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The Writing Academy Newsletter To receive our monthly newsletter
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to the Writing Academy: Welcome to the AWA newsletter! It’s been a hectic few weeks here at the Academy. We’ve collected together all the survey results from the hundreds sent in from NSW, NT, VIC, WA and SA and present the findings below. By the way, thank you so much for taking part in the survey! An Explanation Required? Some of you have asked about the Academy’s logo – and what the Latin phrase beneath it actually means. Well, in case you’re unable to read it on this newsletter – okay, it’s rather small - the text reads ‘Erudio Consilium’ which, roughly translated, means teach wisdom – which we consider to be an entirely fitting motto for the Academy! Our mission, too. The Survey Results Only 14% of people who
considered themselves writers had ever got paid for what
they'd done. 7% considered themselves a professional.
Just 6% said it was their goal to write for a living. 61% said their main interest was in fiction, 33% non fiction and 10% picked out poetry as their main focus, with smaller percentages spread over a wide range of areas. A fact that surprised us was the genre most respondents were interested in was Children's and YA fiction - at 21%. Romance came in second - 16% with Mystery and Suspense third - at 14%. Only 4% said they were interested in writing Thrillers. Smaller percentages were recorded over a wide range of genres - everything from Horror to SF to Fantasy to Bios. It surprised us too that only 7% were interested in writing anything they considered 'literary'! 44% had never taken a writing course. Only 6% were involved in a writer's group and only 6% had ever used the Internet to find writing help. What I found particularly interesting is that almost to a person, all of the professional writers had paid for writing services in the past, from Net courses, to correspondence, to MS assessment, even paying for mentoring. That confirms our experience though - the writers most likely to succeed are those that actively seek out - and pay for - resources designed to help them. Also fascinating was that 51% said they wanted 'advanced writing tips' while only 26% wanted help with the basics. Curiously, it was mostly the 'enthusiastic amateurs' that wanted 'advanced tips' whilst the professionals still wanted help on the basics! Bearing in mind that most of these respondents had never used the Internet, it was interesting how much people were willing to pay for writing courses. 35% said they would pay up to $500 for a good course, 33% up to $200, and 17% up to $100. 17% said they'd be willing to spend over $500. A mere 1% said they thought writing courses should be free. Finally, 46% of writers said they wrote purely for pleasure. 42% said their main goal was publication and, also interestingly, 13% said they were writing for posterity. We hope you've found these results as fascinating as we did - it certainly provides real insight into how writers - as a community - see themselves. Rob@writersfriend.com.au |
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