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.

Years Decades

Strongest five-year period

Dan Brown

2,134

Peak Five Years · best rolling 260-week Power Share total

Most weeks at #1

John Grisham

193 weeks

Weeks ranked first among authors

Largest peak Power Share

J. K. Rowling

31.04%

Dominance · highest single-week Power Share

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

Leader per period
Period	Most powerful author	Average share	Era Power	Weeks at #1	Peak share	Runner-up	Distinct #1s	Weeks
1931	John Galsworthy	12.45%	87	6	14.53%	A. A. Milne	2	7
1932	Charles Morgan	4.71%	245	10	14.53%	Pearl S. Buck	16	52
1933	Hervey Allen	7.26%	378	26	14.53%	Sinclair Lewis	9	52
1934	Hervey Allen	9.18%	486	7	14.53%	James Hilton	11	53
1935	Lloyd C. Douglas	6.46%	336	3	14.91%	Thomas Wolfe	13	52
1936	Margaret Mitchell	7.14%	371	25	14.53%	George Santayana	8	52
1937	Margaret Mitchell	7.35%	382	8	14.53%	Kenneth Roberts	7	52
1938	A. J. Cronin	9.88%	514	16	14.53%	Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings	7	52
1939	John Steinbeck	8.81%	458	24	14.53%	Rachel Field	8	52
1940	Richard Llewellyn	8.39%	445	13	14.53%	Jan Struther	10	53
1941	James Hilton	6.87%	357	10	14.53%	Eric Knight	7	52
1942	Franz Werfel	7.69%	400	14	14.53%	Pearl S. Buck	10	52
1943	Lloyd C. Douglas	13.18%	685	31	14.53%	Marcia Davenport	4	52
1944	Lillian Smith	8.10%	429	22	14.53%	Betty Smith	7	53
1945	Samuel Shellaburger	7.11%	370	4	14.53%	A. J. Cronin	8	52
1946	Taylor Caldwell	8.33%	433	9	14.53%	Frederic Wakeman	7	52
1947	Laura Z. Hobson	7.55%	393	14	14.53%	Russell Janney	6	52
1948	Norman Mailer	7.89%	410	19	14.53%	Ross Lockridge	10	52
1949	Lloyd C. Douglas	9.79%	509	14	14.53%	John P. Marquand	5	52
1950	Henry Morton Robinson	9.88%	523	24	14.63%	Mika Waltari	6	53
1951	James Jones	9.86%	513	20	14.53%	Herman Wouk	4	52
1952	Herman Wouk	12.91%	671	27	14.53%	Daphne Du Maurier	4	52
1953	Annemarie Selinko	11.84%	604	32	14.53%	Thomas B. Costain	5	51
1954	Morton Thompson	11.71%	609	24	14.53%	Daphne Du Maurier	4	52
1955	Francoise Sagan	7.91%	411	12	14.53%	Patrick Dennis	6	52
1956	Edwin O'Connor	10.34%	548	20	14.53%	MacKinlay Kantor	4	53
1957	Grace Metalious	11.97%	622	23	14.53%	Meyer Levin	3	52
1958	Robert Traver	11.83%	592	29	14.53%	Anya Seton	4	50
1959	Leon Uris	12.72%	662	20	14.53%	Boris Pasternak	3	52
1960	James A. Michener	13.95%	725	37	14.53%	Allen Drury	2	52
1961	Harper Lee	10.99%	582	0	12.64%	Irving Stone	4	53
1962	Katherine Anne Porter	9.18%	468	26	14.53%	J.D. Salinger	3	51
1963	Morris L. West	7.46%	380	14	14.53%	John O'Hara	6	51
1964	John le Carré	12.16%	632	34	14.53%	Mary McCarthy	4	52
1965	Bel Kaufman	9.87%	493	8	14.53%	James Michener	3	50
1966	Jacqueline Susann	10.58%	550	28	14.53%	James Michener	3	52
1967	Elia Kazan	9.83%	521	23	14.53%	Robert Crichton	7	53
1968	Arthur Hailey	10.36%	539	30	14.53%	John Updike	5	52
1969	Mario Puzo	9.63%	501	15	14.53%	Philip Roth	4	52
1970	Erich Segal	11.34%	590	34	14.53%	John Fowles	3	52
1971	Leon Uris	7.80%	406	9	14.53%	Irving Stone	6	52
1972	Herman Wouk	12.33%	653	21	14.53%	Richard Bach	4	53
1973	Frederick Forsyth	8.09%	421	6	14.53%	Jacqueline Susann	7	52
1974	Peter Benchley	8.09%	421	0	12.64%	Gore Vidal	4	52
1975	James Michener	9.09%	473	16	14.53%	Arthur Hailey	6	52
1976	Leon Uris	10.32%	536	22	14.53%	Agatha Christie	3	52
1977	Paul E. Erdman	8.26%	430	0	12.64%	Colleen McCullough	5	52
1978	J.R.R. Tolkien	8.86%	354	10	14.53%	Sidney Sheldon	7	40
1979	Robert Ludlum	7.73%	402	14	14.53%	Herman Wouk	11	52
1980	Robert Ludlum	7.06%	367	16	14.53%	Judith Krantz	8	52
1981	James Clavell	7.88%	410	15	14.53%	Stephen King	6	52
1982	Robert Ludlum	7.53%	392	16	14.53%	John Jakes	9	52
1983	James A. Michener	8.86%	461	20	14.69%	Stephen King	6	52
1984	Robert Ludlum	6.67%	354	13	14.53%	Stephen King	9	53
1985	Stephen King	6.35%	330	10	14.53%	Sidney Sheldon	12	52
1986	Robert Ludlum	5.89%	306	8	14.53%	Jean M. Auel	11	52
1987	Stephen King	12.38%	644	23	22.57%	Tom Clancy	5	52
1988	Tom Wolfe	8.77%	456	8	14.53%	Tom Clancy	8	52
1989	Tom Clancy	6.96%	369	9	14.53%	Danielle Steel	9	53
1990	Stephen King	9.37%	487	13	19.76%	Dr. Seuss	10	52
1991	John Grisham	7.10%	369	0	12.64%	Danielle Steel	11	52
1992	John Grisham	9.43%	491	12	14.53%	Stephen King	10	52
1993	Robert James Waller	15.26%	794	42	24.03%	John Grisham	6	52
1994	Robert James Waller	11.04%	574	16	23.82%	James Redfield	9	52
1995	James Redfield	9.54%	506	7	14.90%	James Finn Garner	12	53
1996	James Redfield	8.89%	462	5	18.61%	Danielle Steel	14	52
1997	Danielle Steel	6.68%	348	3	14.53%	John Grisham	9	52
1998	Danielle Steel	5.54%	288	3	14.53%	Charles Frazier	13	52
1999	J. K. Rowling	15.83%	823	26	31.04%	Stephen King	9	52
2000	J. K. Rowling	13.01%	690	28	30.78%	Danielle Steel	10	53
2001	James Patterson	6.67%	347	6	14.53%	John Grisham	18	52
2002	John Grisham	6.81%	347	8	17.94%	Alice Sebold	17	51
2003	Dan Brown	9.81%	510	21	14.78%	John Grisham	15	52
2004	Dan Brown	16.97%	882	42	21.49%	Mitch Albom	7	52
2005	Dan Brown	9.76%	498	9	14.53%	Nicholas Sparks	21	51
2006	James Patterson	6.42%	334	5	14.53%	Dan Brown	21	52
2007	Khaled Hosseini	6.72%	350	16	14.60%	James Patterson	18	52
2008	Stephenie Meyer	4.64%	241	2	14.53%	James Patterson	30	52
2009	James Patterson	4.70%	245	2	14.53%	Kathryn Stockett	31	52
2010	Kathryn Stockett	9.32%	485	8	14.53%	Stieg Larsson	25	52
2011	James Patterson	5.09%	265	1	16.22%	Stieg Larsson	29	52
2012	Gillian Flynn	5.98%	317	9	14.53%	John Grisham	28	53
2013	Gillian Flynn	6.23%	324	5	14.53%	Dan Brown	28	52
2014	Donna Tartt	8.03%	417	5	14.63%	James Patterson	30	52
2015	Anthony Doerr	10.31%	526	3	14.53%	Paula Hawkins	17	51
2016	Anthony Doerr	5.63%	287	2	14.53%	Paula Hawkins	30	51
2017	John Grisham	7.68%	407	11	14.53%	James Patterson	28	53
2018	James Patterson	5.73%	298	2	12.64%	Stephen King	31	52
2019	Delia Owens	13.24%	662	32	14.63%	James Patterson	14	50
2020	Delia Owens	10.93%	568	25	14.63%	John Grisham	18	52
2021	Matt Haig	6.49%	338	0	12.64%	John Grisham	27	52
2022	John Grisham	6.12%	318	8	14.69%	Matt Haig	30	52
2023	Bonnie Garmus	11.07%	587	13	14.53%	Rebecca Yarros	16	53
2024	Rebecca Yarros	13.65%	710	20	23.82%	Kristin Hannah	19	52
2025	Rebecca Yarros	11.26%	586	18	30.78%	Percival Everett	23	52
2026	Virginia Evans	10.32%	392	8	14.93%	Matt Dinniman	21	38

Leaders in 1981

Jan 4, 1981 → Dec 27, 1981 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).

Era Power Average share Peak share Peak smoothed Weeks at #1 Top-five weeks Weeks charting

Leaders in range
#	Author	Era Power	Average share	Peak share	Peak smoothed	Weeks at #1	Top-five weeks	Weeks charting
1	James Clavell	410	7.88%	14.53%	12.12%	15	33	34
2	Stephen King	353	6.79%	14.53%	10.56%	5	28	36
3	Martin Cruz Smith	352	6.77%	14.53%	11.07%	2	24	38
4	James A. Michener	329	6.32%	14.53%	13.75%	16	21	31
5	Kit Williams	246	4.74%	12.64%	9.11%	0	12	35
6	John Irving	199	3.82%	14.53%	10.78%	7	15	15
7	Lawrence Sanders	171	3.29%	12.64%	7.72%	0	12	24
8	Cynthia Freeman	167	3.22%	11.01%	7.73%	0	13	23
9	Taylor Caldwell	156	2.99%	12.64%	8.10%	0	9	19
10	Frank Herbert	147	2.83%	11.01%	6.96%	0	10	23
11	Ken Follett	144	2.76%	12.64%	11.08%	0	10	16
12	Harold Robbins	143	2.76%	11.01%	6.67%	0	8	21
13	Andrew M. Greeley	143	2.76%	11.01%	5.92%	0	2	27
14	John D. MacDonald	141	2.72%	11.01%	7.01%	0	10	20
15	Joseph Wambaugh	141	2.71%	11.01%	6.34%	0	8	22
16	Colleen McCullough	138	2.65%	14.53%	9.64%	7	10	10
17	Fred Mustard Stewart	113	2.17%	11.01%	6.00%	0	5	18
18	Robin Cook	105	2.02%	12.64%	6.46%	0	7	14
19	Gore Vidal	91	1.75%	12.64%	4.87%	0	3	16
20	D.M. Thomas	86	1.66%	7.26%	3.95%	0	0	19
21	Dick Francis	80	1.53%	8.34%	4.41%	0	4	15
22	Howard Fast	76	1.47%	9.58%	4.78%	0	4	12
23	Paul Erdman	76	1.46%	7.26%	3.86%	0	0	16
24	Toni Morrison	70	1.34%	8.34%	3.84%	0	1	17
25	E. L. Doctorow	69	1.33%	9.58%	6.98%	0	3	12
26	Sidney Sheldon	68	1.31%	7.26%	7.32%	0	0	15
27	Mary Gordon	66	1.26%	8.34%	3.83%	0	4	14
28	J.R.R. Tolkien	63	1.21%	8.34%	4.90%	0	2	14
29	Morris West	60	1.15%	8.34%	3.23%	0	1	14
30	Len Deighton	53	1.01%	7.26%	3.32%	0	0	13
31	John Updike	48	0.92%	7.26%	3.19%	0	0	10
32	Irwin Shaw	47	0.90%	7.26%	2.54%	0	0	12
33	John Gardner	46	0.88%	4.79%	2.69%	0	0	13
34	Clive Cussler	44	0.85%	5.50%	2.57%	0	0	13
35	Danielle Steel	43	0.83%	7.26%	3.44%	0	0	8
36	Michael Crichton	42	0.80%	7.26%	2.78%	0	0	11
37	M.M. Kaye	42	0.80%	6.32%	2.95%	0	0	9
38	Bette Bao Lord	34	0.66%	9.58%	3.00%	0	1	5
39	Jack Higgins	32	0.61%	5.50%	2.13%	0	0	9
40	Dominique Lapierre	28	0.53%	3.16%	3.24%	0	0	12
41	Larry Collins	28	0.53%	3.16%	3.24%	0	0	12
42	Wilbur Smith	27	0.52%	6.32%	2.01%	0	0	6
43	Helen MacInnes	26	0.51%	6.32%	2.79%	0	0	8
44	Jean M. Auel	25	0.48%	5.50%	3.05%	0	0	8
45	Irving Stone	21	0.41%	4.79%	4.32%	0	0	6
46	Robert Elegant	17	0.33%	3.63%	1.72%	0	0	6
47	Eudora Welty	14	0.27%	2.75%	0.98%	0	0	6
48	Ernest K. Gann	11	0.22%	4.17%	1.02%	0	0	4
49	Dorothy Uhnak	11	0.22%	3.63%	0.93%	0	0	4
50	Eric Van Lustbader	10	0.18%	2.75%	0.94%	0	0	4