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 2016
Jan 3, 2016 → Dec 25, 2016 · 51 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Anthony Doerr287
- 2Paula Hawkins261
- 3Kristin Hannah211
- 4James Patterson211
- 5John Grisham176
- 6Nicholas Sparks164
- 7Danielle Steel164
- 8David Baldacci148
- 9Colson Whitehead139
- 10Ruth Ware124
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Doerr | 287 | 5.63% | 14.53% | 10.25% | 2 | 15 | 46 |
| 2 | Paula Hawkins | 261 | 5.11% | 12.64% | 9.16% | 0 | 22 | 30 |
| 3 | Kristin Hannah | 211 | 4.14% | 9.58% | 6.67% | 0 | 7 | 40 |
| 4 | James Patterson | 211 | 4.13% | 14.53% | 6.60% | 1 | 11 | 38 |
| 5 | John Grisham | 176 | 3.45% | 14.53% | 9.57% | 6 | 11 | 18 |
| 6 | Nicholas Sparks | 164 | 3.22% | 14.53% | 7.29% | 1 | 13 | 19 |
| 7 | Danielle Steel | 164 | 3.21% | 14.53% | 4.52% | 4 | 10 | 21 |
| 8 | David Baldacci | 148 | 2.89% | 14.53% | 6.07% | 3 | 10 | 20 |
| 9 | Colson Whitehead | 139 | 2.72% | 14.53% | 7.47% | 3 | 9 | 18 |
| 10 | Ruth Ware | 124 | 2.44% | 9.58% | 6.34% | 0 | 10 | 17 |
| 11 | Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney | 115 | 2.25% | 12.64% | 6.22% | 0 | 9 | 17 |
| 12 | Harlan Coben | 115 | 2.25% | 14.53% | 4.83% | 4 | 8 | 13 |
| 13 | Stephen King | 113 | 2.22% | 14.53% | 6.54% | 3 | 8 | 14 |
| 14 | Emma Cline | 100 | 1.97% | 12.64% | 6.51% | 0 | 7 | 11 |
| 15 | John Sandford | 78 | 1.53% | 14.53% | 3.42% | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 16 | Jojo Moyes | 76 | 1.50% | 9.58% | 4.45% | 0 | 2 | 17 |
| 17 | Ann Patchett | 76 | 1.49% | 14.53% | 5.18% | 1 | 5 | 9 |
| 18 | Elizabeth Strout | 74 | 1.44% | 14.53% | 4.83% | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 19 | Jodi Picoult | 71 | 1.39% | 14.53% | 4.52% | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| 20 | Liane Moriarty | 67 | 1.32% | 14.53% | 4.82% | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| 21 | Janet Evanovich | 67 | 1.31% | 14.53% | 3.88% | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| 22 | Noah Hawley | 66 | 1.29% | 12.64% | 3.38% | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| 23 | Daniel Silva | 63 | 1.24% | 14.53% | 4.64% | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 24 | J. D. Robb | 62 | 1.22% | 14.53% | 3.54% | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| 25 | Emily Giffin | 60 | 1.18% | 14.53% | 4.91% | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 26 | Harper Lee | 51 | 1.01% | 6.32% | 5.04% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 27 | Maxine Paetro | 51 | 0.99% | 7.26% | 2.55% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 28 | Clive Cussler | 50 | 0.98% | 7.26% | 1.76% | 0 | 2 | 13 |
| 29 | Stuart Woods | 46 | 0.91% | 8.34% | 1.70% | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 30 | Alan Dean Foster | 46 | 0.91% | 14.53% | 3.59% | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 31 | Elin Hilderbrand | 46 | 0.91% | 11.01% | 3.12% | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 32 | Nora Roberts | 46 | 0.90% | 14.53% | 3.82% | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 33 | Carl Hiaasen | 46 | 0.90% | 12.64% | 3.54% | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 34 | Michael Connelly | 45 | 0.89% | 12.64% | 3.38% | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 35 | Lee Child | 45 | 0.88% | 14.53% | 3.77% | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 36 | Mark Sullivan | 42 | 0.82% | 7.26% | 1.99% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 37 | Kyle Mills | 40 | 0.78% | 11.01% | 3.36% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 38 | Mary Higgins Clark | 39 | 0.77% | 14.53% | 3.02% | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 39 | Debbie Macomber | 36 | 0.71% | 12.64% | 2.01% | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 40 | Jeffrey Archer | 33 | 0.65% | 14.53% | 2.49% | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 41 | Sandra Brown | 33 | 0.64% | 12.64% | 2.85% | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 42 | Louise Penny | 33 | 0.64% | 14.53% | 2.65% | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 43 | Mary Kay Andrews | 32 | 0.62% | 11.01% | 2.61% | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| 44 | C. J. Box | 31 | 0.61% | 14.53% | 2.74% | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 45 | Brad Thor | 31 | 0.60% | 12.64% | 2.48% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 46 | Lisa Scottoline | 29 | 0.57% | 8.34% | 1.69% | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 47 | Amor Towles | 27 | 0.53% | 5.50% | 1.95% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 48 | Helen Simonson | 26 | 0.52% | 6.32% | 2.07% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 49 | Marshall Karp | 25 | 0.48% | 7.26% | 2.05% | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 50 | Grant Blackwood | 24 | 0.47% | 9.58% | 2.11% | 0 | 2 | 4 |