In the comments section of last week’s Genre Poll, some people wanted to know more about who exactly is reading this blog anyway. What’s the ratio of published to unpublished, male to female, age, etc.?
So here’s a quick series of polls that will hopefully demystify the demographics. Please click through from e-mail or your blog reader to see the polls.
(the second option in this poll should have read: “Started, haven’t finished”):
Let’s see who’s really out there.
Robert McGuire says
After 2 1/2 years I think I'm finally in the gray transition area between "done" and "sending it to agents who will probably tell me I'm not done."
Ryan Potter says
That was fun. I wish everything in this business was that easy.
Ieva says
I clicked "unagented" but technically, I've been published on what can't be considered a professional market (1000 ex if I remember correctly).
I got paid for that, too. 😛
JohnO says
I'm no legal expert, but that last item might be a leading question.
Genella deGrey says
That was fun and informative – thanks!
(And the part about the rhetorical question made me giggle.)
🙂
G.
DebraLSchubert says
Rhetorical Question: Is it just me, or did I detect a bias on that last question?
Nathan – I LOVE these polls! It's so interesting to see where people are at. Next time maybe you could go door to door?;-)
Reesha says
Wow. There are a lot of females reading this blog so far. Huh.
It must be Nathan's hair…
Bane of Anubis says
What's wrong with rhetorical questions?
Thanks for the great polls — wow, gents, we need to pick up the pace.
Anonymous says
Hey! Stories get published too. I'm (thus far) unpublished in novels but nicely published as far as stories. 🙂
[posting anon, since it won't take my LJ handle for some reason…]
Dawn says
I got a publishing contract by going directly to the publisher, but I'm hoping to get an agent with my WIP which I'm currently revising. 🙂
Christina Gullickson says
Nathan is so popular with the ladies!
Also, where's the 100% complete and started on next WIP option?
Angela says
I keep getting "nudges" from people to get on with the revising and agenting process. I guess this is another nudge. (sigh) It's so scary, though!
Anthony says
I am floored by the gender question responses.
Intellectually, I understood the blog-sphere was owned by women. It is quite another to see it validated.
Nathan, do your queries have the same male-female ratio?
Anonymous says
So agented with an MS before publishers but also having several ebook published and upcoming falls where in this survey?
Nathan Bransford says
anthony-
No, it's much more of an even male/female mix. Although I will say, not to stereotype by gender or anything, but a lot more of the really "out there" queries tend to come from men, who I'm guessing aren't reading agent blogs in the same numbers as women.
Maybe it's the same gene where you don't want to stop and ask for directions.
Anonymous says
That was informative and fun. Thanks Nathan.
Nathan Bransford says
anon (and others)-
There's no way to poll for every eventuality. Just pick the one that you think fits you best.
jill says
so hard to answer! 3 complete novels, but 3 (or 4) more in various stages of progress. Incomplete ones are 25%, 50%, and 75% complete (and barely started). Completed ones are in assorted stages of revision (crit group, beta readers).
word verification: untme – untime or untie me?
Anonymous says
Two more questions you could have asked(so we know who writes books):
1.What's your work background, before published?
A.Business/no writing
B.Business with writing
C.Teaching
D.Publishing/journalism
E.None of above &/or no paid work
AND
2.What's your educational background?
A.Less than undergrad
B.Undergraduate degree
C.Masters Degree
D.Doctorate
E.More than 1 advanced degree
Pepper Smith says
It would have been nice if your option for epublished hadn't been linked with self-published, because there are a lot of legitimate epublishers out there who are nothing to do with self-publishing.
Jen C says
I'm on what I predict to be my penultimate editing pass. Joy!
Kristan says
LOL to Ryan Potter.
I clicked Unagented because that's my career goal (get agent, get published, get LOTS of readers) but I've been e-publishing an online chick lit series just for fun.
And yeah, haha, I skipped the rhetorical question poll. Oh, Nathan…
Nathan Bransford says
pepper-
I knew people were going to say that. I know they're different, but I feel they can be lumped together as "other publishing." If I drilled down into every single eventuality the polls would be too long/cumbersome.
gregfreed says
I'm a publishing professional, only beginning as an author. Editors and other agents weren't well-represented in your polls.
Valerie says
Instead of "Started Never Finished" it would be great if there was a "Currently Working On" because I'm in the process of writing my first novel, but I haven't given up on it yet. Checking started never finished kinda makes me feel like a loser, which I swear, I so totally am not.
Nathan Bransford says
valerie-
Whoops, that should have read, "Started HAVEN'T finished."
Unfortunately I can't change the poll though. Sorry about that!
Don says
On rhetorical questions: https://news.yahoo.com/comics/frazz;_ylt=AlpSXBHEpPeFJO8uVb1pg_wL_b4F
Heather Sunseri says
Interesting results. Wonder why so many women? I have a few theories.
Hilabeans says
Great post. Thanks for asking. Metrics can be fun. 🙂
It would be interesting to see how many agent blogs writers follow and if there is any correlation to query letter quality.
Additionally, how many writers have day jobs? Or degrees outside of English or Journalism?
Thanks again,
HHS
T. Anne says
Well Nathan, I alarmingly fit into the norm of your demographics (so far). But enough with the profiling, aren't we due for another contest? 😉 *she says with utter hope*
Anonymous says
I've been "agented" for exactly one submission. Last year an agent responded to a 100 page partial & synopsis by enthusiastically sending it to an award-winning editor at a great house: agent said we'd probably hear back in a week. I forgot about it for a few months (it never left my mind for more than a few seconds) until I was copied, accidentally, on an email exchange that revealed a series of email mishaps in the handoff of the pdf…editor requesting a resend, agent forgetting to until a MONTH later, by which time the editor was buried in another project– chagrined agent tentative to press after weeks & months go by…the week became a year. I asked, of course, but the agent wouldn't send it to other editors. Agent is a very nice fellow and has a fine (if flaky) reputation, but he's obviously not the one for me. Unagented, I.
Amy D says
Opens up a whole can o' worms, yes? Why are most of your readers women? Are there more women who want to be published than men who do? Or do women just participate in surveys more? etc.
Anonymous says
ooh, what about geography too?
Valerie says
Wow, you work fast! I feel much better now. LOL Thanks!
Hilary Wagner ~ Writer says
It took me 7 months to write my first MS. 13 months to find my agent and 2 months to sell my first MS to its publisher. I heart my agent, so worth the wait! It's funny how the agent part took the longest, but I'm sure that's the case for a lot of people. To everyone out there still querying, keep going! And Nathan, no matter what you say, I do think some of the ladies be having a crush on you!! Ha, ha! Thanks for the great post!
sex scenes at starbucks says
You're such a goof. That's what we love about you. 🙂
Anonymous says
Thank you.
wonderer says
Fascinating quiz, Nathan.
A couple of elaborations:
"How many books have you written?"
I picked 5-10, but I'll only admit to the existence of three or four of them.
"For those working on a manuscript, how far are you?"
I'm in revisions on one, under 25% of the way through a complete rewrite of another, and have one or two more first drafts that I plan on going back to. Any other project-hoppers out there?
Anonymous says
Very interesting that (so far) a quarter of respondants have only written one novel.
I'm aghast by that.
I was too overwhelmed to hang out on agent blogs until I had at least finished a few. I knew I had to keep my nose to the grindstone if my mss were ever going to get done. This is me, though, and I'm not necessarily suggesting that others are wrong, but the thought does cross my mind quite a lot in this business that people favor the "romantic" notion of writing much more than they do the hard ass work of finising the damn thing.
Laura Martone says
Haha, Robert McGuire, I'm about to be at that point, too!
And, amen, Ryan, I wish everything were just that easy.
I just can't believe how many of us are unagented AND female. What does that say about the Bransfordites?
F. P. says
I'm not a regular reader here for various reasons, but I'm a sucker for polls.
My answers: 10-20 books, self-/e-published, 50-75% complete on my current novel, age bracket 40-49. I've been writing seriously for 15 years and have written more than what the poll questions (screenplays, essays, and multiple unfinished novels, short stories and screenplays).
I'm assuming most people responding here read quite regularly, so I'm a bit disturbed that so far only 15% have written five or more books and 25% have only written one. But these numbers aren't unexpected (if they hold).
A body of work should contain multiple works, not one or two. I think too many writers are simply desiring instant-gratification publication, not to write over the long haul and create a body of work.
On the other hand, to be fair to my own kind, continuing on with writing is extremely tough, especially in the face of multiple rejections, which writers typically accumulate with increasing time. Some people are better off quitting at an early point or midpoint, or at least downscaling writing's importance in their lives.
Get back to your manuscripts, people–that's what really counts!
Robin says
Interesting poll results. Especially the large percentage of women readers (of which I am one). How about a question asking if we have succeeded in other writing endeavors outside of novels? I have some produced works in playwriting and film and television. This is my first novel, or at least the first novel that I intend to finish.
Mira says
This was fun. And interesting!
Well, it was fun, until I got stuck in a paradoxical alternate dimensional loop, while I frantically tried to answer a rhetorical question about rhetorical questions.
I'm still here actually. It's quiet here, in rhetorical question land. All the questions are already answered. So peaceful. I may never leave….
Thermocline says
Damn you Writer Survey for reminding me I have to cross over into a new age category on my next birthday!
F. P. says
"…that people favor the "romantic" notion of writing much more than they do the hard ass work of finis[h]ing the damn thing."
–Too true.
Laura Martone says
Anon 11:54 – Just because I've only finished one novel doesn't mean I'm not SERIOUS about the craft of writing. I'm quite serious about it as a long-term goal – which is why I'm working so hard to revise my book. I don't consider it a "practice" novel – this is the first one that I wrote AND the first one that I want to publish.
Sometimes, I get so tired of the notion that a writer has to write three or four novels before trying to get published. What's wrong with trying to make the first one the best it can be?
F. P. says
Damn–72% have finished only 3 or fewer books!
A transposition mistake above: I should have written, "I'm assuming most people responding read here quite regularly…"
LaShawn M. Wanak says
Nice poll. Interesting to see the results. it'll be good to have the question "How long have you been 'revising' your work?" I'm doing my second edit of my book, and I'd be curious to see how long it takes others to revise & edit.
Anne Lyle says
I have a box-full of half-completed novels under my bed – but for this poll I only included the two I've drafted to novel length (over 50k), one of which I'm revising/redrafting at the moment. It's hard work but satisfying! One day soon it'll be finished and I can send it out into the wide world…
And for the record, I have a life sciences degree and a day-job, and yes, I used to work in (non-fiction) publishing – before I discovered that IT pays better 🙂
Rose says
"Maybe it's the same gene where you don't want to stop and ask for directions."
Still laughing.
Is there a gene for "who knew they even had directions on how to do this stuff?"