When people say they want to be a writer, they often talk about fiction writing. Admittedly, writing about fictional worlds has more freedom and appeal than our reality.
Despite this, nonfiction writing is a viable career offering a platform to educate, inform, and inspire. It dives into the real world, exploring its multiple facets with a commitment to accuracy and authenticity.
Successful Nonfiction Writers
Below are just a few nonfiction writers who have made a successful career out of their chosen forms of nonfiction writing.
1. Jon Krauker
Jon Krauker is known for his investigative nonfiction that focuses on themes of survival, adventure, the wilderness, and human nature. His most famous works include Into the Wild, and Into Thin Air—the second being his account of his disastrous ascent up Mt. Everest.
2. Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson writes on travel, science, and the English language. He’s particularly known for his mixture of humor, wit, and curiosity in his works. Another reason why many readers love him is how he often transforms usually boring subject matters into accessible and enjoyable reads.
His most read works include A Short History of Nearly Everything and Notes from a Small Island. The first explains the often humorous beginnings of certain sciences while the second is a travel book written about his home, Great Britain, before moving back to his native United States.
3. Yuval Noah Harari
Yuval Noah Harari is an author and intellectual who writes about popular science, human history, and the future of humanity. His books often combine empirical research and philosophical insights to better comprehend humanity and the goings-on of our world.
His most popular works are Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow.
4. Brené Brown
Brené Brown is an academic, author, and social worker known for her extensive work on emotions, vulnerability, and relationships. Many often cite her works, particularly Daring Greatly and Atlas of the Heart, as beneficial in confronting trauma.
5. James Baldwin
James Baldwin is a writer and orator remembered particularly for his work during the civil rights movement, revolving around issues of racial identity and equality. Though he also wrote famous fictional works like Giovanni’s Room and Go Tell It on the Mountain, he is also known for his essays such as Notes of a Native Son and Nobody Knows My Name.
6. Truman Capote
Truman Capote is a novelist, playwright, and screenwriter whose works have been adapted multiple times to the big screen. While he is famous for writing the novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s, his nonfiction novel In Cold Blood is what made him truly famous due to his unconventional writing style.
7. Erik Larson
Erik Larson is a journalist and nonfiction author mostly known for his historical nonfiction. His works often focus on significant historical events, how they happened, and their impact. His most famous works include The Devil in the White City and In the Garden of Beasts.
8. Susan Cain
Susan Cain is a writer and lecturer whose works focus on introversion and its place in society. Her book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, provides a different approach to introversion and its importance in a world where extroversion is more valued.
9. Joan Didion
Joan Didion is a writer and journalist considered a pioneer of New Journalism, a style of reporting that used literary techniques and subjective storytelling to convey news and factual information.
She wrote plenty of essays during her career, with Slouching Towards Bethlehem, a collection of her works, becoming an important piece in studying the counterculture movement of the 1960s. The Year of Magical Thinking, her memoir of the year following her husband’s death, also gained critical acclaim from both readers and critics.
10. Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking is a theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author of popular science. His bestselling book, A Brief History of Time, introduced theoretical cosmology to readers without any or much knowledge of physics. This, his degenerative disease, and his contributions to physics have made him a popular figure to most people.
11. Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou is an essayist, poet, and civil rights activist most known for her autobiographies. Her first and most beloved work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, chronicles her coming of age as a Black woman. It was followed by six others, all recounting significant experiences of her life.
12. Atul Gawande
Atul Gawande is a surgeon who has also written extensively on medicine and public health. Many of his works discuss America’s healthcare system, medical issues and advancements, and the physician’s role in society. His latest book, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, tackles end-of-life care and its effects on both medical professionals and terminally ill people.
Nonfiction Writing Careers
Nonfiction writing can be just as rewarding as fiction, despite its constraints. Its dedication to factual information, real-life experiences, and truth gives its readers a sense of authenticity and realism that fiction often can’t provide. This allows it to address real-world issues and events that affect the readers in some way or another.
Being a successful nonfiction writer involves a lot of factors. You could argue that some of the people on this list had a pre-existing audience, got lucky, or perhaps only wrote one successful piece. However, their success is undeniable and speaks volumes.
Their works are proof that there is a thriving audience for nonfiction. More importantly, they serve as evidence of nonfiction writing’s impact on these readers.
Who else do you think is a successful nonfiction writer? Share them in the comments below!
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Cole is a blog writer and aspiring novelist. He has a degree in Communications and is an advocate of media and information literacy and responsible media practices. Aside from his interest in technology, crafts, and food, he’s also your typical science fiction and fantasy junkie, spending most of his free time reading through an ever-growing to-be-read list. It’s either that or procrastinating over actually writing his book. Wish him luck!
