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 2013
Jan 6, 2013 → Dec 29, 2013 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Gillian Flynn324
- 2Dan Brown253
- 3James Patterson232
- 4Khaled Hosseini187
- 5John Grisham173
- 6David Baldacci137
- 7Robert Galbraith127
- 8Stephen King121
- 9Nicholas Sparks104
- 10Neil Gaiman78
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gillian Flynn | 324 | 6.23% | 14.53% | 11.66% | 5 | 19 | 41 |
| 2 | Dan Brown | 253 | 4.86% | 14.53% | 10.56% | 8 | 18 | 26 |
| 3 | James Patterson | 232 | 4.47% | 16.47% | 7.64% | 2 | 12 | 41 |
| 4 | Khaled Hosseini | 187 | 3.59% | 12.64% | 8.30% | 0 | 15 | 22 |
| 5 | John Grisham | 173 | 3.33% | 14.53% | 9.17% | 6 | 11 | 18 |
| 6 | David Baldacci | 137 | 2.63% | 14.53% | 5.50% | 2 | 9 | 19 |
| 7 | Robert Galbraith | 127 | 2.44% | 14.53% | 8.35% | 5 | 9 | 11 |
| 8 | Stephen King | 121 | 2.32% | 14.53% | 6.90% | 3 | 9 | 12 |
| 9 | Nicholas Sparks | 104 | 2.00% | 14.53% | 5.84% | 1 | 6 | 13 |
| 10 | Neil Gaiman | 78 | 1.50% | 14.53% | 4.90% | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 11 | George Saunders | 76 | 1.45% | 12.64% | 5.29% | 0 | 6 | 10 |
| 12 | John Sandford | 74 | 1.42% | 14.53% | 3.56% | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| 13 | Maeve Binchy | 74 | 1.42% | 14.53% | 4.98% | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| 14 | Donna Tartt | 73 | 1.40% | 12.64% | 5.24% | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 15 | George R. R. Martin | 72 | 1.38% | 4.17% | 2.59% | 0 | 0 | 25 |
| 16 | Janet Evanovich | 71 | 1.37% | 14.53% | 5.08% | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| 17 | Jodi Picoult | 70 | 1.35% | 14.53% | 5.07% | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 18 | Danielle Steel | 68 | 1.30% | 14.53% | 3.03% | 1 | 4 | 11 |
| 19 | Mitch Albom | 62 | 1.18% | 14.53% | 4.66% | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 20 | Charlaine Harris | 60 | 1.16% | 14.53% | 4.09% | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 21 | Kate Atkinson | 55 | 1.06% | 11.01% | 3.89% | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 22 | Lee Child | 55 | 1.05% | 14.53% | 4.21% | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 23 | Carl Hiaasen | 54 | 1.04% | 11.01% | 3.52% | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| 24 | Daniel Silva | 53 | 1.03% | 14.53% | 3.99% | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 25 | Sue Grafton | 53 | 1.02% | 14.53% | 3.28% | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 26 | Nora Roberts | 52 | 1.01% | 14.53% | 4.15% | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 27 | Brandon Sanderson | 49 | 0.94% | 7.26% | 3.12% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 28 | Robert Jordan | 49 | 0.94% | 7.26% | 3.12% | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 29 | Harlan Coben | 49 | 0.93% | 14.53% | 3.76% | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 30 | Clive Cussler | 48 | 0.93% | 6.32% | 1.52% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 31 | Mary Higgins Clark | 47 | 0.91% | 14.53% | 3.76% | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 32 | J. D. Robb | 47 | 0.91% | 14.57% | 2.51% | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 33 | Elizabeth Strout | 45 | 0.86% | 11.01% | 3.47% | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 34 | Debbie Macomber | 44 | 0.85% | 14.53% | 2.32% | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 35 | Ayana Mathis | 42 | 0.80% | 7.26% | 3.06% | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 36 | Stuart Woods | 36 | 0.69% | 9.58% | 1.89% | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 37 | Nelson DeMille | 35 | 0.68% | 12.64% | 2.88% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 38 | Robert Crais | 34 | 0.65% | 11.01% | 2.79% | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 39 | Herman Koch | 33 | 0.64% | 6.38% | 2.36% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 40 | Brad Thor | 33 | 0.63% | 12.64% | 2.69% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 41 | Lisa Scottoline | 31 | 0.60% | 12.64% | 2.11% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 42 | Doug Dorst | 31 | 0.60% | 6.32% | 2.42% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 43 | Brad Meltzer | 30 | 0.57% | 11.01% | 2.46% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 44 | Jhumpa Lahiri | 30 | 0.57% | 11.01% | 2.41% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 45 | Amy Tan | 29 | 0.57% | 9.58% | 2.23% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 46 | Mark Greaney | 29 | 0.55% | 7.26% | 2.27% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 47 | Tom Clancy | 29 | 0.55% | 7.26% | 2.27% | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 48 | Scott Turow | 29 | 0.55% | 9.58% | 2.15% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 49 | Michael Connelly | 28 | 0.54% | 11.01% | 2.63% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 50 | Jeannette Walls | 28 | 0.54% | 9.58% | 2.28% | 0 | 2 | 5 |