A Writer of History blog post has links to the Latest Survey of readers of Historical Fiction, as well as a summary of results of the latest 2013 survey, at this site.
Here are some of the 2013 results as summarized by the blog – ask yourself what impact the results might have on your writing and publishing efforts (audience, likes and dislikes, price expectations etc):
A few highlights from prior surveys:
- HISTORICAL Fiction IS MAINSTREAM: Less than 2% of participants said they rarely or never read Historical fiction.
- GENDER MAKES A DIFFERENCE: Women and men differ significantly in their reading habits and preferences and their views of historical fiction.
- AGE MAKES A DIFFERENCE: Those under 30 have different preferences for genre and time period and have different patterns of consumption and acquisition.
- SOCIAL MEDIA IS HAVING AN IMPACT ON READING: Social media and online sites play an increasingly significant role for those choosing, purchasing, and talking about fiction.
- BOOK BLOGS ARE VERY POPULAR: 1,473 participants listed one, two or three favourite blogs.
- GEOGRAPHY: Responses to questions such as the use of Online Tools for recommendations and purchasing and preferred setting for historical fiction varied by geography.
- PRICING: Sadly, readers are pushing for low prices. For example, 60% want e-books at $5.99 or less and 66% want paperbacks at $10.99 or less.
- ONLINE BOOK CLUBS ARE GAINING POPULARITY: 21% belong to online clubs while 15% belong to clubs meeting in a physical location
- VOLUME OF BOOKS READ MAKES A DIFFERENCE: for example, high volume readers have different expectations for book reviews, a higher interest in tracking their books, and higher usage of online tools and social media to augment their reading experience.
A Writer of History has many posts on survey results and insights and you can find summary reports and other popular articles here.
FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION follow A WRITER OF HISTORY
Have fun!
