When Is a Writer at His Best?

“The average age of writers who topped the hardback fiction section of the New York Times Bestseller List from 1955-2004 was 50.5 years,” according to a study cited by the BBC. Independent publisher Lulu.com conducted the study. “We wanted to discover the optimum age to write a best-seller,” said Bob Young of Lulu.

I guess that a fair way to look at the writing life; but I have far more faith in slow-sellers, in books with endurance which are talked about for a long time even after they go out of print. The NYTimes Bestseller List? Pish.

May 13, 2005

In Reviews

Comments

Sherry Early says:
May 14, 2005 at 12:26 am

Yes. Wouldn’t it be more interesting to find out the ages of 100 of the best writers—Dickens, Tolstoy, Austen, Eliot, Tolkien, Fitzgerald, etc.–when they each wrote their most enduring novel, and then average those ages or look for a median age or something? (I’m not too good at statistical analysis.) I’m sure someone, somewhere has already done it.

When Is a Writer at His Best?

“The average age of writers who topped the hardback fiction section of the New York Times Bestseller List from 1955-2004 was 50.5 years,” according to a study cited by the BBC. Independent publisher Lulu.com conducted the study. “We wanted to discover the optimum age to write a best-seller,” said Bob Young of Lulu.

I guess that a fair way to look at the writing life; but I have far more faith in slow-sellers, in books with endurance which are talked about for a long time even after they go out of print. The NYTimes Bestseller List? Pish.

May 13, 2005

In Reviews

Comments

Sherry Early says:
May 14, 2005 at 12:26 am

Yes. Wouldn’t it be more interesting to find out the ages of 100 of the best writers—Dickens, Tolstoy, Austen, Eliot, Tolkien, Fitzgerald, etc.–when they each wrote their most enduring novel, and then average those ages or look for a median age or something? (I’m not too good at statistical analysis.) I’m sure someone, somewhere has already done it.