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 2011
Jan 2, 2011 → Dec 25, 2011 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1James Patterson265
- 2Stieg Larsson260
- 3David Baldacci185
- 4George R. R. Martin162
- 5John Grisham159
- 6Kathryn Stockett113
- 7Charlaine Harris107
- 8Jean M. Auel103
- 9Janet Evanovich103
- 10Nicholas Sparks94
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Patterson | 265 | 5.09% | 16.22% | 7.16% | 1 | 16 | 49 |
| 2 | Stieg Larsson | 260 | 5.01% | 14.53% | 10.90% | 3 | 13 | 41 |
| 3 | David Baldacci | 185 | 3.55% | 14.53% | 6.77% | 4 | 12 | 27 |
| 4 | George R. R. Martin | 162 | 3.11% | 14.53% | 7.98% | 4 | 10 | 21 |
| 5 | John Grisham | 159 | 3.06% | 14.53% | 8.35% | 3 | 11 | 18 |
| 6 | Kathryn Stockett | 113 | 2.18% | 11.01% | 7.02% | 0 | 7 | 19 |
| 7 | Charlaine Harris | 107 | 2.05% | 14.53% | 6.56% | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| 8 | Jean M. Auel | 103 | 1.98% | 14.53% | 6.25% | 1 | 7 | 11 |
| 9 | Janet Evanovich | 103 | 1.98% | 14.63% | 4.99% | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| 10 | Nicholas Sparks | 94 | 1.81% | 14.53% | 5.73% | 2 | 6 | 11 |
| 11 | Ann Patchett | 89 | 1.71% | 11.01% | 4.89% | 0 | 6 | 15 |
| 12 | John Sandford | 88 | 1.69% | 14.53% | 4.12% | 1 | 6 | 11 |
| 13 | Stephen King | 86 | 1.65% | 14.53% | 5.92% | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 14 | Michael Connelly | 85 | 1.64% | 14.57% | 4.55% | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| 15 | Paula McLain | 84 | 1.62% | 6.36% | 2.63% | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| 16 | Tom Clancy | 82 | 1.57% | 7.26% | 3.43% | 0 | 4 | 19 |
| 17 | Michael Ledwidge | 76 | 1.46% | 7.26% | 2.89% | 0 | 5 | 17 |
| 18 | Danielle Steel | 71 | 1.36% | 11.01% | 2.97% | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| 19 | Stuart Woods | 70 | 1.34% | 12.64% | 2.88% | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| 20 | Jodi Picoult | 68 | 1.30% | 12.73% | 4.59% | 2 | 4 | 9 |
| 21 | Grant Blackwood | 64 | 1.24% | 7.26% | 3.51% | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 22 | Deborah Harkness | 59 | 1.14% | 12.64% | 4.32% | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 23 | Brad Meltzer | 57 | 1.10% | 14.53% | 4.53% | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 24 | J. D. Robb | 57 | 1.10% | 14.53% | 2.60% | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 25 | Lee Child | 56 | 1.08% | 14.53% | 4.23% | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 26 | Erin Morgenstern | 55 | 1.05% | 12.64% | 4.15% | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| 27 | Clive Cussler | 53 | 1.02% | 7.26% | 1.85% | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| 28 | Brad Thor | 53 | 1.02% | 11.01% | 4.43% | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| 29 | Dean Koontz | 52 | 1.00% | 14.53% | 3.53% | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| 30 | Mary Higgins Clark | 47 | 0.91% | 11.01% | 3.63% | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| 31 | Jeffrey Eugenides | 44 | 0.85% | 12.64% | 2.99% | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 32 | Daniel Silva | 43 | 0.83% | 12.64% | 3.35% | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 33 | Jim Butcher | 42 | 0.81% | 14.53% | 3.51% | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 34 | Haruki Murakami | 41 | 0.79% | 12.64% | 2.90% | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 35 | Debbie Macomber | 40 | 0.77% | 12.64% | 2.20% | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 36 | Emma Donoghue | 39 | 0.76% | 5.50% | 2.70% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 37 | Nora Roberts | 37 | 0.71% | 14.53% | 3.13% | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 38 | Maxine Paetro | 36 | 0.70% | 6.32% | 2.70% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 39 | Jonathan Franzen | 35 | 0.68% | 8.34% | 5.01% | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 40 | Patricia Cornwell | 35 | 0.68% | 12.64% | 3.60% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 41 | Steve Berry | 35 | 0.67% | 9.58% | 2.91% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 42 | Patrick Rothfuss | 34 | 0.65% | 14.53% | 3.24% | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 43 | Sandra Brown | 34 | 0.65% | 12.64% | 3.01% | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 44 | Harlan Coben | 33 | 0.64% | 14.53% | 2.88% | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 45 | Robert Crais | 33 | 0.63% | 12.64% | 2.64% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 46 | Iris Johansen | 32 | 0.61% | 11.01% | 1.62% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 47 | Sue Grafton | 31 | 0.59% | 11.10% | 2.72% | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 48 | Kathy Reichs | 29 | 0.57% | 14.53% | 2.60% | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 49 | Glenn Beck | 29 | 0.56% | 9.58% | 2.25% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 50 | Peter Telep | 29 | 0.56% | 7.26% | 2.17% | 0 | 0 | 7 |