I enjoyed your essay. You make a persuasive case that it is probably harder for SWMs to get a book contract than ever before. I can't seem to get myself worked up about it, though. These kinds of things ebb and flow. Overdo the perceived desire for a particular type of author or writing, and there will be a backlash. I get that it's frustrating waiting for a change.
The world is filled with so many more literate people than when Cervantes was writing. If an author can't find an audience, it's mostly because of bad luck. Unpublished authors should also consider if bad promotion and bad writing played a role as well. This hasn't changed since 1615...
Thank you for publishing this comprehensive, nuanced, and persuasive essay about the current trends in publishing. Heresy Press is one of the small publishers who resists the identity trap and looks for genuinely good work from writers of ALL backgrounds. And, yes, we publish male novelists (as well as female ones).
Thanks so much for reading! Appreciate the comment. Well I'm compiling a short story collection right now. Dark, gritty pieces, many previously published in small lit magazines and also on Substack. Any interest in something like that?
Lots to think about here... having sat at the table while picking through MFA applicants, seeking out the 2-3 male writers who might want to hang out in the writing for young people workshops I facilitated... fighting to have them in the program...
We need to be fighting hierarchy instead of wasting time on patriarchy. Hierarchy covers it.
I enjoyed your essay. You make a persuasive case that it is probably harder for SWMs to get a book contract than ever before. I can't seem to get myself worked up about it, though. These kinds of things ebb and flow. Overdo the perceived desire for a particular type of author or writing, and there will be a backlash. I get that it's frustrating waiting for a change.
The world is filled with so many more literate people than when Cervantes was writing. If an author can't find an audience, it's mostly because of bad luck. Unpublished authors should also consider if bad promotion and bad writing played a role as well. This hasn't changed since 1615...
Thank you for publishing this comprehensive, nuanced, and persuasive essay about the current trends in publishing. Heresy Press is one of the small publishers who resists the identity trap and looks for genuinely good work from writers of ALL backgrounds. And, yes, we publish male novelists (as well as female ones).
Thanks so much for reading! Appreciate the comment. Well I'm compiling a short story collection right now. Dark, gritty pieces, many previously published in small lit magazines and also on Substack. Any interest in something like that?
Lots to think about here... having sat at the table while picking through MFA applicants, seeking out the 2-3 male writers who might want to hang out in the writing for young people workshops I facilitated... fighting to have them in the program...
We need to be fighting hierarchy instead of wasting time on patriarchy. Hierarchy covers it.
Exactly! Preach it :)