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aspiring authors, author survey, authors, data on authors and self publishing, hybrid authors, self-publishing, should i go down the self publishing route, stories, traditionally publishing, what are the reasons why authors self publish or traditionally publish, what type of author earns the most, what type of author published the most manuscripts, writing
I found this blog post with some fascinating data. The writer Beth ran a survey this year and interviewed nearly 5,000 authors. It turns out, that hybrid authors (who self publish and traditionally publish) have the greatest median number of published manuscripts.
I wonder why this is the case? Hybrid authors are the most productive in not only traditionally published works (when compared to traditionally published only authors) but also in their self published works (when compared to self published only authors). So, maybe the debate about which form of publishing is redundant. They are both useful for different reasons and that maybe incorporating the two ways of publishing is the new way to go.
In regards to reasons for publishing, hybrid and traditionally published authors were most motivated to making money. Whereas, self-published and aspiring author’s main reasons were to satisfy a lifelong ambition. All four author types included ‘to build my career as a writer’ as a top priority for getting published.
In regards to income, after the $1-$4,999 brackets hybrid authors made just as much money as traditionally published or more. In the last three brackets encompassing $60,000 – $100,000 +, there were more hybrid authors who reported earning that much than traditionally published.
Fascinating stuff, eh? I think that maybe these trends can be attributed to the fact that hybrid authors want to make writing a living and they use every avenue available to them. They publish more. They earn more. Their reasons for publishing are often money-related. What do you make of it all?
Check out Beth’s posts which includes more information and data about the trends she found for author’s income, number of manuscripts and reasons for publishing.
– Ermisenda Alvarez
Ermilia 