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 2021
Jan 3, 2021 → Dec 26, 2021 · 52 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Matt Haig338
- 2John Grisham270
- 3Laura Dave256
- 4Kristin Hannah214
- 5James Patterson179
- 6Nicholas Sparks176
- 7V. E. Schwab175
- 8Brit Bennett161
- 9Stephen King143
- 10Danielle Steel136
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Haig | 338 | 6.49% | 12.64% | 8.24% | 0 | 18 | 50 |
| 2 | John Grisham | 270 | 5.18% | 14.53% | 9.97% | 7 | 18 | 30 |
| 3 | Laura Dave | 256 | 4.92% | 14.53% | 10.00% | 4 | 16 | 30 |
| 4 | Kristin Hannah | 214 | 4.12% | 14.53% | 9.19% | 4 | 14 | 27 |
| 5 | James Patterson | 179 | 3.44% | 11.01% | 5.82% | 0 | 8 | 40 |
| 6 | Nicholas Sparks | 176 | 3.38% | 14.53% | 8.37% | 2 | 13 | 22 |
| 7 | V. E. Schwab | 175 | 3.36% | 12.64% | 5.96% | 0 | 4 | 35 |
| 8 | Brit Bennett | 161 | 3.09% | 14.53% | 9.98% | 4 | 11 | 22 |
| 9 | Stephen King | 143 | 2.75% | 14.65% | 6.94% | 3 | 8 | 20 |
| 10 | Danielle Steel | 136 | 2.61% | 12.64% | 3.87% | 0 | 6 | 22 |
| 11 | Amanda Gorman | 124 | 2.39% | 14.53% | 6.56% | 3 | 9 | 13 |
| 12 | Taylor Jenkins Reid | 123 | 2.36% | 12.64% | 6.36% | 0 | 9 | 16 |
| 13 | Miranda Cowley Heller | 97 | 1.87% | 14.53% | 5.95% | 1 | 8 | 12 |
| 14 | Amor Towles | 89 | 1.72% | 14.53% | 5.67% | 1 | 7 | 10 |
| 15 | Delia Owens | 88 | 1.69% | 11.01% | 7.28% | 0 | 5 | 14 |
| 16 | David Baldacci | 83 | 1.59% | 14.53% | 4.03% | 1 | 3 | 14 |
| 17 | Andy Weir | 82 | 1.58% | 11.01% | 4.23% | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| 18 | Liane Moriarty | 77 | 1.47% | 14.53% | 5.11% | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| 19 | Anthony Doerr | 75 | 1.44% | 12.64% | 4.39% | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| 20 | Elin Hilderbrand | 69 | 1.32% | 14.53% | 4.60% | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 21 | Mitch Albom | 66 | 1.28% | 14.53% | 5.34% | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| 22 | Louise Penny | 59 | 1.14% | 14.61% | 3.21% | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| 23 | Kazuo Ishiguro | 59 | 1.13% | 11.01% | 3.95% | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| 24 | Sister Souljah | 57 | 1.10% | 14.53% | 4.48% | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 25 | Ernest Cline | 57 | 1.09% | 12.64% | 6.38% | 0 | 3 | 9 |
| 26 | Nora Roberts | 56 | 1.08% | 14.53% | 2.75% | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 27 | Colson Whitehead | 50 | 0.96% | 12.64% | 3.78% | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 28 | Bill Clinton | 49 | 0.95% | 7.26% | 2.78% | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 29 | Daniel Silva | 47 | 0.91% | 14.53% | 3.65% | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 30 | Harlan Coben | 44 | 0.85% | 14.53% | 3.40% | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 31 | J. D. Robb | 42 | 0.82% | 12.64% | 2.24% | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 32 | Fredrik Backman | 41 | 0.80% | 7.26% | 3.71% | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 33 | Sarah Pearse | 41 | 0.79% | 9.58% | 3.33% | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 34 | Alex Michaelides | 40 | 0.78% | 12.64% | 2.88% | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 35 | Diana Gabaldon | 40 | 0.77% | 14.53% | 3.87% | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 36 | Sarah J. Maas | 39 | 0.76% | 14.53% | 2.95% | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 37 | Sally Rooney | 39 | 0.74% | 14.53% | 2.91% | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 38 | Stacey Abrams | 39 | 0.74% | 14.53% | 3.22% | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 39 | Michael Connelly | 37 | 0.71% | 12.64% | 3.80% | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 40 | Paula Hawkins | 36 | 0.70% | 14.62% | 2.97% | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 41 | John Sandford | 34 | 0.65% | 14.53% | 3.02% | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 42 | Janet Evanovich | 31 | 0.60% | 11.01% | 2.97% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 43 | Charles Soule | 30 | 0.58% | 14.53% | 2.64% | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 44 | Brad Thor | 29 | 0.55% | 14.53% | 2.46% | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 45 | C. J. Box | 28 | 0.55% | 9.58% | 2.54% | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 46 | Andrea Bartz | 28 | 0.53% | 11.01% | 2.25% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 47 | Jennifer Weiner | 27 | 0.53% | 8.34% | 2.09% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 48 | Andrew Child | 24 | 0.46% | 6.32% | 2.09% | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 49 | Lee Child | 24 | 0.46% | 6.32% | 2.10% | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 50 | Sarah Penner | 24 | 0.46% | 6.32% | 1.70% | 0 | 0 | 7 |