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 1955
Jan 2, 1955 → Dec 25, 1955 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Francoise Sagan411
- 2Patrick Dennis391
- 3Mac Hyman383
- 4Robert Ruark340
- 5Hamilton Basso313
- 6John Phillips Marquand256
- 7Irving Stone211
- 8Herman Wouk209
- 9Sloan Wilson203
- 10Anya Seton145
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Francoise Sagan | 411 | 7.91% | 14.53% | 12.82% | 12 | 30 | 38 |
| 2 | Patrick Dennis | 391 | 7.51% | 14.53% | 12.17% | 5 | 27 | 41 |
| 3 | Mac Hyman | 383 | 7.36% | 12.64% | 10.25% | 0 | 32 | 47 |
| 4 | Robert Ruark | 340 | 6.53% | 14.53% | 10.82% | 2 | 27 | 34 |
| 5 | Hamilton Basso | 313 | 6.01% | 14.53% | 12.96% | 14 | 19 | 32 |
| 6 | John Phillips Marquand | 256 | 4.92% | 14.53% | 10.31% | 6 | 18 | 25 |
| 7 | Irving Stone | 211 | 4.05% | 12.64% | 12.29% | 0 | 15 | 22 |
| 8 | Herman Wouk | 209 | 4.01% | 14.53% | 11.76% | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 9 | Sloan Wilson | 203 | 3.91% | 11.01% | 8.98% | 0 | 18 | 22 |
| 10 | Anya Seton | 145 | 2.79% | 9.58% | 9.03% | 0 | 12 | 18 |
| 11 | Morton Thompson | 140 | 2.69% | 7.26% | 8.99% | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| 12 | C. S. Forester | 130 | 2.49% | 9.58% | 6.54% | 0 | 10 | 18 |
| 13 | Clemence Dane | 112 | 2.16% | 9.58% | 5.88% | 0 | 8 | 17 |
| 14 | Don M. Mankiewicz | 99 | 1.91% | 8.34% | 5.36% | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| 15 | Thomas B. Costain | 98 | 1.89% | 11.01% | 6.24% | 0 | 8 | 12 |
| 16 | Edward L. Beach | 98 | 1.88% | 7.26% | 4.69% | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| 17 | Marguerite Yourcenar | 93 | 1.79% | 7.26% | 5.19% | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 18 | Gretchen Finletter | 84 | 1.61% | 7.26% | 4.32% | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| 19 | Robert Penn Warren | 83 | 1.59% | 8.34% | 4.49% | 0 | 1 | 15 |
| 20 | Ernest Kellogg Gann | 80 | 1.54% | 8.34% | 6.82% | 0 | 5 | 15 |
| 21 | MacKinlay Kantor | 76 | 1.47% | 12.64% | 6.24% | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 22 | Paul Hyde Bonner | 71 | 1.37% | 8.34% | 4.46% | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 23 | Marcia Davenport | 68 | 1.31% | 7.26% | 5.02% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 24 | Frank G. Slaughter | 60 | 1.16% | 7.26% | 3.51% | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 25 | Norman Mailer | 56 | 1.08% | 7.26% | 4.00% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 26 | Nevil Shute | 56 | 1.07% | 5.50% | 3.30% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 27 | Frances Gray Patton | 52 | 1.00% | 6.32% | 3.53% | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 28 | Lionel Shapiro | 52 | 1.00% | 6.32% | 3.39% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 29 | Robert Wilder | 51 | 0.98% | 4.79% | 2.56% | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 30 | Samuel Hopkins Adams | 51 | 0.97% | 6.32% | 2.92% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 31 | Helen MacInnes | 50 | 0.97% | 6.32% | 3.33% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 32 | Inglis Clark Fletcher | 48 | 0.93% | 4.17% | 2.80% | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 33 | Frank Yerby | 44 | 0.84% | 4.79% | 2.75% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 34 | Cameron Hawley | 39 | 0.75% | 9.58% | 3.52% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 35 | Thomas Mann | 34 | 0.66% | 5.50% | 2.46% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 36 | Theodore Bonnet | 33 | 0.64% | 3.63% | 2.17% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 37 | Howard Spring | 31 | 0.60% | 4.79% | 2.15% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 38 | Zoe Oldenbourg | 29 | 0.56% | 4.17% | 2.07% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 39 | Laurens Van Der Post | 29 | 0.56% | 4.79% | 1.82% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 40 | Harnett T. Kane | 28 | 0.54% | 4.79% | 2.20% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 41 | Evelyn Waugh | 27 | 0.51% | 4.79% | 2.02% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 42 | Alice Tisdale Hobart | 24 | 0.47% | 3.63% | 1.71% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 43 | Harold Robbins | 23 | 0.43% | 3.16% | 1.49% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 44 | F. Van Wyck Mason | 21 | 0.41% | 3.63% | 2.40% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 45 | Daphne Du Maurier | 20 | 0.38% | 4.17% | 9.21% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 46 | Thyra Ferre Bjorn | 20 | 0.38% | 3.63% | 1.30% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 47 | Mary McCarthy | 19 | 0.37% | 4.79% | 1.72% | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 48 | Al Morgan | 19 | 0.36% | 4.17% | 1.53% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 49 | Anthony West | 18 | 0.35% | 3.63% | 1.37% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 50 | John O'Hara | 16 | 0.31% | 6.32% | 1.62% | 0 | 0 | 3 |