Survey for Tolkien Fanfic Readers and Writers

[dawn_felagund]

At the end of last year, I posted here about a survey I was conducting for readers and writers of Tolkien-based fan fiction. Well, we are rapidly drawing near to the closing date of the survey, so I wanted to issue a reminder to anyone who wanted to take the survey and has not already. November 30 will be the last day that the survey will be available.

The survey can be found here:

http://goo.gl/forms/Su3zPZpwGI

All readers and/or writers of Tolkien-based fan fiction are eligible. The survey takes about 15-20 minutes to complete and is entirely anonymous. You are welcome to skip any questions that you are not comfortable answering (including demographic questions).

Preliminary data from the survey has already been used in presentations I gave earlier this year at Mythmoot III and the New York Tolkien Conference and in an article published in Mythprint. (My papers are available on Academia.edu for the interested/curious: https://apus.academia.edu/DawnWallsThumma) I am currently working on an article for a Tolkien studies journal that will use the final results, and I will continue to use the data in my academic and fannish research. Other researchers who wish to use the data are welcome to contact me for a copy once the survey closes.

Finally, I appreciate all help in getting the word out about my survey to other corners of the Tolkien fan community. I'd like to reach as many fanfic readers and writers as possible, so please do signal-boost the survey if you're comfortable doing so.

All questions or comments about the survey can be sent to me at DWallsThumma@gmail.com.

Comments

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

I did the survey, and noticed that it missed out one element that is relevant for me, though I don't know how important it would be generally. I care much less about the subject matter and the approach than I do about the literary quality. I'll read things completely strange to me in terms of fandom or theme or characters if it's by an author I think is good. So asking if I enjoy this or that genre is not really relevant. I write gen, but I'll read slash quite happily if it's by someone whose writing I like. Conversely, no theme or set of characters will move me if I think the writing is bad. So I had to put "no opinion" on a lot of questions, sorry, since there was no "it depends on whether I think it's any good or not" choice.