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 1953
Jan 4, 1953 → Dec 27, 1953 · 51 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Annemarie Selinko604
- 2Thomas B. Costain419
- 3Leon Uris299
- 4Ernest K. Gann268
- 5A. J. Cronin251
- 6John Steinbeck227
- 7Frances Parkinson Keyes224
- 8Francis Van Wyck Mason187
- 9Herman Wouk180
- 10James Hilton156
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Annemarie Selinko | 604 | 11.84% | 14.53% | 14.23% | 32 | 43 | 47 |
| 2 | Thomas B. Costain | 419 | 8.21% | 14.53% | 13.26% | 7 | 29 | 42 |
| 3 | Leon Uris | 299 | 5.86% | 12.64% | 10.60% | 0 | 19 | 32 |
| 4 | Ernest K. Gann | 268 | 5.25% | 11.01% | 8.58% | 0 | 21 | 33 |
| 5 | A. J. Cronin | 251 | 4.93% | 14.53% | 11.77% | 6 | 19 | 21 |
| 6 | John Steinbeck | 227 | 4.45% | 14.53% | 12.18% | 2 | 16 | 26 |
| 7 | Frances Parkinson Keyes | 224 | 4.40% | 11.01% | 9.21% | 0 | 18 | 29 |
| 8 | Francis Van Wyck Mason | 187 | 3.66% | 11.01% | 8.34% | 0 | 12 | 26 |
| 9 | Herman Wouk | 180 | 3.52% | 8.34% | 10.10% | 0 | 6 | 34 |
| 10 | James Hilton | 156 | 3.05% | 12.64% | 8.69% | 0 | 14 | 16 |
| 11 | Daphne Du Maurier | 143 | 2.80% | 9.58% | 6.36% | 0 | 8 | 24 |
| 12 | Alan Paton | 138 | 2.70% | 12.64% | 7.57% | 0 | 10 | 16 |
| 13 | Mika Waltari | 138 | 2.70% | 11.01% | 6.94% | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| 14 | Edna Ferber | 109 | 2.13% | 11.01% | 9.02% | 0 | 8 | 15 |
| 15 | Ben Ames Williams | 95 | 1.87% | 8.34% | 5.34% | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| 16 | Rumer Godden | 85 | 1.66% | 8.34% | 4.52% | 0 | 2 | 17 |
| 17 | Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings | 82 | 1.60% | 8.34% | 4.21% | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| 18 | Samuel Shellabarger | 80 | 1.57% | 14.53% | 6.80% | 4 | 5 | 7 |
| 19 | F.W. Kenyon | 78 | 1.53% | 7.26% | 4.46% | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 20 | John Phillips | 74 | 1.45% | 8.34% | 4.69% | 0 | 3 | 12 |
| 21 | Jay Richard Kennedy | 73 | 1.43% | 9.58% | 4.47% | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| 22 | James A. Michener | 71 | 1.39% | 8.34% | 4.16% | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 23 | Paul Hyde Bonner | 64 | 1.25% | 8.34% | 3.73% | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 24 | Rosamond Lehmann | 64 | 1.25% | 8.34% | 3.99% | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| 25 | Tom Lea | 53 | 1.04% | 7.26% | 4.60% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 26 | Harnett T. Kane | 50 | 0.98% | 8.34% | 3.74% | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 27 | Pearl S. Buck | 48 | 0.94% | 6.32% | 3.05% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 28 | James Street | 48 | 0.93% | 5.50% | 2.88% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 29 | Paul Wellman | 47 | 0.93% | 5.50% | 3.35% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 30 | Ernest Hemingway | 46 | 0.91% | 6.32% | 6.53% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 31 | Cameron Hawley | 44 | 0.87% | 4.17% | 2.38% | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 32 | J.D. Salinger | 42 | 0.82% | 4.79% | 2.12% | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 33 | Saul Bellow | 42 | 0.82% | 5.50% | 2.87% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 34 | Frank G. Slaughter | 41 | 0.80% | 4.17% | 2.61% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 35 | Nevil Shute | 38 | 0.75% | 4.17% | 2.16% | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 36 | Frank Yerby | 34 | 0.67% | 4.79% | 2.28% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 37 | Nikos Kazantzakis | 30 | 0.58% | 5.50% | 1.94% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 38 | Inglis Clark Fletcher | 27 | 0.53% | 5.50% | 3.25% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 39 | Giovannino Guareschi | 25 | 0.50% | 5.50% | 4.29% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 40 | Lloyd C. Douglas | 24 | 0.47% | 3.63% | 1.80% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 41 | Elizabeth Goudge | 22 | 0.44% | 3.16% | 1.61% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 42 | Storm Jameson | 21 | 0.41% | 4.17% | 1.60% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 43 | Madison Cooper | 19 | 0.38% | 5.50% | 3.42% | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 44 | Rita Vercors | 18 | 0.36% | 4.17% | 1.60% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 45 | Helen MacInnes | 18 | 0.35% | 4.79% | 1.34% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 46 | Pamela Frankau | 18 | 0.34% | 4.17% | 1.47% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 47 | Robert Carson | 18 | 0.34% | 4.17% | 1.35% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 48 | Oakley Hall | 17 | 0.33% | 4.17% | 1.25% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 49 | William E. Barrett | 15 | 0.29% | 4.17% | 1.38% | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 50 | Theodore Morrison | 15 | 0.29% | 3.63% | 1.20% | 0 | 0 | 5 |