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 2020
Jan 5, 2020 → Dec 27, 2020 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Delia Owens568
- 2John Grisham340
- 3Jeanine Cummins251
- 4Brit Bennett246
- 5James Patterson188
- 6Stephen King160
- 7Alex Michaelides156
- 8David Baldacci129
- 9Nicholas Sparks123
- 10Elin Hilderbrand121
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Delia Owens | 568 | 10.93% | 14.63% | 13.84% | 25 | 37 | 52 |
| 2 | John Grisham | 340 | 6.54% | 14.53% | 8.79% | 5 | 25 | 37 |
| 3 | Jeanine Cummins | 251 | 4.82% | 14.53% | 8.95% | 3 | 14 | 34 |
| 4 | Brit Bennett | 246 | 4.72% | 14.53% | 9.32% | 2 | 19 | 28 |
| 5 | James Patterson | 188 | 3.61% | 12.64% | 6.28% | 0 | 7 | 41 |
| 6 | Stephen King | 160 | 3.08% | 14.53% | 7.27% | 1 | 9 | 26 |
| 7 | Alex Michaelides | 156 | 3.01% | 11.01% | 6.15% | 0 | 9 | 28 |
| 8 | David Baldacci | 129 | 2.48% | 12.64% | 5.55% | 0 | 8 | 20 |
| 9 | Nicholas Sparks | 123 | 2.37% | 14.53% | 7.64% | 2 | 11 | 11 |
| 10 | Elin Hilderbrand | 121 | 2.33% | 14.53% | 5.91% | 1 | 9 | 14 |
| 11 | Lucy Foley | 113 | 2.17% | 11.01% | 5.61% | 0 | 4 | 20 |
| 12 | Danielle Steel | 104 | 1.99% | 12.64% | 3.17% | 0 | 5 | 19 |
| 13 | Ann Patchett | 92 | 1.77% | 8.34% | 5.62% | 0 | 2 | 20 |
| 14 | Michael Connelly | 85 | 1.64% | 14.53% | 3.75% | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| 15 | Jojo Moyes | 84 | 1.61% | 5.50% | 3.67% | 0 | 0 | 23 |
| 16 | Kiley Reid | 80 | 1.54% | 11.01% | 4.67% | 0 | 5 | 13 |
| 17 | Ken Follett | 76 | 1.46% | 14.53% | 4.95% | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| 18 | Daniel Silva | 63 | 1.21% | 14.53% | 4.83% | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 19 | Harlan Coben | 62 | 1.20% | 12.64% | 4.69% | 0 | 5 | 7 |
| 20 | Fredrik Backman | 61 | 1.18% | 14.53% | 3.13% | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| 21 | J. D. Robb | 56 | 1.08% | 12.64% | 3.31% | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| 22 | Jodi Picoult | 54 | 1.04% | 14.53% | 3.68% | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 23 | Lee Child | 52 | 1.00% | 8.34% | 4.92% | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 24 | Ann Napolitano | 51 | 0.99% | 12.64% | 3.66% | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 25 | Janet Evanovich | 51 | 0.98% | 14.53% | 3.86% | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| 26 | V. E. Schwab | 51 | 0.97% | 9.58% | 3.75% | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| 27 | Jennifer Weiner | 48 | 0.93% | 8.34% | 2.99% | 0 | 2 | 11 |
| 28 | Nora Roberts | 47 | 0.90% | 12.64% | 2.48% | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 29 | Ernest Cline | 44 | 0.84% | 14.53% | 4.25% | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 30 | Hilary Mantel | 42 | 0.82% | 14.53% | 3.10% | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 31 | Tana French | 41 | 0.79% | 11.01% | 3.12% | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 32 | James O. Born | 39 | 0.75% | 7.26% | 2.36% | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 33 | Brad Thor | 39 | 0.74% | 12.64% | 2.96% | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 34 | Rebecca Serle | 34 | 0.65% | 8.34% | 2.62% | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 35 | Emily St. John Mandel | 33 | 0.64% | 9.58% | 2.80% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 36 | Silvia Moreno-Garcia | 32 | 0.62% | 4.79% | 2.17% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 37 | Sue Monk Kidd | 32 | 0.61% | 8.34% | 2.46% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 38 | Louise Penny | 31 | 0.60% | 14.53% | 2.71% | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 39 | John Sandford | 30 | 0.58% | 12.64% | 2.70% | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 40 | Jim Butcher | 30 | 0.58% | 12.64% | 1.93% | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 41 | Kevin Kwan | 29 | 0.56% | 9.58% | 2.39% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 42 | Jonathan Cahn | 28 | 0.53% | 8.34% | 2.29% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 43 | Kyle Mills | 27 | 0.53% | 11.01% | 2.41% | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 44 | Rumaan Alam | 27 | 0.53% | 11.01% | 2.21% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 45 | Andrew Child | 27 | 0.53% | 7.26% | 1.97% | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 46 | Isabel Allende | 26 | 0.50% | 5.50% | 2.15% | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 47 | Ruth Ware | 25 | 0.48% | 11.01% | 2.02% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 48 | Emma Straub | 24 | 0.47% | 8.34% | 2.03% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 49 | Elizabeth Wetmore | 24 | 0.46% | 12.69% | 2.26% | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 50 | Sarah J. Maas | 24 | 0.46% | 14.53% | 2.22% | 1 | 1 | 3 |