...and St. Louis is in the Rankings at # 1
The below is a re-posting of a interesting MyLife Blog post article by Christian Neeser on the best cities to be a writer. At the bottom of the post there is a chart of all 100 cities evaluated.
When you see people walk by, do you create a narrative in your head of
what they might be talking about? Or invent the life story of the
hamburger you’re eating? Then you might be a writer.
But it’s difficult to thrive as such in just any city – your
surroundings have be inspiring, and you need to be able to find work
until you pen the next great American novel. To help authors determine
what city best makes a great writer, we did an analysis using criteria
we thought would help find the best of the best.
Here’s How We Ranked Them
We started with a list of the 100 most populous cities in the U.S.
and ranked them from one to 100 in each of the following categories:
- Cost of Living – We’re not all Stephen King; most
writers don’t have a lot of disposable income so it’s good to know which
cities are affordable. We sourced Area Vibes for this information.
- Writer Job Openings – In order to secure some of
that disposable income, a writer needs a job. This only included jobs as
a writer, not jobs that listed “writing skills” in the requirements.
These positions were found on the job search engine, Indeed.
- Percentage of Population Working in the Arts -
Writing is certainly an art, and the more people in a city with the same
ambitions as you can be a great source of inspiration. There’s also a
better than normal chance their inspiring work will be featured around
the city. And the more of these folks there are to meet, the easier it
will be to collaborate and grow as a writer. Figures for this were from
the U.S. Census.
- Number of Bookstores/Coffee Shops Per Capita –
Obviously, writers love reading, and hate Kindles and iPads. Nothing
beats holding an actual book in your hands. And there’s just something
about the mix of caffeine and people watching that gets the creative
juices flowing. This set of data was found on Yelp.
After establishing a ranking for each of those categories, we
assigned a score to each city for those categories as well. Once those
were added up, we divided the sum into an average; the lower that
average was the better.
1. St. Louis, MO
Photo from Flickr User Nathan Lucy.
The Gateway to the West,
St. Louis ranked
no worse than 26th in every category; that consistency vaulted them to
number one on our list. STL ranked 11th in the percentage of population
working in the industry category, and Dunaway Books helped it rank 14th
in number of bookstores and coffeeshops.
2. Cincinnati, OH
Photo from huntingnighthawks.com
Nothing like killing two birds with one stone as Kaldi’s Coffehouse and Bookstore does, which helped
Cincinnati rank second overall. The Blue Chip city ranked 15th in that category, and ranked no worse than 26th everywhere else.
3. Pittsburgh, PA
Photo via literarytourist.com
Coming in at number three on this list,
Pittsburgh was
able to rank sixth in the number of bookstores and coffee shops
category. But Steel City is of course famous for its hardworking
citizens, and the writers are no different; it ranked 31st in the
percentage of the population working in the industry category.
4. Atlanta, GA
Photo by Dustin Chambers
There are jobs aplenty for writers here in
Atlanta;
the city ranked ninth in that category, bested only by San Fran.
Writing workshops such as Kill Your Darlings help aspiring writers
perfect their skills for the working world. ATL ranked tenth in number
of bookstores and coffee shops as well.
5. Orlando, FL
Photo by Joe Burbank
Universal Studios isn’t the only way
Orlando is
drawing attention to itself; they were able to rank in the top eight in
three different categories. The Kerouac House offers free rent for a
period of time to writers so that they can focus on their work.
6. Minneapolis, MN
Photo from annieandbob.com
The bookstore pictured, creatively named in reference to “Where the Wild Things Are,” helped
Minneapolis rank
seventh in number of bookstores and coffee shops category. They were
able to rank in the top ten in percentage of the population working in
the industry as well.
7. Buffalo, NY
Photo by Charles Lewis
Buffalo
didn’t crack the top 30 in three of the categories, but used a number
one ranking in cost of living to sneak into the top ten. The Young
Writers Studio is molding aspiring writers to enhance their skills in
the craft.
8. Denver, CO
Photo via cupcakesandbacon.com
There is certainly no shortage of inspiration in the Mile High city;
the mountains are good for a lot of things, and one of them is curing
writers block.
Denver ranked in the top 25 in three categories, including 11th in the number of bookstores and coffee shops, such as ink! Coffee.
9. Seattle, WA
Photo via kuuleilani.wordpress.com
Creativity bursts at the seams in the Emerald City.
Seattle has
the most coffee shops and bookstores of all cities on this list, which
is no surprise. But it also ranked tenth in percentage of population
working in the industry, as demonstrated by the self-employed man
pictured above, who writes poems for patrons at the Fremont Flea Market.
10. San Francisco, CA
Photo from avidreader25.blogspot.com
If it weren’t for its ranking of dead last in the cost of living
category, the City by the Bay would likely have taken home the number
one ranking, as it was seventh or better in the other three categories.
San Francisco‘s world famous bookstores, such as City Lights, propelled it to tenth overall instead.
Where’s New York City and Los Angeles?
Although there are several cities for writers to thrive, many might
wonder why well-regarded cities like New York or Los Angeles didn’t rank
better. If you want to be a screenwriter or playwright, this ranking
may not be for you, as there are probably more jobs in screenwriting and
playwriting in both of those cities.
But if your focus is more general and you just want to
write,
this analysis will make more sense, which knocked down those cities for
extremely high cost of living and average scores in the other
categories.
The
first step to marketing is building an author platform: a following
based on who you are and what you do. It is much deeper than a marketing
campaign for a single book.
Join
the St. Louis Publishers Association on December 14 for Polish Your
Pitch, a unique opportunity for authors to practice their book-pitching
skills and get invaluable feedback. Learn how to hone your "elevator
speech" at this special SLPA book-marketing session, hosted by SLPA past
president and book marketing master Bob Baker.
At
the December meeting, one by one, authors will take the hot seat and
have one minute to describe their book. A panel of experts will critique
each pitch and make suggestions on how to make it more concise and
enticing. Audience members will also be encouraged to offer feedback, as
time allows.
A fascinating
book that tells the story of an airman captured by an enemy who shows
no humanity to his fellow man and is willing to pass the prisoner on to
the Soviet Union without a qualm. Despite his ordeal, the airman shows
remarkable fortitude, strength of character and loyalty to his Service
and his Country. Despite having his dreams of returning to his original
family shattered by his own government, he makes another life for
himself on his return showing once more his resilience. A very enjoyable
read.
