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 1980
Jan 6, 1980 → Dec 28, 1980 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Robert Ludlum367
- 2Judith Krantz358
- 3Ken Follett300
- 4Sidney Sheldon285
- 5Stephen King278
- 6Frederick Forsyth252
- 7Belva Plain244
- 8Cynthia Freeman234
- 9John le Carré226
- 10Jeffrey Archer167
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Ludlum | 367 | 7.06% | 14.53% | 12.85% | 16 | 26 | 33 |
| 2 | Judith Krantz | 358 | 6.89% | 14.53% | 11.62% | 5 | 25 | 36 |
| 3 | Ken Follett | 300 | 5.78% | 14.53% | 10.06% | 2 | 22 | 31 |
| 4 | Sidney Sheldon | 285 | 5.48% | 14.53% | 11.23% | 11 | 21 | 27 |
| 5 | Stephen King | 278 | 5.34% | 14.53% | 10.19% | 3 | 19 | 34 |
| 6 | Frederick Forsyth | 252 | 4.86% | 12.64% | 9.30% | 0 | 20 | 29 |
| 7 | Belva Plain | 244 | 4.69% | 12.64% | 9.97% | 0 | 19 | 28 |
| 8 | Cynthia Freeman | 234 | 4.51% | 11.01% | 6.75% | 0 | 17 | 37 |
| 9 | John le Carré | 226 | 4.35% | 14.53% | 9.20% | 4 | 17 | 26 |
| 10 | Jeffrey Archer | 167 | 3.20% | 9.58% | 6.12% | 0 | 5 | 29 |
| 11 | James A. Michener | 136 | 2.62% | 14.53% | 9.60% | 9 | 9 | 10 |
| 12 | Kurt Vonnegut | 119 | 2.28% | 14.53% | 11.48% | 2 | 6 | 16 |
| 13 | Eric Van Lustbader | 117 | 2.26% | 9.58% | 5.12% | 0 | 4 | 22 |
| 14 | Helen Van Slyke | 109 | 2.10% | 11.01% | 5.73% | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| 15 | Harold Robbins | 98 | 1.88% | 9.58% | 5.63% | 0 | 3 | 17 |
| 16 | E. L. Doctorow | 97 | 1.86% | 9.58% | 5.98% | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| 17 | Irving Stone | 97 | 1.86% | 9.58% | 4.44% | 0 | 5 | 18 |
| 18 | Susan Howatch | 93 | 1.79% | 9.58% | 5.19% | 0 | 6 | 17 |
| 19 | William Styron | 91 | 1.75% | 7.26% | 7.16% | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| 20 | Marilyn French | 86 | 1.65% | 9.58% | 4.57% | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| 21 | P.D. James | 81 | 1.55% | 11.01% | 4.26% | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| 22 | Arnaud de Borchgrave | 78 | 1.51% | 6.32% | 3.86% | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| 23 | Robert Moss | 78 | 1.51% | 6.32% | 3.86% | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| 24 | Lawrence Sanders | 76 | 1.46% | 8.34% | 4.44% | 0 | 4 | 14 |
| 25 | William F. Buckley Jr | 70 | 1.35% | 7.26% | 3.94% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 26 | Erica Jong | 70 | 1.35% | 11.01% | 4.20% | 0 | 5 | 12 |
| 27 | Howard Fast | 68 | 1.31% | 9.58% | 9.52% | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| 28 | Irwin Shaw | 67 | 1.29% | 6.32% | 4.12% | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 29 | Dominique Lapierre | 67 | 1.29% | 5.50% | 3.41% | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 30 | Larry Collins | 67 | 1.29% | 5.50% | 3.41% | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 31 | Norman Mailler | 65 | 1.25% | 11.01% | 5.62% | 0 | 2 | 15 |
| 32 | Mary Stewart | 43 | 0.82% | 9.58% | 8.38% | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 33 | Dee Brown | 38 | 0.73% | 4.79% | 2.42% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 34 | Jean M. Auel | 38 | 0.73% | 4.79% | 2.54% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 35 | Irving Wallace | 37 | 0.72% | 5.50% | 2.56% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 36 | J.R.R. Tolkien | 37 | 0.72% | 11.01% | 3.38% | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 37 | Wilbur Smith | 35 | 0.67% | 6.32% | 2.23% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 38 | General Sir John Hackett | 26 | 0.51% | 4.17% | 3.20% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 39 | Walker Percy | 26 | 0.50% | 4.17% | 1.99% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 40 | William Martin | 23 | 0.43% | 3.63% | 1.51% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 41 | Jack Higgins | 22 | 0.42% | 4.79% | 1.85% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 42 | Joyce Carol Oates | 22 | 0.42% | 3.63% | 1.66% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 43 | Helen MacInnes | 21 | 0.41% | 6.32% | 1.86% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 44 | Mary Higgins Clark | 18 | 0.34% | 4.17% | 1.26% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 45 | Danielle Steel | 17 | 0.33% | 3.63% | 1.33% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 46 | Erich Segal | 16 | 0.30% | 4.17% | 1.35% | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 47 | Garson Kanin | 15 | 0.28% | 3.63% | 1.20% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 48 | Michael M. Thomas | 14 | 0.27% | 2.75% | 1.16% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 49 | John D. MacDonald | 13 | 0.25% | 3.63% | 4.17% | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 50 | Graham Greene | 13 | 0.24% | 3.63% | 1.16% | 0 | 0 | 4 |