Stephen King's feelin' the love

Who's America's favorite author? Stephen King.
What do readers like to read? Mysteries and histories.
All that according to a new Harris Poll (Harris Interactive being a market research firm that until a year ago was HQ'd in Brighton but now is based out of NYC).


New York, N.Y. - October 7, 2010 - The choices are endless-fiction or non-fiction, then, maybe science fiction, a thriller or a chick-lit book? Finally, which author? A recent Harris Poll showed that Americans are reading, but what are they reading? And, who are their favorite authors?

Among those who say they read at least one book in an average year, eight in ten have read a fiction book in the past year (79%) and while a similar number say they have read a non-fiction book (78%). Among those who read fiction, almost half (48%) read mystery, thriller and crime books, while one-quarter read science fiction (26%) and literature (24%). One in five say they read romance novels (21%) and one in ten have read graphic novels (11%) in the past year. Less than one in ten read chick-lit (8%) and western (5%) books, with 36% saying they read other types of fiction.

Among those who read non-fiction books, three in ten read histories (31%) and biographies (29%) with one-quarter (26%) reading religious and spirituality books. Lesser numbers have read political books (17%), self-help books (16%), current affairs (14%), true crime (12%) and business (10%) books in the past year. Three in ten (29%) have read another type of non-fiction book.

These are some of the findings of the Harris Poll, conducted online between August 9 and 16, 2010, among 2,775 online U.S. adults ages 18 and over.

What are different groups reading?

There are some small differences by generation in types of books read. Echo Boomers (those aged 18-33) are more likely than other generations to read literature (42%) and graphic novels (18%). Matures (those 65 and older) however, are more likely to read mystery, thriller and crime novels (61%) and westerns (9%). There are also some gender differences. Women are more likely than men to read mystery, thrillers and crime novels (57% versus 39%), romance (37%) vs. (3%), chick-lit (12% vs. 4%) and religious books (30% vs. 21%). Men, on the other hand, are more likely to read science fiction (32% vs. 20%), history books (40% vs. 23%), political books (25% vs. 10%), and business books (16% vs. 4%).

Favorite author

Regardless of the types of books people read, certain authors are perennial favorites. America's favorite author is the "King" of horror and suspense - Stephen King. He's followed by a very prolific mystery writer, James Patterson and then legal thriller author, John Grisham. Rounding out the top five is Nora Roberts, who also writes as J.D. Robb at number four and Tom Clancy at number five.

Another horror and suspense writer, Dean Koontz is at number six, followed by the queen of romance, Danielle Steel at number seven and then the author who helped bring the genre of "biblical thriller" to the forefront, Dan Brown. Tied in the ninth position are two authors who have created extensive fantasy worlds - J.K. Rowling with the world of Harry Potter and J.R.R. Tolkien, who brought hobbits to life for millions.

So What?

The authors on this list make publishers very happy. Most publish fairly routinely, usually guaranteeing a best-seller. But these authors have all been around for quite some time (and one is dead), so publishers may need to be on the lookout for the next great, and prolific, writer. But regardless of who that is, at the moment Dan Brown and Stephen King still make American readers rush to get their latest releases.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between August 9 and 16, 2010 among 2,775 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

The full data tables associated with this release can be found here.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.