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 1997
Jan 5, 1997 → Dec 28, 1997 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Danielle Steel348
- 2John Grisham316
- 3Charles Frazier311
- 4Nicholas Sparks305
- 5Patricia Cornwell254
- 6Nelson DeMille191
- 7Mary Higgins Clark146
- 8Michael Crichton132
- 9David Baldacci124
- 10Arundhati Roy98
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danielle Steel | 348 | 6.68% | 14.53% | 9.76% | 3 | 26 | 35 |
| 2 | John Grisham | 316 | 6.08% | 14.53% | 11.34% | 8 | 21 | 31 |
| 3 | Charles Frazier | 311 | 5.99% | 14.81% | 12.97% | 14 | 22 | 25 |
| 4 | Nicholas Sparks | 305 | 5.87% | 11.01% | 7.37% | 0 | 14 | 46 |
| 5 | Patricia Cornwell | 254 | 4.89% | 14.53% | 8.66% | 8 | 17 | 24 |
| 6 | Nelson DeMille | 191 | 3.67% | 14.53% | 8.83% | 5 | 14 | 20 |
| 7 | Mary Higgins Clark | 146 | 2.80% | 14.53% | 8.38% | 5 | 9 | 16 |
| 8 | Michael Crichton | 132 | 2.54% | 14.53% | 8.22% | 4 | 8 | 15 |
| 9 | David Baldacci | 124 | 2.38% | 12.64% | 7.23% | 0 | 8 | 14 |
| 10 | Arundhati Roy | 98 | 1.88% | 8.34% | 4.53% | 0 | 2 | 20 |
| 11 | Clive Cussler | 94 | 1.81% | 14.53% | 6.68% | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| 12 | Anne Rivers Siddons | 94 | 1.80% | 9.58% | 4.61% | 0 | 6 | 17 |
| 13 | Sidney Sheldon | 93 | 1.78% | 12.64% | 6.00% | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| 14 | Richard Paul Evans | 91 | 1.76% | 13.42% | 5.53% | 0 | 6 | 12 |
| 15 | Sandra Brown | 90 | 1.74% | 12.64% | 5.35% | 0 | 5 | 14 |
| 16 | Dean Koontz | 87 | 1.67% | 14.53% | 6.09% | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| 17 | Edward Rutherfurd | 86 | 1.66% | 8.34% | 4.04% | 0 | 1 | 18 |
| 18 | Jonathan Kellerman | 81 | 1.56% | 12.64% | 4.23% | 0 | 4 | 13 |
| 19 | Jacquelyn Mitchard | 80 | 1.53% | 11.01% | 8.38% | 0 | 2 | 15 |
| 20 | Anne Rice | 78 | 1.50% | 12.64% | 5.44% | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| 21 | Caleb Carr | 75 | 1.43% | 9.58% | 5.21% | 0 | 7 | 9 |
| 22 | James Patterson | 68 | 1.31% | 12.79% | 5.74% | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 23 | Arthur C. Clarke | 66 | 1.26% | 12.64% | 4.35% | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| 24 | Dr. Seuss | 65 | 1.26% | 11.01% | 4.90% | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| 25 | Maeve Binchy | 62 | 1.20% | 8.34% | 4.01% | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 26 | Richard North Patterson | 61 | 1.17% | 11.01% | 4.13% | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 27 | James Redfield | 60 | 1.16% | 4.79% | 4.23% | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 28 | Robin Cook | 60 | 1.16% | 12.64% | 4.43% | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| 29 | Robert Ludlum | 56 | 1.09% | 11.01% | 3.89% | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| 30 | Diana Gabaldon | 55 | 1.06% | 12.64% | 3.94% | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 31 | Thomas Pynchon | 54 | 1.05% | 9.58% | 3.95% | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 32 | Jack Higgins | 53 | 1.02% | 11.01% | 3.80% | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 33 | LaVyrle Spencer | 53 | 1.01% | 11.01% | 3.84% | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 34 | E. Lynn Harris | 52 | 1.01% | 9.58% | 3.73% | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 35 | Don DeLillo | 51 | 0.98% | 8.34% | 3.80% | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 36 | Tom Clancy | 47 | 0.90% | 12.64% | 9.60% | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 37 | Peter Mayle | 46 | 0.88% | 7.26% | 2.66% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 38 | John Sandford | 45 | 0.86% | 9.58% | 3.33% | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| 39 | Dick Francis | 44 | 0.85% | 8.34% | 3.37% | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 40 | Jan Karon | 43 | 0.83% | 8.34% | 3.11% | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 41 | Dominick Dunne | 42 | 0.80% | 9.69% | 3.66% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 42 | Nora Roberts | 41 | 0.79% | 11.01% | 3.46% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 43 | Robert B. Parker | 38 | 0.74% | 6.32% | 1.96% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 44 | Pete Hamill | 33 | 0.64% | 5.50% | 2.18% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 45 | Larry McMurtry | 31 | 0.60% | 6.39% | 2.55% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 46 | Carl Hiaasen | 31 | 0.59% | 7.26% | 2.32% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 47 | Brad Meltzer | 29 | 0.57% | 5.50% | 2.24% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 48 | Kathy Reichs | 28 | 0.54% | 5.50% | 2.14% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 49 | Kurt Vonnegut | 28 | 0.53% | 6.32% | 2.35% | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 50 | Lawrence Sanders | 26 | 0.50% | 7.26% | 2.19% | 0 | 0 | 5 |