IVP - Behind the Books - The Inside Scoop on Authors and Writers

The Inside Scoop on Authors and Writers

The June 23 issue of Publishers Weekly has these interesting factoids from a National Endowment for the Arts study called "Artists in the Workforce: 1990-2005." (For the purposes of this study, "writers and authors" refer to those whose primary occupations involve the creation of scripts, stories, novels, poems, plays, biographies, advertisements, speeches and other material. It does not include technical writers, editors or journalists.)

185,276: total number of authors and writers, 2005

39%: increase in authors between 1990 and 2005

51.9%: percentage of authors who work full-time writing

$50,800: median income for full-time authors, 2005

$38,700: median income for entire civilian labor force, 2005

$38,800: median income for all authors, 2005

$47,300: median income for male authors, 2005

$33,300: median income for female authors, 2005

54.9%: percentage of authors who are female

10.8%: percentage of authors who are minorities

26.8%: percentage of authors who are under age thirty-five

83.1%: percentage of authors who have at least a bachelor's degree

45.9%: percentage of authors who are self-employed

50,000: estimated number of writers living in California and New York

Santa Fe, New Mexico: city ranked #1 for authors per capita