Online Fiction Writers Survey Preview
Survey closing at the end of this month
Hello! Bonus Wednesday newsletter this week. Last month I launched the 2022 Online Fiction Writers Survey. The plan is to find out as much as possible about how writers are adapting to opportunities and creative challenges online. I’ll be writing a full report and sharing all the findings.
I’ll be closing the survey at the end of June, so if you’re a writer do make sure you send in your thoughts in the next few weeks.
Find out more in the original announcement here:
I’ll share some sneak peak findings in a sec, but first a couple of links to brand new book promos in which I’m taking part:
Imagination Unleashed is a fantasy and science fiction-themed giveaway, packed full of intriguing ebooks for you to download for free. Well, free as long as you don’t mind sharing your email address with the writer. I love just browsing the front covers on these giveaways.
Father’s Day Giveaway is featuring sci-fi and fantasy, especially space opera and steampunk. I’m not clear on whether all the writers are dads, or whether the book selection is expected to appeal to dads, but either way there’s a lot of fun stuff to poke at.
You’ll find the collected first edition of Tales from the Triverse in there somewhere, which is a great way to catch up on season 1 of the series before reading the new chapters every Friday on this newsletter.
Survey sneak peek
OK! Here are some survey glimpses. There have been over 50 responses, which is lovely and should provide some interesting insight.
Curiously, I can confirm that there is at least one person who went to the survey, declared that they’re not a writer, and then declined to receive the final report. So, not a writer and also not interested in the results. I’d love to know what led them to clicking on the survey link in the first place.
Fascinating.
Meanwhile, it seems that 46% of respondents write either part-time or full-time. This is actually considerably higher than I might have expected. Writing is hard, making a living from writing is even harder, and it’s great to see so many people giving it a proper go.
This one really caught my attention:
54.5% of respondents write their entire book before they begin publishing it online in a serial form. I fall into that 18.2% minority of people who write just-in-time, writing and publishing in the same week. It’s been such a beneficial way of working for me that I’m fascinated to see how unusual it actually is.
Tip of the iceberg stuff. The full report will have a ton more analysis and detail. You can take part by clicking this big ol’ pink picture:
See you all on Friday for a new Triverse chapter.
I’d be interested to see how different people are interpreting “just in time.” I finished a serial a few months ago and tried to stay a month ahead, but that eventually dwindled to a week and then a matter of days. I don’t *think* I had any chapters that I finalized the night before the newsletter went out, but I also wonder how close to the line people come.