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 2023
Jan 1, 2023 → Dec 31, 2023 · 53 chart weeks · ranked by Era Power — Sum of weekly Power Share over the range (share-weeks).
- 1Bonnie Garmus587
- 2Rebecca Yarros457
- 3Barbara Kingsolver308
- 4Gabrielle Zevin241
- 5Stephen King206
- 6Emily Henry200
- 7John Grisham189
- 8Abraham Verghese187
- 9Ann Patchett148
- 10James Patterson141
| # | Author | Era Power | Average share | Peak share | Peak smoothed | Weeks at #1 | Top-five weeks | Weeks charting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonnie Garmus | 587 | 11.07% | 14.53% | 12.66% | 13 | 49 | 53 |
| 2 | Rebecca Yarros | 457 | 8.62% | 23.82% | 17.86% | 18 | 29 | 32 |
| 3 | Barbara Kingsolver | 308 | 5.82% | 9.58% | 6.89% | 0 | 15 | 51 |
| 4 | Gabrielle Zevin | 241 | 4.56% | 12.64% | 8.34% | 0 | 15 | 37 |
| 5 | Stephen King | 206 | 3.89% | 14.53% | 9.91% | 2 | 12 | 28 |
| 6 | Emily Henry | 200 | 3.77% | 14.57% | 9.79% | 5 | 14 | 19 |
| 7 | John Grisham | 189 | 3.56% | 14.53% | 9.60% | 2 | 13 | 21 |
| 8 | Abraham Verghese | 187 | 3.54% | 11.01% | 6.54% | 0 | 12 | 31 |
| 9 | Ann Patchett | 148 | 2.79% | 14.53% | 6.88% | 1 | 9 | 17 |
| 10 | James Patterson | 141 | 2.66% | 7.26% | 5.01% | 0 | 0 | 38 |
| 11 | Ann Napolitano | 125 | 2.36% | 12.64% | 5.29% | 0 | 5 | 22 |
| 12 | James McBride | 102 | 1.92% | 13.16% | 5.71% | 0 | 4 | 17 |
| 13 | Danielle Steel | 91 | 1.72% | 12.64% | 2.92% | 0 | 4 | 17 |
| 14 | David Baldacci | 90 | 1.69% | 14.53% | 4.09% | 1 | 3 | 14 |
| 15 | Elin Hilderbrand | 86 | 1.63% | 14.53% | 5.38% | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| 16 | Shelby Van Pelt | 76 | 1.44% | 4.17% | 2.38% | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| 17 | Ana Reyes | 72 | 1.37% | 12.64% | 5.11% | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| 18 | John Sandford | 59 | 1.12% | 14.58% | 3.04% | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 19 | Jojo Moyes | 57 | 1.07% | 12.64% | 3.89% | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 20 | R.F. Kuang | 56 | 1.06% | 12.64% | 2.46% | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 21 | Nora Roberts | 56 | 1.05% | 14.53% | 3.12% | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 22 | Jeannette Walls | 48 | 0.91% | 12.64% | 3.77% | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 23 | Harlan Coben | 43 | 0.81% | 14.53% | 3.47% | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 24 | C. J. Box | 43 | 0.80% | 14.53% | 3.57% | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 25 | Mitch Albom | 40 | 0.76% | 10.04% | 3.50% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 26 | Janet Evanovich | 40 | 0.76% | 14.53% | 2.97% | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 27 | Jenny Jackson | 37 | 0.69% | 8.34% | 2.69% | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 28 | Matt Haig | 36 | 0.68% | 4.79% | 2.55% | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 29 | Jennifer Finney Boylan | 35 | 0.66% | 4.79% | 2.52% | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 30 | Jodi Picoult | 35 | 0.66% | 4.79% | 2.54% | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| 31 | J. D. Robb | 35 | 0.66% | 14.53% | 2.26% | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 32 | Michael Connelly | 33 | 0.63% | 11.53% | 2.90% | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 33 | Mike Lupica | 33 | 0.63% | 6.32% | 1.79% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 34 | Ken Follett | 33 | 0.61% | 11.01% | 2.52% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 35 | Rebecca Makkai | 32 | 0.60% | 11.01% | 2.38% | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 36 | Lisa Jewell | 31 | 0.59% | 9.58% | 2.35% | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 37 | Brendan DuBois | 28 | 0.53% | 6.32% | 1.64% | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 38 | Daniel Silva | 28 | 0.53% | 12.64% | 2.47% | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 39 | Riley Sager | 26 | 0.49% | 7.26% | 2.19% | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 40 | Leigh Bardugo | 26 | 0.48% | 14.53% | 2.40% | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 41 | Nicholas Sparks | 25 | 0.47% | 9.58% | 6.62% | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 42 | Curtis Sittenfeld | 23 | 0.44% | 11.01% | 2.03% | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 43 | Andrew Child | 22 | 0.41% | 6.32% | 1.63% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 44 | Lee Child | 22 | 0.41% | 6.32% | 1.63% | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 45 | Kyle Mills | 22 | 0.41% | 11.01% | 2.06% | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 46 | Colleen Hoover | 20 | 0.38% | 5.50% | 2.14% | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 47 | Lisa See | 20 | 0.38% | 8.34% | 1.66% | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 48 | Kate Morton | 20 | 0.38% | 12.64% | 1.85% | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 49 | Grady Hendrix | 19 | 0.36% | 8.34% | 1.82% | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 50 | Tom Hanks | 19 | 0.36% | 12.68% | 1.75% | 0 | 1 | 3 |