2018 Reader Survey … a teaser

With the holiday and big accident (see this post) beginning to ease into the background, yesterday I turned my thoughts to the reader survey conducted in June and July. While the full report won’t be available for at least a week, here’s a sample of things to come.

This year’s survey was designed to reach readers of all fiction genres. 2418 people responded; 84% female, 16% male. The survey includes questions on:

• general reading habits
• the selection and acquisition of books
• the reading experience
• the influence of social media on reading

Here’s a question you might find intriguing:

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE FICTION GENRES? (CHOOSE UP TO 3)

• FIRST, A CAVEAT … I am a member of a robust group of historical fiction fans so results have a built-in bias for that genre
• TOP 5 GENRES ARE MYSTERY/THRILLER, ROMANCE, HISTORICAL FICTION, WOMEN’S FICTION AND LITERARY

Digging further:

• The top genres for men are HISTORICAL FICTION, MYSTERY/THRILLER, SCIENCE FICTION, MILITARY/WAR and FANTASY
• INTEREST IN FANTASY DECREASES WITH AGE – from 54% for those under 30 to 6% for those over 70; there is a similar pattern for SCIENCE FICTION and HORROR
• INTEREST IN MYSTERY/THRILLER INCREASES WITH AGE
• INTEREST IN ROMANCE PEAKS BETWEEN 30 AND 50
• LITERARY FICTION IS LESS POPULAR AMONGST US READERS THAN IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

More to follow, as well as the full report.

I’m grateful to the support of many authors, bloggers and others who publicized the survey. In particular, authors Heather Burch and Patricia Sands helped design and test the questions.

FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION FOLLOW A WRITER OF HISTORY (using the widget on the left sidebar)

M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel, TIME AND REGRET was published by Lake Union. Mary’s other novels, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads or on her website www.mktod.com.