 72 | 1.39% | 9.58% | 7.30% | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| 22 | Arthur Meeker | 67 | 1.29% | 7.26% | 4.21% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 23 | Philip Wylie | 67 | 1.29% | 6.32% | 3.57% | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 24 | Nelson Algren | 63 | 1.20% | 6.32% | 3.83% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 25 | Pearl S. Buck | 62 | 1.20% | 7.26% | 3.64% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 26 | Anya Seton | 58 | 1.11% | 6.32% | 3.37% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 27 | Esther Forbes | 51 | 0.98% | 7.26% | 5.81% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 28 | Mazo de la Roche | 50 | 0.96% | 6.32% | 3.34% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 29 | Dodie Smith | 50 | 0.96% | 6.32% | 3.70% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 30 | Frances Gaither | 45 | 0.87% | 6.32% | 2.81% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 31 | James A. Michener | 44 | 0.84% | 5.50% | 2.25% | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 32 | Henry Green | 43 | 0.83% | 7.26% | 3.46% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 33 | Walter Van Tilburg Clark | 42 | 0.81% | 6.32% | 3.24% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 34 | Alberto Moravia | 32 | 0.61% | 8.34% | 2.92% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 35 | Elizabeth Bowen | 31 | 0.59% | 6.32% | 2.07% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 36 | Robert Standish | 31 | 0.59% | 5.50% | 2.38% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 37 | Sinclair Lewis | 28 | 0.55% | 4.17% | 1.95% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 38 | W. Somerset Maugham | 27 | 0.52% | 6.32% | 3.68% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 39 | John Horne Burns | 27 | 0.52% | 4.79% | 1.82% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 40 | Irving Stone | 26 | 0.49% | 4.79% | 1.91% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 41 | Inglis Clark Fletcher | 25 | 0.47% | 5.50% | 2.92% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 42 | Upton Sinclair | 24 | 0.46% | 5.50% | 1.85% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 43 | R. C. Hutchinson | 24 | 0.46% | 5.50% | 1.97% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 44 | Gladys Hasty Carroll | 22 | 0.43% | 4.17% | 1.64% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 45 | John Dos Passos | 20 | 0.39% | 5.50% | 1.63% | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 46 | Harold Robbins | 19 | 0.37% | 4.17% | 1.52% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 47 | Helen MacInnes | 19 | 0.37% | 3.63% | 1.51% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 48 | George Howe | 19 | 0.37% | 5.50% | 1.53% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 49 | Fred Gipson | 19 | 0.36% | 3.16% | 1.16% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 50 | Thomas Mann | 18 | 0.34% | 4.79% | 2.23% | 0 | 0 | 6 |