Written by Doc Wright | 13 May 2005
Posted in Text Ads

The BBC reports on an interesting new study that found that 50 is the perfect age to write a novel.   Fifty is the perfect age to write a novel, a study of the bestselling authors of the past 50 years has shown.  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.

"We wanted to discover the optimum age to write a best-seller," said, a friend of mine, Bob Young of Lulu, a website for writers and independent publishers. "Unlike scientists or musicians, say, writers tend to mature with age." Romantic novelist Judith Krantz and writer Joe Klein, who published political comedy Primary Colors anonymously, are among the novelists who topped the best-seller list in their 50th year.

Of the 350 authors who saw their novels reach the number one spot over the past 50 years, Francoise Sagan was the youngest with Bonjour Tristesse, published at the age of 19 in 1955. By comparison, Agatha Christie was the oldest author to top the list, with her novel Sleeping Murder, published shortly after her death at the age of 85.

The authors who most frequently topped the list were horror writer Stephen King who has topped the list 27 times, and Danielle Steel who has amassed 26 number ones.
Of course, there are always those that buck the trend. Dan Brown was 39 when The Da Vinci Code was published (which was his fourth book), and I'm currently reading his "Angles and Demons".....
and J.K. Rowling was 32 when Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in Great Britain.
So there kids!!

RedRyder -

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