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 1954
Jan 3, 1954 → Dec 26, 1954 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Morton Thompson609
- 2Daphne Du Maurier324
- 3Samuel Shellabarger235
- 4Irving Stone213
- 5Taylor Caldwell210
- 6Norah Lofts208
- 7John Steinbeck207
- 8James A. Michener202
- 9Frances Parkinson Keyes189
- 10Ernest K. Gann185
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morton Thompson | 609 | 11.71% | 14.53% | 13.80% | 24 | 43 | 49 |
| 2 | Daphne Du Maurier | 324 | 6.24% | 14.53% | 12.19% | 11 | 23 | 28 |
| 3 | Samuel Shellabarger | 235 | 4.52% | 14.53% | 11.40% | 6 | 16 | 23 |
| 4 | Irving Stone | 213 | 4.10% | 14.53% | 11.78% | 11 | 15 | 17 |
| 5 | Taylor Caldwell | 210 | 4.04% | 12.64% | 7.59% | 0 | 13 | 29 |
| 6 | Norah Lofts | 208 | 4.00% | 12.64% | 9.15% | 0 | 12 | 25 |
| 7 | John Steinbeck | 207 | 3.97% | 11.01% | 8.70% | 0 | 17 | 25 |
| 8 | James A. Michener | 202 | 3.89% | 12.64% | 9.67% | 0 | 15 | 21 |
| 9 | Frances Parkinson Keyes | 189 | 3.63% | 11.01% | 7.19% | 0 | 11 | 26 |
| 10 | Ernest K. Gann | 185 | 3.56% | 11.01% | 9.60% | 0 | 14 | 23 |
| 11 | Kenneth Dodson | 180 | 3.46% | 11.01% | 7.58% | 0 | 12 | 30 |
| 12 | Harriette Arnow | 155 | 2.99% | 9.58% | 5.51% | 0 | 2 | 30 |
| 13 | A. J. Cronin | 115 | 2.21% | 12.64% | 12.10% | 0 | 8 | 13 |
| 14 | Harnett T. Kane | 114 | 2.20% | 9.58% | 6.42% | 0 | 7 | 18 |
| 15 | Anya Seton | 110 | 2.12% | 12.64% | 7.60% | 0 | 9 | 11 |
| 16 | Davis Grubb | 106 | 2.04% | 8.34% | 5.74% | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| 17 | William Faulkner | 100 | 1.93% | 9.58% | 5.64% | 0 | 8 | 15 |
| 18 | Igor Gouzenko | 93 | 1.78% | 7.26% | 4.19% | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 19 | Philip Wylie | 90 | 1.74% | 8.34% | 4.80% | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| 20 | Paul Wellman | 88 | 1.70% | 7.26% | 4.78% | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| 21 | Frank G. Slaughter | 86 | 1.66% | 8.34% | 3.72% | 0 | 1 | 22 |
| 22 | Leon Uris | 86 | 1.65% | 8.34% | 7.11% | 0 | 1 | 19 |
| 23 | Andre Soubiran | 86 | 1.65% | 5.50% | 3.36% | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| 24 | Hamilton Basso | 82 | 1.58% | 12.64% | 6.62% | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 25 | Erich Maria Remarque | 81 | 1.56% | 7.26% | 4.00% | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 26 | Ernest Kellogg Gann | 78 | 1.51% | 9.58% | 5.53% | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| 27 | Mac Hyman | 74 | 1.42% | 9.58% | 5.38% | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| 28 | James Hilton | 67 | 1.28% | 11.01% | 9.18% | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| 29 | John Masters | 61 | 1.18% | 8.34% | 3.94% | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| 30 | Edward Streeter | 57 | 1.10% | 4.17% | 2.91% | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 31 | Charles Bracelen Flood | 54 | 1.03% | 4.79% | 2.90% | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| 32 | Esther Forbes | 52 | 0.99% | 7.26% | 3.39% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 33 | Lawrence Schoonover | 41 | 0.79% | 5.50% | 2.70% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 34 | Marcia Davenport | 40 | 0.77% | 7.26% | 3.31% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 35 | Jessamyn West | 39 | 0.76% | 5.50% | 2.47% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 36 | Margery Sharp | 37 | 0.71% | 5.50% | 2.56% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 37 | Lloyd C. Douglas | 35 | 0.68% | 8.34% | 3.20% | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 38 | Joseph Hayes | 31 | 0.60% | 4.79% | 2.05% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 39 | Pamela Frankau | 25 | 0.48% | 5.50% | 1.64% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 40 | Randall Jarrell | 23 | 0.44% | 3.16% | 1.40% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 41 | Giovannino Guareschi | 23 | 0.43% | 3.63% | 1.65% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 42 | F. Van Wyck Mason | 22 | 0.42% | 4.17% | 1.83% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 43 | Frances Gray Patton | 22 | 0.42% | 4.79% | 1.96% | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 44 | Annemarie Selinko | 22 | 0.42% | 5.50% | 9.91% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 45 | Frans G. Bengtsson | 21 | 0.40% | 4.17% | 1.61% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 46 | Alan Paton | 19 | 0.37% | 5.50% | 6.69% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 47 | Peter De Vries | 18 | 0.34% | 3.16% | 1.17% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 48 | Ben Ames Williams | 18 | 0.34% | 4.79% | 4.75% | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 49 | William March | 15 | 0.29% | 2.75% | 1.02% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 50 | Merle Miller | 14 | 0.27% | 3.63% | 1.25% | 0 | 0 | 5 |