UK Poll: Author is most desired profession

John Guillen18 Comments

YouGov recently conducted a poll in Britain to figure out what the people believe to be the most desirable jobs. And author came out on top. To say that I was surprised by this would be a slight understatement. I’m not going to sit here and act like I’d have any idea which jobs would or should be considered more desirable than any others, but author? Really?

But I will offer up my little explanation. You know that whole “everyone has that one book in them” crap that I really hate? Yeah…let’s talk about it. The people who keep floating around that little saying have probably never come close to writing a book. They probably don’t even have a story idea, but they have this belief that their book will happen. Okay. Good luck with that, I say. But I think people who don’t write view being an author as easy. They just favorite authors who are famous, rich, and well-known. But they don’t see all the other traditionally published authors who still have day jobs.

I don’t consider myself an author, so I won’t sit here and tell y’all how ridiculous that thought process really is, but I did write a book. Yeah it’s not great and after all my reading there were still typos and things I wish I’d have changed…but it is a book. And it was pretty damn hard to write that thing. I’ve made between $500-$1,000 from it. And there was nothing glorious about any part of the process. But no one saw that. None of the people who read it. And none of the people who have come across it on here or on Amazon saw the process. But y’all know. Because y’all write.

So sure it’s easy to say that being an author is the most desirable job when all you see is the money EL James and JK Rowling have managed to make from their books and adaptations, but those two are hardly the expectation and one would do well to remember that.

The second and third most desirable jobs were librarian and academic, respectively. You can view the full list of results here.

I’m starting a new thing on here. The first sentence of every post from here on out will be “On this day in 2014 I published ‘insert title of post from the corresponding day.'” I’m doing this because I have new readers every single day and they only see my new stuff when I have some old posts that may interest them as well. This will be the first. On this day last year I published Tenth Chapter Benchmark. It’s about my own writing!

 

18 thoughts on “UK Poll: Author is most desired profession”

  1. I was one of those people who said, “I want to write a book.” I always wanted to be an author and spend my later years writing as I look out over the ocean. Now I am doing that but I must say that I thought it would be easy. I really thought if I just sat down and did the writing, it would flow easily and I’d write one great book after another. I never cared about the fame or the money, I just wanted to write. Now I have an awesome children’s book published (although I never imagined I’d write children’s books) and I am close to finishing my novel after working at it for two years. It is not in the least bit easy. I do LOVE writing though. Thanks for validating that it is not an easy path. It is definitely a labor of love.

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    • I honestly see so many posts on WordPress like, “I’ve decided to write a book.” And then they go on to explain how they have never written anything outside of a two-page paper in school. It’s a joke and disrespectful that so many people think basically anyone can write. No.

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  3. Interesting information, John. Those who do not write have this ludicrous perception that we stare at a blank screen and the words miraculously appear on the screen in perfect order and grammatically correct. Unless you have a sensitive soul that demands you write; your life would not be complete without expressing yourself in words and each word is an emotional part of you, and you bare your soul each time you write what you feel…Unless you are a writer, you cannot understand the gut-wrenching, hard work it really is. Maybe if “they” knew, it wouldn’t be so desirable.

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      • I love writing. I’m one of those who if I didn’t write I would probably implode, but it is hard work, any way you look at it. Editing and ghost writing is downright grueling and even though the end product is not your own, there is a satisfaction in presenting the written word in its best form.

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  4. To be honest I would love to write a book but I just don’t have any time at the moment. I have taken creative writing classes in the past and wrote books in the past but I want to get a book published and out there. I know its going to be hard work but that makes me want it more. I have ideas floating around my head so hopefully when I get time I can make a start

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    • Well this post and this poll, in my opinion, weren’t geared toward you. Cause I feel like the people polled have never written anything. And you have. So you know that it isn’t as easy as some might think.

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  5. Great idea with re-posting last year’s stuff. That’s sweet.

    Yeah, people just don’t understand what it takes to be a writer. If everyone who voted in that poll actually tried to write a book, then author probably wouldn’t have even ended up in the top ten. Maybe not even top twenty. It just shows how ignorant people can be of how gut-wrenching and nearly impossible it is to write a book.

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  7. Obviously those people don’t understand that writing is a soul sucking business just like their bosses probably are. Actual authors and writers have some sort of superpower that keeps us from going insane from writing our souls away. It is hard, it gives you some of the worst headaches, and only those who want to write because it is our passion belong. No joke.

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