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 2001
Jan 7, 2001 → Dec 30, 2001 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1James Patterson347
- 2John Grisham293
- 3Danielle Steel238
- 4Stephen King187
- 5Lalita Tademy146
- 6Mary Higgins Clark145
- 7Jonathan Franzen133
- 8Jan Karon126
- 9Terry McMillan122
- 10Amy Tan98
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Patterson | 347 | 6.67% | 14.53% | 8.80% | 6 | 24 | 38 |
| 2 | John Grisham | 293 | 5.64% | 14.53% | 8.22% | 10 | 21 | 28 |
| 3 | Danielle Steel | 238 | 4.58% | 14.53% | 8.57% | 4 | 17 | 28 |
| 4 | Stephen King | 187 | 3.59% | 14.53% | 7.41% | 3 | 12 | 28 |
| 5 | Lalita Tademy | 146 | 2.81% | 12.64% | 7.39% | 0 | 11 | 17 |
| 6 | Mary Higgins Clark | 145 | 2.79% | 14.53% | 7.94% | 4 | 8 | 18 |
| 7 | Jonathan Franzen | 133 | 2.56% | 14.53% | 6.96% | 2 | 12 | 15 |
| 8 | Jan Karon | 126 | 2.41% | 14.53% | 5.64% | 1 | 5 | 21 |
| 9 | Terry McMillan | 122 | 2.34% | 14.53% | 7.29% | 3 | 9 | 12 |
| 10 | Amy Tan | 98 | 1.89% | 12.64% | 5.10% | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| 11 | Sandra Brown | 95 | 1.82% | 12.64% | 4.57% | 0 | 6 | 12 |
| 12 | Clive Cussler | 94 | 1.80% | 14.53% | 6.58% | 5 | 8 | 8 |
| 13 | Dean Koontz | 92 | 1.77% | 14.67% | 5.83% | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| 14 | Jerry B. Jenkins | 91 | 1.76% | 7.26% | 4.52% | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| 15 | Tim LaHaye | 91 | 1.76% | 7.26% | 4.52% | 0 | 4 | 23 |
| 16 | Brad Meltzer | 90 | 1.73% | 11.01% | 5.40% | 0 | 8 | 12 |
| 17 | Nicholas Sparks | 89 | 1.72% | 12.64% | 5.57% | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| 18 | Nora Roberts | 86 | 1.66% | 14.53% | 3.87% | 1 | 5 | 11 |
| 19 | John Sandford | 84 | 1.61% | 14.53% | 6.49% | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| 20 | Sue Grafton | 84 | 1.61% | 14.53% | 5.87% | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 21 | John Irving | 80 | 1.55% | 14.53% | 5.21% | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| 22 | Anne Tyler | 79 | 1.53% | 11.01% | 4.88% | 0 | 5 | 13 |
| 23 | Patricia Cornwell | 77 | 1.48% | 14.53% | 6.17% | 1 | 4 | 11 |
| 24 | E. Lynn Harris | 69 | 1.32% | 12.64% | 5.00% | 0 | 5 | 8 |
| 25 | Michael Connelly | 61 | 1.17% | 12.64% | 4.33% | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 26 | Maeve Binchy | 60 | 1.16% | 11.01% | 4.12% | 0 | 5 | 9 |
| 27 | Caroline Kennedy | 59 | 1.14% | 9.58% | 3.73% | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| 28 | Barbara Kingsolver | 59 | 1.14% | 9.58% | 5.60% | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| 29 | Nicholas Evans | 57 | 1.10% | 11.01% | 4.13% | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 30 | P.D. James | 56 | 1.09% | 6.32% | 3.80% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 31 | David Baldacci | 53 | 1.03% | 11.01% | 4.31% | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| 32 | Anita Shreve | 52 | 1.01% | 5.50% | 3.16% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 33 | Janet Evanovich | 48 | 0.93% | 14.53% | 3.74% | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 34 | Mattie J.T. Stepanek | 48 | 0.93% | 11.01% | 3.95% | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 35 | Peter Straub | 48 | 0.92% | 7.26% | 2.88% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 36 | Robert Ludlum | 47 | 0.90% | 11.01% | 3.60% | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 37 | Catherine Coulter | 46 | 0.88% | 12.64% | 3.68% | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 38 | Alice Alfonsi | 46 | 0.88% | 9.58% | 3.52% | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 39 | Barbara Delinsky | 44 | 0.84% | 9.58% | 3.24% | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 40 | Dennis Lehane | 43 | 0.83% | 7.26% | 3.15% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 41 | Ken Follett | 42 | 0.80% | 7.33% | 3.49% | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 42 | John le Carré | 40 | 0.76% | 9.58% | 3.03% | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 43 | Lilian Jackson Braun | 37 | 0.72% | 12.64% | 3.04% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 44 | W. E. B. Griffin | 36 | 0.69% | 11.01% | 2.87% | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 45 | Jack Higgins | 36 | 0.69% | 9.58% | 2.80% | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 46 | Steve Martini | 36 | 0.69% | 9.58% | 2.83% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 47 | Linda Howard | 34 | 0.65% | 8.34% | 2.69% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 48 | Julie Garwood | 33 | 0.63% | 9.58% | 2.68% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 49 | Anne Rice | 32 | 0.62% | 8.34% | 3.50% | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 50 | Robert B. Parker | 32 | 0.62% | 6.32% | 1.78% | 0 | 0 | 8 |