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 2003
Jan 5, 2003 → Dec 28, 2003 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Dan Brown510
- 2John Grisham360
- 3Alice Sebold315
- 4James Patterson235
- 5Nicholas Sparks200
- 6Danielle Steel168
- 7Mitch Albom157
- 8Lauren Weisberger142
- 9Dean Koontz111
- 10Tom Clancy105
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Brown | 510 | 9.81% | 14.78% | 13.56% | 21 | 39 | 39 |
| 2 | John Grisham | 360 | 6.92% | 14.53% | 10.13% | 8 | 22 | 41 |
| 3 | Alice Sebold | 315 | 6.06% | 14.53% | 12.34% | 4 | 18 | 41 |
| 4 | James Patterson | 235 | 4.51% | 14.53% | 7.29% | 1 | 17 | 30 |
| 5 | Nicholas Sparks | 200 | 3.84% | 12.64% | 7.01% | 2 | 13 | 28 |
| 6 | Danielle Steel | 168 | 3.22% | 14.53% | 5.53% | 1 | 11 | 23 |
| 7 | Mitch Albom | 157 | 3.02% | 14.53% | 9.62% | 4 | 12 | 12 |
| 8 | Lauren Weisberger | 142 | 2.72% | 9.58% | 5.71% | 0 | 4 | 24 |
| 9 | Dean Koontz | 111 | 2.13% | 12.64% | 4.21% | 0 | 8 | 15 |
| 10 | Tom Clancy | 105 | 2.02% | 14.53% | 5.90% | 2 | 6 | 13 |
| 11 | Robert Jordan | 100 | 1.93% | 14.53% | 6.04% | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| 12 | Michael Crichton | 84 | 1.61% | 14.53% | 6.87% | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| 13 | Janet Evanovich | 77 | 1.48% | 14.53% | 5.28% | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| 14 | John Sandford | 74 | 1.42% | 14.53% | 5.22% | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| 15 | Mary Higgins Clark | 73 | 1.39% | 12.64% | 5.11% | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 16 | Patricia Cornwell | 72 | 1.38% | 14.53% | 4.74% | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| 17 | David Baldacci | 68 | 1.31% | 12.64% | 4.80% | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| 18 | Stephen King | 68 | 1.30% | 12.64% | 4.78% | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 19 | Jan Karon | 67 | 1.28% | 9.67% | 4.33% | 0 | 4 | 10 |
| 20 | Tim LaHaye | 64 | 1.24% | 7.26% | 3.50% | 0 | 5 | 15 |
| 21 | Catherine Coulter | 64 | 1.22% | 12.64% | 5.18% | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 22 | Jerry B. Jenkins | 57 | 1.10% | 7.26% | 3.50% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 23 | Clive Cussler | 54 | 1.04% | 9.75% | 3.04% | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 24 | Nora Roberts | 53 | 1.03% | 14.53% | 3.77% | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| 25 | Jeffrey Archer | 49 | 0.95% | 11.01% | 3.44% | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 26 | Judith McNaught | 46 | 0.89% | 11.01% | 3.61% | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 27 | Tony Hillerman | 46 | 0.88% | 9.58% | 3.40% | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 28 | Terry Goodkind | 45 | 0.87% | 11.01% | 3.30% | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 29 | Candace Bushnell | 44 | 0.84% | 8.34% | 3.08% | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 30 | Elizabeth George | 43 | 0.83% | 8.34% | 3.31% | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 31 | Steve Martini | 41 | 0.78% | 9.58% | 3.34% | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 32 | Jhumpa Lahiri | 41 | 0.78% | 9.58% | 2.71% | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 33 | Robert Crais | 39 | 0.74% | 9.58% | 2.98% | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 34 | Jonathan Kellerman | 39 | 0.74% | 7.26% | 2.41% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 35 | Lilian Jackson Braun | 36 | 0.70% | 11.01% | 2.99% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 36 | Ken Follett | 33 | 0.64% | 8.34% | 3.41% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 37 | Iris Johansen | 33 | 0.64% | 8.34% | 1.67% | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 38 | Mark Haddon | 32 | 0.62% | 6.32% | 2.37% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 39 | Michael Connelly | 32 | 0.61% | 11.01% | 2.56% | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 40 | Yann Martel | 31 | 0.59% | 4.17% | 1.70% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 41 | W. E. B. Griffin | 30 | 0.58% | 11.01% | 2.50% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 42 | Andrew Gross | 30 | 0.58% | 7.26% | 2.29% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 43 | Terry Brooks | 30 | 0.57% | 11.01% | 2.58% | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 44 | Robert B. Parker | 29 | 0.55% | 9.58% | 2.13% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 45 | Daniel Silva | 27 | 0.52% | 8.34% | 2.29% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 46 | Anne Rice | 26 | 0.51% | 8.34% | 2.17% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 47 | Stuart Woods | 26 | 0.50% | 8.34% | 1.55% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 48 | Joel C. Rosenberg | 25 | 0.49% | 6.32% | 2.04% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 49 | Jeffery Deaver | 25 | 0.48% | 7.26% | 2.08% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 50 | Kathleen E. Woodiwiss | 25 | 0.48% | 8.34% | 2.20% | 0 | 2 | 4 |