 Mystery: February 08, 2017 Issue [#8123] |
  Mystery
This week: Mystery Statistics Edited by: Jeff  
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"Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle; they read it to get to the end.
The first page sells that book, and the last page sells your next book."
-- Mickey Spillane
Trivia of the Week: Author Nicci French isn't so much a "her" as a "them." This pseudonym is actually the combination of real-life husband and wife duo Nicci Gerrard and Sean French who pen psychological thrillers together as well as pursuing their own writing projects individually.
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MYSTERY STATISTICS
As much as I'm not a math guy (surprise, surprise, I prefer words to numbers!  ), I think it's important to look at data trends in our chosen professional fields, to help analyze trends, avoid pitfalls, and possibly even capitalize on new opportunities.
For example, did you know that, statistically speaking, mystery readers are overwhelmingly women over the age of 30?
According to this 2014 survey , there's a 63% chance a mystery/crime reader is over the age of 45... and an 81% chance that a mystery/crime reader is over the age of 30. And this related survey from the same time period shows that the gender distribution for mystery/crime readers is overwhelmingly female (70%!).
And if you look at this 2014 Publisher's Weekly report and combine it with their follow-up report from 2015 , you'll notice something striking about the mystery genre... from 2013 to 2015, the unit sales of mystery/detective books have decreased by approximately 22% while unit sales of suspense/thriller books have only decreased by a net 1%, which included an 8% increase from 2014 to 2015.
Here's the reason I mention statistics like these... it's important to understand who your readers are. While some authors are going to write what they're going to write regardless of external factors, audience is an important concern for a lot of writers and, more importantly, for almost all publishers. Understanding your audience is the key to marketable writing... and marketable writing is the key to selling books (either by self-publishing them or by attracting an editor/agent/publisher that will get it to market).
And if you're a writer who's looking for his or her next project, data trends will tell you which project elements are more likely to succeed at the moment. If you're a writer in the mystery genre, understanding that thriller/suspense-type titles are more popular than traditional mystery/detective fare might be worth considering as you plot out your next novel. And if you know that the majority of your readers are likely to be women over a certain age, you can look at the kind of content they tend to prioritize (emotional connection to the characters, character relationships, etc.) and include less of the content that they don't (gratuitous sex, violence, and language). I do realize that these are broad generalizations for which there are countless exceptions, but any large study of demographic data will result in some general patterns emerging, even if there are outliers... and those patterns are what you can use to create broader appeal for your writing.
As with all things, you don't want to go too far into statistical analysis. Writing is a subjective medium and there are some successes and failures that just can't be quantified and explained by data. And it's extremely easy to go down a rabbit hole and spend countless hours gathering data points and information when, ultimately, the quality or quantity of the data won't create any additional insights that guarantee additional success.
Instead, I'd suggest looking at general trends and basic data... in the film business, a "four-quadrant" movie is one that hits all four key demographics: Male Under 25, Female Under 25, Male Over 25, Female Over 25. I think figuring out which of those quadrants most of your readers are in will be immensely helpful in telling you how you should be focusing your material, and should be something that all writers take into account.
If you're feeling like you've got that pretty well nailed down, you can venture into other, more specific demographic areas. Researching demographics based on socioeconomic status, nationality, ethnicity, religion, etc. can also help you target your writing and your marketing. You might decide that rather than general mysteries, you want to write Christian-focused mysteries and can therefore shape your content (and the places you market your book) accordingly. Or, if you know that you have a lot of readers in Australia, for example, you might consider setting a story in Australia to appeal more to those readers and their friends and family.
Again, this isn't about digging so deep into the data that you find a surefire formula for success. Believe me, you'd be digging for a long time and you still wouldn't find any guarantees. But taking the time to look at some data... and taking the time to do some research... can help you target your writing and your marketing in a more specific way so that, rather than writing a mystery for all mystery readers, you can write and market a more specific product to a more specific audience, thereby increasing your chances of success.
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
"New & Noteworthy Things"
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EXCERPT: The man slowly opened his eyes. He lifted himself from the ground, and took in his surroundings. There was a distinct musty smell that only seemed to grow as time passed. Beyond the floor, nothing but darkness surrounded him.
"Where am I?"
Utterly bewildered, he began cautiously moving forward.
As he slowly stepped through the black thicket, a light arose to his right. The man quickly turned to see a mirror. He walked towards the glass. He didn't recognise his reflection.
EXCERPT: Hey Daichi, how was New York? I thought you travel to the foreign nation alone, that is your first trip to a foreign country, Have you get a trouble during the trip? I'm concerned about your safety. Be careful,America has high crime rate than Japan.You should be more careful than you are in Tokyo.
EXCERPT: Running down a very busy crowded hallway, Wadis bumped into another Medical Professional dressed in a solid red dress like his. That professional fell toward a floating metal plank with a body in a blue dress lying on it, as Wadis continued running. Wadis swung around another professional and almost skidded into an empty floating metal plank as he rounded a corner into another hallway. His four-toe toe tight shoes continued running down that hallway.
EXCERPT: It was a cold night in December when I was sitting in my kitchen eating potatoes. The house was empty and all you could hear was the eerie sounds of the crows and the oak tree's leaves whistling in the breeze.
EXCERPT: Tick. Chills ran through her body as she slowly woke. She opened her eyes looking to the side with her vision being blurry. Where am I? She thought to herself. Who am I? She thought solemnly for a moment as she tried to regather her thoughts but they were distant. Your name is Jade sweetie. Don't you remember? A faint but soft voice whispered.
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