Didn't you mean 'non-fiction' writers?
A friend of mine, a university professor, has had over 20 works of fiction published or produced (he writes novels and plays), and many many more that haven't. He's been encouraging me to consider writing historical semi-fiction, and in talking with him he says that there's surprisingly little time spent in research. He credits the internet for cutting down on the investment of time in fact-checking, and that in fiction, he "creates the world."