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 2006
Jan 1, 2006 → Dec 31, 2006 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1James Patterson334
- 2Dan Brown244
- 3Mitch Albom151
- 4Stephen King150
- 5Danielle Steel136
- 6Nicholas Sparks128
- 7Janet Evanovich124
- 8Dean Koontz123
- 9Mary Higgins Clark115
- 10Nora Roberts105
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Patterson | 334 | 6.42% | 14.53% | 8.73% | 5 | 24 | 48 |
| 2 | Dan Brown | 244 | 4.69% | 14.53% | 11.63% | 4 | 17 | 24 |
| 3 | Mitch Albom | 151 | 2.90% | 14.53% | 9.47% | 6 | 11 | 13 |
| 4 | Stephen King | 150 | 2.88% | 14.53% | 6.62% | 6 | 9 | 17 |
| 5 | Danielle Steel | 136 | 2.62% | 14.53% | 5.20% | 1 | 8 | 20 |
| 6 | Nicholas Sparks | 128 | 2.45% | 14.53% | 8.48% | 1 | 9 | 16 |
| 7 | Janet Evanovich | 124 | 2.38% | 14.53% | 6.35% | 3 | 8 | 14 |
| 8 | Dean Koontz | 123 | 2.37% | 14.53% | 5.85% | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| 9 | Mary Higgins Clark | 115 | 2.21% | 14.53% | 7.31% | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| 10 | Nora Roberts | 105 | 2.03% | 14.53% | 6.29% | 4 | 6 | 14 |
| 11 | Patricia Cornwell | 95 | 1.83% | 14.53% | 6.20% | 1 | 5 | 13 |
| 12 | Sue Grafton | 80 | 1.53% | 14.53% | 6.14% | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| 13 | Raymond Khoury | 75 | 1.45% | 9.73% | 4.71% | 0 | 6 | 12 |
| 14 | W. E. B. Griffin | 73 | 1.41% | 14.53% | 4.88% | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 15 | Peter de Jonge | 70 | 1.35% | 7.26% | 4.00% | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| 16 | J. D. Robb | 70 | 1.34% | 12.64% | 3.77% | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| 17 | Diane Setterfield | 66 | 1.26% | 14.53% | 4.64% | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 18 | Brad Meltzer | 64 | 1.24% | 14.53% | 4.92% | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 19 | David Baldacci | 60 | 1.16% | 12.64% | 4.24% | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| 20 | Anna Quindlen | 59 | 1.14% | 14.53% | 4.38% | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 21 | Steve Berry | 59 | 1.14% | 9.67% | 4.06% | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| 22 | Fannie Flagg | 58 | 1.11% | 11.01% | 3.90% | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 23 | Stuart Woods | 57 | 1.09% | 12.64% | 3.46% | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 24 | Maxine Paetro | 57 | 1.09% | 7.37% | 3.58% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 25 | Jonathan Kellerman | 56 | 1.07% | 14.53% | 4.43% | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 26 | Alexander McCall Smith | 55 | 1.05% | 12.64% | 4.04% | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 27 | Sandra Brown | 53 | 1.03% | 12.64% | 4.31% | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 28 | Andrew Gross | 52 | 1.00% | 7.29% | 3.46% | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 29 | Robert B. Parker | 52 | 1.00% | 9.58% | 2.40% | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 30 | Jodi Picoult | 50 | 0.96% | 12.64% | 3.78% | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 31 | Charles Frazier | 49 | 0.94% | 12.64% | 3.31% | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 32 | Daniel Silva | 49 | 0.94% | 11.05% | 3.85% | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 33 | Terry Goodkind | 48 | 0.93% | 14.53% | 3.77% | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 34 | Laurell K. Hamilton | 46 | 0.88% | 12.64% | 2.72% | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 35 | Sara Gruen | 45 | 0.87% | 6.35% | 2.90% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 36 | John Sandford | 45 | 0.87% | 12.64% | 3.49% | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 37 | Scott Smith | 44 | 0.85% | 9.62% | 3.55% | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 38 | Nelson DeMille | 43 | 0.82% | 12.64% | 3.30% | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 39 | Judith McNaught | 41 | 0.78% | 8.34% | 3.26% | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 40 | Anne Tyler | 40 | 0.77% | 9.58% | 3.17% | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 41 | Vince Flynn | 39 | 0.74% | 11.01% | 3.20% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 42 | Michael Connelly | 37 | 0.72% | 12.64% | 3.15% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 43 | Harlan Coben | 37 | 0.71% | 12.64% | 3.05% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 44 | Michael Crichton | 36 | 0.70% | 12.64% | 3.52% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 45 | Maya Angelou | 34 | 0.66% | 11.01% | 2.50% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 46 | Frederick Forsyth | 33 | 0.64% | 9.58% | 2.73% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 47 | Carl Hiaasen | 32 | 0.62% | 9.58% | 2.66% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 48 | Lee Child | 32 | 0.61% | 11.01% | 2.60% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 49 | Tami Hoag | 32 | 0.61% | 12.64% | 2.62% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 50 | Iris Johansen | 32 | 0.61% | 7.26% | 1.71% | 0 | 0 | 8 |