By the Numbers

Part 1: Who They Are

                                                                Gender

By today’s standards, the class of spring ’77 is remarkably un-diverse. Men are heavily in the majority. All the authors are white. No minorities are represented, with the exception that at least 2 of 37 are Jews.
                 

Education

A degree doesn’t actually count for much in persuading publishers to accept your novel, but this group is a rather well-educated one. A majority have graduate degrees.

Legend:  

1    Doctorate

2    Master's

3    Law

4    Bachelor's

5    Unknown

Occupation

These are the occupations of authors, not just before they became authors, but during all or part of their novel-writing careers. (Note: some didn't publish until they retired.) Just about everyone chose a job that had something to do with writing.

Notes

The largest group (9) taught writing and/or literature at college.

The "part-time" group did part-time or temp work.

Misc group was 1 each: publisher, librarian, teacher, physician, theatre

Part Two: How They Did

Age at First Publication

They published their first novels at ages from 25 to 56, with a bunching-up around age 40. (We had age data for 29 of the 37.)
     

What Sort of Novel(s) They Wrote

Most authors wrote mostly mystery/suspense.

Legend

1 Misc genre

2 Fantasy/sci-fi

3 Literary

4  Mainstream

5  Mystery/thriller

Note: This chart can only be approximate. Many authors wrote different types of novel over their careers, so classifying someone as, for example, "predominantly literary" or "predominantly mystery" was a judgment call, as was determining whether a novel was "mainstream" or "literary."

How Many Novels They Published

Here's where it gets scary.

Eight of 37 published only one novel.

About one-third published 5 or more.

Only four got into double digits.

Only two published a score or more.

If, as the old saying goes, a writer retires happy only when he has "filled a shelf with his books," most of the class of spring '77 are not retiring happy.

This line takes the curve marketing guru Chris Jackson described as "The Long Tail" in his book of the same name. That may not be a coincidence, and may offer hope for the next generation of novelists.

How Many Books They Published with the Same Publisher

Only one author has stayed with the same publisher throughout. his career. Less than half the authors were able to bring out a second novel with the publisher of their first novel. This chart shows that mystery writer Francis M. Nevins wasn't exaggerating much when he said in the 1980s, "It used to be a marriage between author and publisher; now it's a one night stand."

Most novelists also did one or more other kinds of writing:

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