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 What’s the ratio of published to unpublished, male to female, age, etc.?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.
(hehehe)…Now it's 78% women. (I still can't believe you didn't already know this Nathan. Too funny…
I still wonder what the genres are for those women. I'd bet if you took a look at the market women writers are on the rise. (That would be interesting to check out as well.) It might give you an edge that other agents don't have…
Thanks, Linda! Crossing my fingers that's true. 🙂
It could be a draw back to all us "women" out here. It might serve us well to query agents who have less of a draw…I don't know?
I prefer to think of myself as pre-agented, because I haven't actually queried yet.
Great poll. Dawn, I am also in that publishing-contract-but-no-agent-hoping-the-WIP-will-grab-me-one boat.
LOL, Jen C. I'm with you!
We're all working on manuscripts, right?
I'm another published-but-agentless type. My writing teacher always said it was just as hard to get an agent as a publisher… actually, it's harder.
The age breakdown is interesting. It seems skewed a little younger than the blogosphere. Or maybe just my perception of the blogosphere is skewed.
pre-agented? ooohhh… I love that one! That's so my new line…
Thanks for the survey, Nathan!
What about Life Experience background? Seems that would be more valuable than college?
I'm actually surprised that it's only 72% unagented, because after all, Nathan, you ARE an agent. I would expect most folks who followed your blog to do so because they're looking for an agent, and you provide a lot of info on how to do that.
On the other hand, I have an agent, and I follow your blog because it's entertaining and informative about lots of aspect of the book publishing biz. So, I guess I really shouldn't be surprised at all!
linda-
Yeah, I think most agents would feel that was appropriate.
Have you ever wondered why people begin queries with retorical questions? :o)
Boo and hiss to those who Bronx salute rhetorical questions! *g*
I'm a third through one WIP an MG, gotta reasarch more for my YA and am going to LOVE that one's revisions, since I'll have to add more to it than I've got down now, yippee!!! The Angel of Mercy moved in for revisions–in the form of FINALLYgetting access to a law enforcement guy to talk to me!!!
Neat survey, Nathan, thanks. If you think I've got a thing for hair, when I update my pic, wait until you see mine :).
So F.P would not call Harper Lee a successful writer since she only wrote one novel. correct?
Wow… a lot of unagented readers, Nathan. Help a sista out!
Wow. There are a lot of females reading this blog so far. Huh. It must be Nathan's hair…
Oh, it's totally the hair. In fact, if he were to use a picture with the hair blowing in the wind, there'd probably be even more of us. Okay, the friendly and honest advice may help a teeeeensy bit, but it's mainly the hair.
Nathan,
I have a semi-serious question: how much is query reading and requesting partials like reading flap copy in a bookstore and deciding on books to read? Having a bookstore myself, I'm endlessly reading jacket copy. Some things look sort of shaky, some things look good but not for me, some things look like something I might read but I realize I probably won't, some things look like things I will read but I don't know when, and some things I'll want to start reading on the spot.
It's not very analytical. Pretty instinctive, as I guess it is for most people. So it makes me wonder if that's the initial sorting mechanism for editors and agents, too? Does much market analysis come in then, or is that later if you start considering more seriously?
I'm a pretty eclectic reader, and yet reading so much jacket copy I realize just how selective I really am. And this is among books that have already been published (and thus generally very good books). I think my selectivism would be even stronger amidst queries.
Just been pondering…
Bryan-
I think the biggest difference is that the author writes the query but not usually the jacket copy.
I'm surprised by some of the results… not that so many unagented writers are reading this blog, but that so many of them have so few written books.
I suppose I thought if they were all up to the agent search part, they'd have a couple of 'best-left-under-the-bed's' already notched in their belt.
I'm also surprised by the high amount of female to male readers.
Nathan, how do these statistics reflect publishing norms in general? I mean, are more females writing these days?
That was fun. And informative.
Whoops. That will teach me for not reading through the comments before I added my own… didn't intend to come in on an existing debate about the point of writing multiple works.
*blush*
Gotta back up the other epublished writers… as recently contracted epublished writer, I clicked "published" cheerfully and did not even notice that you had bunched it up with self-published. As we clear a paycheck for our work and as our work is novel length (90,000+words in my case) I guess when I glanced through the options and I saw the published or self-published, well, I had not paid to be published so I knew which one I was. It was not until I read the comments that I had to shoot to the top in frustration.
As we have to query, get rejected, edit, write synopsis (no… not in that order)and for all of the above go through the publishing process, how is our work of less substance? How can you one week discuss the wonders of Kindle and the next bash the authors writing that media? We write, we edit, we submit, we get paid. We are not self-published.
*steps gingerly from soapbox*
You've got a huge female Gen X following.
Ferris Bueller would be proud.
Wow! I feel like a strange oddball. So many of you are female and I'm male. I mean, it doesn't matter but I never realized the contrast was so big.
Its great clicking the finished a novel button and the 90% finished WIP button. If I can just wrap up book 2…
Thanks for this poll, Nathan. It's fun to see these things.
"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."
But thankfully not all of us guys miss these blogs. 😉
Hannah, Congratulations! That's fantastic.
Marilyn, Seventh time is a charm.
I think there is a certain logic to the stats. Many women don't have the luxury of time until they get into their late thirties, and then when they carve out that time to write it's very exciting. When you're excited about something you want to share it, so search out the next step in the process. This leads to agents blogs. Victoria, I think stumbling on to something so informative keeps the dream alive even if we haven't a few full manuscripts that are under the bed. It's not necessarily the information though that keeps people returning to this blog, at least not for me. I can get the information, but Nathan is so entertaining and generous in humoring all of the different opinions and commentary and that's why perhaps not ready for an agent, we'd follow it nonetheless. At least that's why I do.
Oh, and just to avoid any unintentional debate, I understand that some people will make the time under any circumstances. That follows the line of thinking that some people have to write, they can't survive without it. What I am possibly suggesting that there is an entire world out there who really don't have the luxuries we presumably have, even the less fortunate of us.
And Ink, I think that's a great point. When I am in a bookstore, it takes very, very little time for me to decide if a book is for me. The jacket copy decides it (along with the cover to a minor degree. Certain types of books have certain covers as we all know). When I read that all I could think was if I expect someone to give my query a shot, should I therefore look a little more deeply before I reject a book for purchase? Seems to be the right thing to do, all things being equal. Thanks making me think about that.
After seeing the survey results, all I can say is the Ladies Love Cool Nathan.
I had no idea, even from reading comments, that the blog readership was so female-dominated.
Hello ladies 😉
I'm with LJ (Anonymous). I've often felt that my short work just didn't count. In addition to stories and articles, I've published over a hundred poems. When I was nominated for a Pushcart, there was noone I could tell. And when I told a friend that I was interviewed for Poet's Market, she said, "We all have to start somewhere."
All this doesn't make me want an agent and a contract any less.
Laura Martone,
I am completely with you. I started my novel when I was 17,after meeting my major crush,Daniel Richler (I'm over it now, as far as my husband is concerned). Anyway,I decided I'd write a novel, and started contemplating ideas. A few days later I heard voices in my head. It was a conversation and I wrote it down. That part still exists in my ms, so does the very general framework, but as I grew up, I wrote and rewrote. I'm still rewriting, but now I am 32 which is slightly older than my 27 year-old protag, and with a lot of life experience to add. My practice has been in rewrite after rewrite, and all the other things that I have worked at on the side. I am beyond sentimentally attached. Do I have have other ideas and things I am working on? Yes. My first published book won't even be that one, because, (you guessed it), I'm still working on it, though I am actually nearing completion right now. And, if it gets rejected all over the place, I'll pull my red pen back out. Keep going Laura.
As others have said, I'm extremely surprised by the men to women ratio. WOW! I've actually never even MET a woman who's written or writing a book (other than at workshops, writer's groups, etc), but I've met plenty of men. Hmmm….
This makes me feel like a cheater. Because technically, yes, I've written 7 novels and 4 of them are published–but those 4 novels were all contracted romance work under a pen name. That I started hating on book #2.
So I pretend those don't exist when it comes to my career. I'm a fantasy author, and in that field, I've written 3. Two were terrible, but this one isn't.
Thanks, Nathan.
Part of the reason I asked is because I've been wondering a bit about overthinking queries lately. The writers who are interested in finding information go around, tracking all the blogs, picking up all the tips, cross the t's and dot the i's, check off each element that's needed. And yet maybe forgetting to tell a story…
So I got back to thinking about jacket copy, that very immediate sort of reaction I get when picking up a book. Yes, I want to read it. No, I don't want to read it. Trying to create that sense of intrigue… and so a query is just sort of like a story in miniature. Beginning (hook), middle (complications and rising action) and end (conclusion, or at least a hint of such).
But, if agents are thinking market analysis first, how it fits, etc., then maybe it won't be as big a deal. But I was thinking maybe it's not so different than what I do – a quick and subjective filter looking for that quick yes feeling.
Okay, it's late and I'm blabbering.
Go, Laura!
I absolutely agree that your first novel can be "the one". In fact, this particular phenomenon is closely related to the one-hit-wonder. Sometimes it is the story that captures a writer's heart, not the craft. Dedication to the story keeps the author chiseling away, sometimes for years and years, at the same story because they know the story is good but the craftsmanship could be better. Tolkein much?
Some of the books I've most enjoyed have been first works. A Time To Kill is my favorite Grisham novel and it was his first, although it was the third to be published.
And how many times have you read a body of work and come back to the first as the one you love the most? I bet it was the one the author enjoyed writing the most, as well.
The pay-your-dues, blood-sweat-and-tears school of thought has its place but it doesn't recognize the distinction between writers and storytellers. Some of the very best writers can't tell a story that resonates. Some kind of bad writers can. And sometimes, the right story makes a storyteller into a writer.
Jay, I think the difference is that men frequently talk of writing books, whereas women actually write them 😉
Laura, Cowgirl, I envy your passion for your pieces. I never have (and imagine I never will) come close to that level of dedication for a piece of writing. Sure, I've become attached, but I can part ways easily enough (and, no, it's not b/c of my wandering Y chromosome :)… In some ways, I know it's good that I can get up and move on, but I admire your perseveration and wish you (and everyone else equally impassioned) all the best.
I also just read Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, so I've been thinking a lot about first impressions. So I was wondering what agents key on first. The genre facts, the bio, or is that all skipped and it's straight to the story to see if it resonates?
In agent for a day I found myself skipping over the intro paragraph if there was one… if I liked the story bit I'd look at it again more closely. I suppose the connection I'm trying to make is between the first impression (and central interest) of the agent and how I might reflect that in the structure of a query.
Okay, jabbering again. Sorry. (Should recommend Blink to everybody while I'm at it. Very good stuff_
Bryan, great point (and I'll second the recommend on the book) — perhaps that's why we should begin w/ the story (if we don't have a personal connection) and hope it instantly grabs the agent (instead of the 'I'm seeking rep…' sort of thing) — that whole hook thingamabob…
But I'm tired of queries. I say, naff off you little plonkers, you're driving me mad as a box of frogs.
This reminds me that I did have a textbook for Law students published – first in CD Rom format (writing teh search index was a pian) and then as a paperback. But I was contracted to write it so I've never really felt that it counted.
I'm stunned that my age group (30-39) is currently the most represented amongst the blog readership. I thought I would be one of the oldies!
Hannah, many congratulations! And…10-20 novels? And you aren't even 20?!
I want to know how to do that. I mean, it's too late for me to do it by the age of 20, but…
Wow, thanks everyone! And yep, I just finished the first draft of book number 13 a few days ago. Four or five of them are okay, the rest are total and complete crap. But we plow on!
I finished the first just after I turned fourteen. It is pretty damn awful.
Bryan, I have a comment about the query. This is what I think: trust your gut instincts as a writer. Write the query that you'd want to receive.
The other thing: write it once, get feedback, re-write and then let it go. So many people re-work the query until their voice is lost.
Btw, I thought you were hilarious in your comment about men/women above. You're so funny sometimes. If people haven't gone to Ink's blog and read his piece on Walmart, I hope they do. It's the funniest thing I've read in awhile.
Re. the gender imbalance, who could argue that Nathan has good hair? Nonetheless, I've noticed he relates as well with men on the blog as he does with women, so I really think the hair issue is just an added bonus.
I've also noticed the same basic gender breakdown on other agent's blogs, and although some of them have very nice hair, they are not….um, good looking men. Well, they are not men at all. So, Nathan's idea that more women come to blogs, because more women are willing to ask for 'directions', is…well, I agree.
And congrats to both Hannah on her book, and Marilyn on finishing her next one! Good luck to both of you.
Thanks so much, Mira!
Bane, thank you so much. It isn't like I really have a choice with the story. It won't shut up. Believe me, I've tried ignoring it. It is learning to behave better for me, though.
And Hannah, congrats! Also, thanks for reminding me, I worte a gawd awful chapter book in grade four about a family lost at sea. I guess tat sounded really exotic to a young girl from the prairies. My favourite writer was published very young, and he went on to be a Canadian literary icon. With your determination, I imagine you will see huge success in your life. Way to go!
Let's try that again.
Absolutely, Marilyn. You work so hard; you really deserve it. I'm definitely crossing my fingers for you.
Nathan, I just made a joke about how I'd still want you for my agent even if you lost all your hair, but I realized I wasn't sure how you'd take that….I guess my point is that it's nice that Nathan is good looking, but it really does sort of…..Well, it looks flattering on the surface, and I realize that people are mostly joking….or maybe they just want to talk about his good looks….but honestly, I just don't think it's the big draw. I see many good looking people on blogs who do not draw a readership of over a thousand. I think his charm, competence, work ethic and clear moral center are what draws people, both men and women. The outside is just a bonus.
That's what I think, anyway.
Mira, I just thought he must be a farm boy. They seem to have that sort of appeal.
And, maybe we best not speculate any further on the attraction of the blog, as Nathan is a married man and we wouldn't want his wife to limit his blog time.
Actually, I believe that studies have shown that women are better at interactive communication than men, and this blog has a very strong community of people who comment, which may be part of it. I think Nathan has done a great job to promote that community, too. But, I suspect there are more male lurkers than female ones.
Literary Cowgirl – good points all around.
Wow! Interesting & informative. Thank you, Nathan!
~ Reb
rebeccasinclair.com
Nice survey (: The distribution didn't really suprise me except the ages section.
I thought there was more young people hanging around than that.
Now I feel like a kid.
I thought, "Hey, a survey! I can learn a little about the people who read this blog from it."
Turns out the comments were just as, if not more informative! Fun!
Now for my rhetorical question query: … psyche!
(one manuscript done, two more WIP at 50% and shrinking every day, and one more at *shrug*.)
Ha ha! Briefly delurking to say these polls are FUN!