Historical Fiction Survey Results

I blogged here in October 2013 about the Historical Novel Society conducting a survey of readers' reading habits, purchasing/borrowing habits, interest in history and historical periods and reasons behind them, and the types of writing and writing skills of authors.

A few days ago, surveyor M.K. Tod emailed me these results of the analyses of the survey.

Do read the survey in-depth. I found it fascinating. Here are some of the highlights.

The survey reached 2,440 participants (83% female, 17% male) and was conducted between October 16 and November 11, 2013.

The largest participating group was in the 50-59 age range, followed by the 40-49 range.

The number of U.S. participants dominated the chart followed by the ones from the U.K. and Ireland.

The majority of the participants were readers followed by some authors and some bloggers.

Majority of the participants were avid readers, reading more than 30 books a year.

Showing Amazon's grip on the book retail business, people overwhelmingly bought books there.

Print books still dominated the number of books sold, but people tended to mostly buy a mix of print and electronic books.

In choosing a book, the following were important, in decreasing order of importance: subject matter, author, and trusted recommendation. Publisher was the least important of all the factors.

In terms of pricing, people chose the following: eBooks: $2–$6, print $6–$11, and hardcover $16–$20. These prices are below industry standard. The key takeaway from this is that people think eBooks should be much cheaper than print books. The premium put on production and distribution of books as a large part of the pricing of a book, meant that people expected the eBooks to be discounted.

In answer to why do you read historical fiction, people chose: to bring the past to life, because it's a great story, and to understand and learn without reading non-fiction.

People chose the following for the question within historical fiction, what type of story appeals to you?: fictional characters within a backdrop of great historical events, followed closely by, adventure, romance, life of a single historical figure. The least popular were inspirational and thriller.

Popular historical periods: 13th–16th centuries, 18th century, and 19th century. The least popular was prehistory.

Europe and Britain dominated the popular historical geographies category by far, followed by the U.S. The least popular was Latin America.

When reading a historical fiction novel, the following were most important parts: superb writing and feeling immersed in time and place. The least important was dysfunctional families.

Where do you find recommendations chart was broken down equally between: friends, favorite websites or blogs, online retailers especially Amazon, social media, and browsing the bookstore. The least looked for were publishers' websites.

People overwhelmingly didn't belong to book clubs but did discuss their books over social media.

The most popular looked for information from blogs are reviews, new release information, and author interviews.

BTW, as one of the survey participants, my blog is listed on Tod's blog.

Romance Writers of America 2014 Annual Conference

Registration is now open for the Romance Writers of America's (RWA) 2014 annual conference in San Antonio, Texas. The conference will be held July 23 through July 26 and in both the Marriott Rivercenter and Marriott Riverwalk hotels.

According to RWA, "The RWA Conference is the place where career-focused romance writers meet, mingle, and get down to the business of being an author. At the conference, career-focused romance writers can anticipate: Education and information; Networking with fellow writers; and Interaction with editors, agents, publishers, booksellers, and other romance publishing industry professionals."

Featured speakers at the conference are: author Sylvia Day, marketing guru Cindy Ratzalff, author Karen Rose, author Barbara Samuel, and author Simone Elkeles.

The 2014 "Readers for Life" Literacy Autographing will be on Wednesday, July 23, 2014 from 5:30–7:30 p.m. at the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel in the third floor ballroom. Books by these publishers, as recognized by RWA as having met their bar for validity, will be available at the signing. You will get to meet nearly 550 authors! This event is open to the public and is free of charge to attend.

Historical Fiction Survey

If you're a fan of historical fiction, like I am, then I'd like you to consider spending five minutes of your time on THIS SURVEY by the Historical Novel Society.

The survey attempts to collect data on readers' reading habits, purchasing/borrowing habits, interest in history and historical periods and reasons behind them, and types of writing and writing skills of authors. You can then choose to have the results of the survey inboxed to you. If you're a blogger, they will highlight your blog if you give them your address.

Which RWA Workshops Would You Want To Attend?

The Romance Writers of America is having their annual conference from July 17 to July 20 in Atlanta this year. Unfortunately, very unfortunately, I shall not be attending.

There are so many workshops I'd love to attend though. Here, have a look—aren't there many you'd like to sit in, too? As an aspiring historical fiction writer, these are some of what I would've liked to have attended:

Career Track

Crack the Librarian Code: How to Get Your Books on Library Shelves and on Your Reader's Radar
Two librarians turned authors share how to pitch and market yourself to libraries, book clubs, and reader databases.

Honing Your Pitch
Join a multi-published author, editor, and agent as they discuss their perspectives on how to craft, prepare for, and deliver your pitch in a way that highlights the marketability of your story - and yourself as an author.

It Takes a Village: How Author, Agent, Editor, and Publisher Pull It All Together to Create a Bestseller Debut
Get a behind-the-scenes look at what works and what doesn't when it comes to pitching, titles, marketing, and more from the team that helped launch a debut author onto two national best-seller lists.

Market Like You Mean It: Out-of-the-Box Author Branding that Really Works
Speakers: Stephanie Dray, Angie Fox, Darynda Jones, and Kieran Kramer

My Agent Saved My Life: What a Good Agent Can Do for You
Four popular authors and their agent share tales from the trenches about how having a knowledgeable professional in their corner saved their literary lives.

Publishing Contracts Demystified
Attorney Jon Tandler, who specializes in corporate, intellectual property and publishing law, discusses everything you ever wanted to know about publishing contracts but were afraid to ask.

Show Me the Money!
How much can you really expect to make publishing romance novels, and how soon will you see the money? Join Brenda Hiatt for this workshop about the bottom line.

The Blog that Helped Us Sail Off Unpubbed Island
Speakers: Mary Connealy, Janet Dean, Debby Giusti, Myra Johnson, Sandra Leesmith, and Missy Tippens
Learn how group blogging helped these aspiring authors sail straight to publication.

The Do-Over: Five Authors Dish on Lessons Learned
Speakers: Katharine Ashe, Grace Burrowes, Tessa Dare, Vicky Dreiling, and Kieran Kramer

The Review Game: the Shy Girl's Guide to Getting Noticed
Learn how to get reviewed and create reader buzz about your book. This workshop covers the nitty-gritty of discoverability: how to navigate the landscape of major review venues, book blogs, GoodReads, and book retail sites as well as the ABCs of ARCS, galleys, and review requests.

The Tiny Art of Elevator Pitches
Learn which buttons to punch to take you from the basement to the penthouse and get that coveted request. Come prepared with a pitch of fifty words or less, as Carrie Lofty will be providing on-the-spot feedback to all who attend.

Your Readers Are Out There. Find Them
Speakers: Sheri Brooks, Stella Cameron, Cissy Hartley, and Jayne Ann Krentz

Craft Track

Does Your Query Letter Make the Cut?
Speakers: Margo Lipschultz, Kevan Lyon, and Katie McGarry
A Harlequin editor, literary agent, and Harlequin Teen author discuss what makes an amazing query letter that will grab the attention of agents and editors and give comments and advice on query letters supplied by the audience.

Double D’s: Dynamic Description and Delicious Dialogue
Everyone tends to be better at writing one of the big D's: dynamic description and delicious dialogue. A series of exercises shows how to turn your gift for vivid description into compelling dialogue or your gift for sparkling dialogue into lyrical description.

Emotional Resonance: Elevating a Good Book to a Keeper
Speaker: Tanya Michaels
The more your story emotionally resonates with readers, the longer they remember it and the more they share it with others. Join a four-time RITA nominee for a look at how to capitalize the emotional impact in your book from laughter to fear to tears.

Finding Your Voice
Speaker: Debra Dixon
Spend some time with story guru Debra Dixon for a fresh perspective on exactly what voice is, why voice is both a tool and a gift, and how writers with voice can stand out from the crowd of authors clamoring for a reader’s attention.

From Identity to Essence: Love Stories and Transformation (**My Top Fave)
Speaker: Michael Hauge
Hollywood story consultant Michael Hauge (best-selling author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Sell Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Manuscript Read) shows why love stories are a writer’s most powerful vehicle for developing character arc. He’ll reveal how love triangles can strengthen your underlying themes, how the rules of romantic comedies can be applied to romance novels, and how understanding your protagonists’ wounds, emotional fears and protective identities will lead to richer, more powerful love stories.

No More Sagging Middles
Learn the reasons why a book's middle sags and how to fix these common problems to keep the reader turning the pages.

Seven Secrets to Writing a Synopsis
Learn a foolproof method for writing a synopsis based on identifying and describing the five major plots points in a romance story arc.

Visceral Rules: Beyond Hammering Hearts
Speaker: Margie Lawson
Learn how to write visceral responses so smooth and powerful your reader will feel your character's emotions like they're her own.

Whoa, Do I Do That?
Some classic hallmarks of novice writing may be making your manuscript scream "rookie!" to editors, agents, and readers alike—even if you're not a beginner at all. Learn to spot these common practices and address them.

Self Publishing Track

Best Practices and Formatting for Self-Publishing
Speaker: Gerri Russell

E-books Made Easy with Scrivener
Scrivener's more than a writing and plotting software program. Learn quick and easy strategies to get the most out of Scrivener, like exporting to EPUB formats.

Editing Your Self-Published Novel
Speakers: Anna DeStefano and Kerry Vail
Need freelance editing? Two successful freelance editors will discuss various editorial services and how to put together the right team for your book!

Beyond the Basics in Self-Publishing: Audio, Foreign Translations, POD, and More
Speakers: Bella Andre and Tina Folsom

Focus on Amazon
Speakers: Jon Fine, Thom Kephart, and Jason Ojalvo
From KDP to CreateSpace, Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX), and author marketing opportunities, find out everything you want to know about publishing and selling books on Amazon from Amazon representatives.

Focus on Smashwords
Smashwords CEO Mark Coker discusses everything you want to know about self-publishing your book on Smashwords.

From Ground Zero to Best-selling Author in Two Years: the Indie Revolution
Find out how Liliana Hart went from ground zero—no fan base, no traditional publisher, and no recognizable name—to best-selling author, selling 800,000 books in less than two years.

Getting Down to the Sexy Nitty-Gritty: a Literary Agent and Publishing Attorney Talk Self-Publishing
Agent Kristin Nelson and attorney Jon Tandler discuss the not-so-sexy parts of self-publishing: contracts, legal issues, working with agents, and developing a hybrid career.

Self-Publishing Chat with Barbara Freethy and Bella Andre

Self-Publishing Roundtable: Marketing
Speaker: S.R. Johannes

Self-Publishing Roundtable: Metadata, Keywords, and Back Matter
Speaker: Courtney Milan

Top 10 Tips for Self-Publishing E-books
Speakers: Bella Andre and Barbara Freethy

Research Track

A Nose for Love: A Romance Writer's Guide to Smell and Taste
Speaker: Virginia McCullough

Playing Dress-Up: Creating an Authentic Wardrobe for Regency Characters
Speakers: Debbie Kaufman and Gail Marcoux

The Beau Monde

The Grand Tour with Regina Scott
Medical Topic with Sharon Lathan
Regency Underworld with Erica Monroe
Learn to Play Whist with Ashlyn Macnamara

Romance Writers of America 2013 Conference

The Romance Writers of America's annual conference is a conference by writers, for writers, about writers.

From July 17 to July 20 this year, more than 2000 published and aspiring writers—along with editors, agents, booksellers, librarians, and other romance publishing industry professionals—will gather at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis hotel in Georgia to network at the 33rd annual conference.

The goals of the conference are education, networking, business meetings, award recognition, and of course, that staple of all conferences: lavish parties. The most important business transactions, and thereby, the best gossip happens at the hotel bar.

The following authors are the featured speakers:
Keynote Speaker – Cathy Maxwell
Awards Luncheon Speaker – Kristan Higgins
Librarians' Day Luncheon Speaker – Jill Shalvis
Awards Ceremony Emcee – Christie Craig

RWA also sponsors an event for the readers in the community, titled Readers for Life Literacy Autographing, where books are donated by publishers, autographed by more than 700 authors, and bought by dedicated readers. Since 1990, RWA has raised more than $770,000 to fight illiteracy.

The conference is now open for registration with a fee of $450 for members through May 1 and $500 after that. The hotel rate is a discounted $189 per night for single or double occupancy at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.

I, unfortunately, will not be attending the conference this year, and that's cause for much disappointment. I'll miss meeting all the lovely friends I only speak with online the rest of the year. So the conference is such a mainstay of my writerly existence, but this year, it isn't provident for me to make it there. Perhaps, next year.