: How many people are writing novels? A YouGov survey shows that 60% of British men an women would like to become an author. 81% of Americans feel they have a book in them. But how many people

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I'm a little confused, maybe because I skimmed over the question. Are you looking for a poll, like a raise of hands from members of SE writing a novel currently?

Asking in a writers forum, may give you a limited sample size, but still might be interesting if it falls within the rules. I'm still new here so I may be a poor one to answer.

Anyways that said, I've been working on a story for most of my life, but like most of my hobbies I work in spurts. I will focus one at a time until I grow bored, then put it aside and work on another hobby to develop it until the challenge wears off, I get bored, and I cycle back to a hobby and the skills I long to develop.
Writing is one of the hobbies I'm most passionate with, but is also the weakest of my skills, in my self reflective opinion. Some day I hope to complete a novel and have it published, but I have a long way to go and my tendency to switch off to other hobbies can get in the way.

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I know you are looking for data, but based on your edit I will say, don't worry about the numbers, or how many are trying out for the job. Does it change the way you interview if you know you are the only one vs 1 of 100? Hopefully not if you want to get hired because nothing says it has to be you guaranteed or from the 100. They could still choose to wait.

You know that most people fail for various of reasons. Some get derailed by life, others lose interest in their own story, but again that really has no relevance to you making the best story you can! Whether you are book #1 of 2000 submissions or of 10, either way, there is still a vetting process to go through. Many people choose to self-publish because they don't want to wait (it could take months/years) or they get declined and still want to publish anyways.

The state of writing as a profession is no doubt a rough path. Many people set to write full time and earn enough to actually be able to write full time but not many actually achieve that. It's very competitive and again why many choose to self-publish as it provides the best path to getting published.

In the end, good books will rise up from the bad. I can't think of any book that has been a huge hit and also self-published, but this may also be because a publisher approached them and they took over the book.

Sorry I don't have any specific numbers, but I wanted to address a few things you brought up in your edit. Bottom line is to just write! Write your best you can! Once you have a book actually finished and edited, then worry about competition. Until then, you can't compete if you have no product ;).

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