diff --git a/backend/services/author_service.py b/backend/services/author_service.py
index cbf9fec..f2ce4d1 100644
--- a/backend/services/author_service.py
+++ b/backend/services/author_service.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from datetime import datetime
-from sqlalchemy import select, func
+from sqlalchemy import select, func, desc as sa_desc, asc as sa_asc, literal
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
 
 from backend.models.author import Author
@@ -17,60 +17,75 @@ async def list_authors(
     page: int = 1,
     per_page: int = 25,
 ) -> tuple[list[dict], int]:
-    base = select(Author)
+    # Always compute counts from actual data
+    post_count = select(func.count(Post.id)).where(Post.author_id == Author.id)
+    comment_count = select(func.count(Comment.id)).where(Comment.author_id == Author.id)
 
-    if subreddit_id or since or until:
-        # Need to compute activity counts with filters
-        post_count = (
-            select(func.count(Post.id))
-            .where(Post.author_id == Author.id)
-        )
-        comment_count = (
-            select(func.count(Comment.id))
-            .where(Comment.author_id == Author.id)
-        )
+    if subreddit_id:
+        post_count = post_count.where(Post.subreddit_id == subreddit_id)
+        comment_count = comment_count.join(Post).where(Post.subreddit_id == subreddit_id)
+    if since:
+        post_count = post_count.where(Post.created_utc >= since)
+        comment_count = comment_count.where(Comment.created_utc >= since)
+    if until:
+        post_count = post_count.where(Post.created_utc <= until)
+        comment_count = comment_count.where(Comment.created_utc <= until)
 
-        if subreddit_id:
-            post_count = post_count.where(Post.subreddit_id == subreddit_id)
-            comment_count = comment_count.join(Post).where(Post.subreddit_id == subreddit_id)
-        if since:
-            post_count = post_count.where(Post.created_utc >= since)
-            comment_count = comment_count.where(Comment.created_utc >= since)
-        if until:
-            post_count = post_count.where(Post.created_utc <= until)
-            comment_count = comment_count.where(Comment.created_utc <= until)
+    post_sub = post_count.correlate(Author).scalar_subquery().label("total_posts")
+    comment_sub = comment_count.correlate(Author).scalar_subquery().label("total_comments")
 
-        base = select(
-            Author,
-            post_count.correlate(Author).scalar_subquery().label("filtered_posts"),
-            comment_count.correlate(Author).scalar_subquery().label("filtered_comments"),
-        )
-    else:
-        base = select(Author)
+    base = select(Author, post_sub, comment_sub)
 
-    count_stmt = select(func.count()).select_from(base.subquery())
+    # Only show authors with activity
+    having_activity = base.having(
+        (post_sub > 0) | (comment_sub > 0)
+    ).group_by(Author.id)
+
+    # Count total active authors
+    count_stmt = select(func.count()).select_from(having_activity.subquery())
     total = (await db.execute(count_stmt)).scalar() or 0
 
-    sort_col = getattr(Author, sort_by, Author.total_comments)
-    if sort_order == "asc":
-        base = base.order_by(sort_col.asc())
+    # Sort by computed counts
+    if sort_by == "total_posts":
+        sort_col = post_sub
     else:
-        base = base.order_by(sort_col.desc())
+        sort_col = comment_sub
 
-    base = base.offset((page - 1) * per_page).limit(per_page)
+    order_fn = sa_desc if sort_order == "desc" else sa_asc
+    query = base.order_by(order_fn(sort_col)).offset((page - 1) * per_page).limit(per_page)
 
-    result = await db.execute(base)
+    result = await db.execute(query)
     authors = []
     for row in result.all():
         author = row[0]
         data = {c.name: getattr(author, c.name) for c in author.__table__.columns}
+        data["total_posts"] = row[1] or 0
+        data["total_comments"] = row[2] or 0
         authors.append(data)
 
     return authors, total
 
 
 async def get_author(db: AsyncSession, author_id: int) -> dict | None:
-    author = await db.get(Author, author_id)
-    if not author:
+    post_count = (
+        select(func.count(Post.id))
+        .where(Post.author_id == author_id)
+        .scalar_subquery()
+    )
+    comment_count = (
+        select(func.count(Comment.id))
+        .where(Comment.author_id == author_id)
+        .scalar_subquery()
+    )
+    result = await db.execute(
+        select(Author, post_count.label("total_posts"), comment_count.label("total_comments"))
+        .where(Author.id == author_id)
+    )
+    row = result.first()
+    if not row:
         return None
-    return {c.name: getattr(author, c.name) for c in author.__table__.columns}
+    author = row[0]
+    data = {c.name: getattr(author, c.name) for c in author.__table__.columns}
+    data["total_posts"] = row[1] or 0
+    data["total_comments"] = row[2] or 0
+    return data