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 2002
Jan 6, 2002 → Dec 29, 2002 · 51 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1John Grisham347
- 2Alice Sebold282
- 3James Patterson206
- 4Danielle Steel183
- 5Stephen King164
- 6Mattie J.T. Stepanek142
- 7Tom Clancy129
- 8Emma McLaughlin119
- 9Nicola Kraus119
- 10Mary Higgins Clark118
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Grisham | 347 | 6.81% | 17.94% | 11.87% | 8 | 22 | 37 |
| 2 | Alice Sebold | 282 | 5.54% | 14.53% | 11.42% | 7 | 22 | 24 |
| 3 | James Patterson | 206 | 4.04% | 14.53% | 8.25% | 1 | 13 | 35 |
| 4 | Danielle Steel | 183 | 3.60% | 14.53% | 5.23% | 4 | 12 | 23 |
| 5 | Stephen King | 164 | 3.21% | 14.63% | 6.17% | 4 | 10 | 22 |
| 6 | Mattie J.T. Stepanek | 142 | 2.79% | 14.53% | 7.95% | 2 | 8 | 21 |
| 7 | Tom Clancy | 129 | 2.52% | 14.53% | 7.18% | 3 | 8 | 15 |
| 8 | Emma McLaughlin | 119 | 2.34% | 7.26% | 4.01% | 0 | 1 | 30 |
| 9 | Nicola Kraus | 119 | 2.34% | 7.26% | 4.01% | 0 | 1 | 30 |
| 10 | Mary Higgins Clark | 118 | 2.32% | 14.53% | 6.12% | 2 | 6 | 17 |
| 11 | Jean M. Auel | 116 | 2.27% | 14.53% | 7.01% | 4 | 7 | 12 |
| 12 | Nicholas Sparks | 105 | 2.05% | 14.53% | 5.76% | 1 | 6 | 18 |
| 13 | Jan Karon | 101 | 1.98% | 14.53% | 4.80% | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| 14 | Nora Roberts | 95 | 1.87% | 14.53% | 4.21% | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| 15 | Jonathan Franzen | 94 | 1.84% | 11.01% | 8.02% | 0 | 5 | 14 |
| 16 | Nelson DeMille | 86 | 1.68% | 12.86% | 5.94% | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| 17 | Janet Evanovich | 85 | 1.67% | 14.53% | 3.79% | 1 | 5 | 11 |
| 18 | Joyce Reardon | 82 | 1.61% | 14.53% | 5.70% | 1 | 5 | 11 |
| 19 | David Baldacci | 80 | 1.56% | 11.01% | 5.39% | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| 20 | R. A. Salvatore | 73 | 1.43% | 12.64% | 5.06% | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| 21 | Jerry B. Jenkins | 71 | 1.38% | 7.26% | 3.48% | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| 22 | Tim LaHaye | 71 | 1.38% | 7.26% | 3.48% | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| 23 | Dean Koontz | 68 | 1.33% | 14.53% | 5.28% | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| 24 | Stephen L. Carter | 65 | 1.27% | 11.01% | 4.15% | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| 25 | Peter de Jonge | 64 | 1.25% | 7.26% | 3.52% | 0 | 3 | 14 |
| 26 | Brad Meltzer | 64 | 1.25% | 11.01% | 4.13% | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 27 | Ian McEwan | 60 | 1.18% | 9.58% | 3.37% | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| 28 | Carl Hiaasen | 59 | 1.16% | 11.01% | 3.90% | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 29 | Fannie Flagg | 59 | 1.15% | 11.01% | 4.41% | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 30 | Michael Connelly | 57 | 1.11% | 11.01% | 2.78% | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 31 | Anna Quindlen | 57 | 1.11% | 11.01% | 3.82% | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| 32 | John Sandford | 53 | 1.05% | 12.64% | 4.32% | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 33 | Sue Grafton | 53 | 1.04% | 14.53% | 4.13% | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 34 | Robert James Waller | 49 | 0.96% | 8.34% | 3.30% | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 35 | Sandra Brown | 49 | 0.96% | 9.58% | 2.67% | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 36 | W. E. B. Griffin | 48 | 0.95% | 12.64% | 3.81% | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 37 | Tony Hillerman | 44 | 0.86% | 8.34% | 3.32% | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| 38 | Michael Crichton | 44 | 0.85% | 14.53% | 4.25% | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 39 | Tami Hoag | 41 | 0.81% | 11.01% | 3.47% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 40 | E. Lynn Harris | 41 | 0.81% | 11.01% | 2.98% | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| 41 | Robert B. Parker | 40 | 0.79% | 8.34% | 2.09% | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 42 | Andrew Gross | 39 | 0.76% | 7.26% | 2.84% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 43 | Ken Follett | 38 | 0.75% | 7.26% | 2.46% | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 44 | Ann Packer | 36 | 0.71% | 5.50% | 2.35% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 45 | Scott Turow | 35 | 0.69% | 7.26% | 2.60% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 46 | Iris Johansen | 33 | 0.64% | 8.40% | 2.09% | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 47 | Catherine Coulter | 31 | 0.61% | 9.58% | 2.60% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 48 | Jonathan Kellerman | 31 | 0.61% | 8.34% | 2.42% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 49 | Lilian Jackson Braun | 31 | 0.60% | 9.58% | 2.37% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 50 | Terry Brooks | 30 | 0.59% | 9.58% | 2.48% | 0 | 3 | 5 |