A new generation of Silver Scribblers as publishers turns to the over 60s

www.bookbite.org.uk

A survey of more than 1,100 people aged 60 and over in the UK, has revealed a generation of ‘silver scribblers’ keen to use their growing familiarity with the internet to publish their own creative writing, join book groups and research their family history and stories.

Independent research was conducted with 1,162 people aged 60 and over across the UK on behalf of Bookbite, a reading and creative writing project for the over 60s run by the reading charity Booktrust.

While younger users turn their back on traditional pastimes such as reading and creative writing in favour of using and playing on the computer; for older users, the internet is actually helping to re-invigorate a love of books and writing, with more than 31% of internet users in this age group keen to go online to publish short stories and join book clubs.

Spokespeople from the publishing industry have identified a marked shift in the age of authors either submitting or being published for the first time, with more and more approaches being made by those in their late 50s.

Mark Johnson, Digital Producer for HarperCollins ‘Authonomy’ website commented: ‘Our website aims to find emerging authors and we are increasingly attracting very high numbers of visitors aged fifty and above who are looking for an agent or a publisher for their work for the first time. Perhaps this is because age and experience can offer a clear advantage to anyone hoping to write engagingly or perhaps older people now have more time, and are more confident, to share their passions online. But our experience suggests that older generations aren’t just learning how to use the web – they’re taking advantage of it like never before.”

The survey revealed that this generation are at ease with going online with more than 55% of the over 60s surveyed saying that they view the internet as a crucial part of their lives and 93% that they perceive the internet as a positive development, with over 32% stating that they find having access to the internet liberating.

The Bookbite survey found that despite 43% of respondents having no interest in using social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter or MySpace 19% revealed that they use it on a daily basis.