It's the age-old, unanswerable question, but one company, at least, is trying to address the publishing version. A recent study conducted last spring by an outfit called contentconnections.com suggests, among other things, that recommendations from friends or colleagues are more influential to female bookbuyers than, say, reviews or blurbs, and that women may buy a greater number of nonfiction than fiction titles, despite common wisdom to the contrary. (Although it also seems as if the study asked respondents more and more detailed questions about nonfiction than fiction, which in itself is surprising.) Additionally – and this may strike some as under reporting – 43% of the 1,601 North American women polled between March and May of this year "are thinking about writing a book." And, interestingly, nearly half again as many (61%) are "genuinely interested in the publishing process."
As contentconnections' Women & Books 2007 Survey reports: "Women clearly have something they'd like to say."
It's hardly a surprise to this veteran observer – or, I'd bet, to most publishing watchers – that women have such strong feelings about books. After all, we've long known that women do far more purchasing of books (and of most others things) than men – and that's true of even "male"-ish titles in such categories as sports, business, narrative nonfiction and biography. (Remember: Father's Day is the second biggest book buying season after Christmas, and it's for the most part women who are doing the buying.) But how come, if women have so much to say, they so rarely say it? According to the Survey, in the prior year, fewer than 15% of the non-fiction books on the New York Times bestseller lists were written by women. Conclusion: women might buy and read nonfiction, but they're not writing it – or, if they are, they're not finding as big an audience -- as male nonfiction writers.
Call me knee-jerk, but I worry about this: I hate the idea that women who say they have something to say, don't take themselves seriously enough to try to say it in print, or that they cling to the idea, somehow, that they shouldn't bother. I hate the idea that women book buyers automatically give more credence to what men have to say or that, somehow, editors (many of whom are female) trust male nonfiction writers more than their own gender. I'm not saying that every woman is as smart as every man (actually, I'd say most are smarter), but, come on, 15%?
There are exceptions, of course. As I look at the bestseller lists for recent weeks, for example, I see Nora Ephron's delightful "I Feel Bad about My Neck" and Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and, of course, Rhonda Byrne's "The Secret," but when it comes to the more serious stuff, it's all guys. And while I admit it's far more earnest than, say, Jon Stewart's "America: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction" , Women: A Celebration of Strength, the historical pop up book for grownups from the not for profit Legal Momentum, is just as engaging and interesting a history lesson as, say, the bestselling posthumous Reagan Diaries.
But such books rarely sell in record numbers, probably partly because they don't get the play – or placement -- the mainstream titles do. But maybe someday they will. According to contentconnections, "Women's Issues" is by far the topic of greatest interest to respondents, and the average woman's bookstore visit lasts about forty minutes – plenty of time to look beyond the bestsellers tables for the more important, if less public, fare.
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Sara Nelson is Editor in Chief of Publishers Weekly: The International Voice for Book Publishing and Bookselling. You can read all of Sara's weekly Gather columns at saranelson.gather.com. And for more of Sara's columns click here.
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Comments: 27
But I don't know that I agree with your polarizing conclusion... I doubt that men are usurping or even overshadowing women's nonfiction efforts... I think if women were interested in writing it, they would. And those who are, do.
Why make a big deal out of the gender differentiation at all? Hmmm..
I actually read a lot of non fiction, as well as fiction. I would have to admit, though, that I read more fiction.
What do I want? A book with free chocolate.... *sighs*
Fiction is, with the exception of some genres, stories about people relating to eachother. Women are more interested in the drama of relationships than men. Of course there are excsptions, but exceptions don't detract from reality.
Stories are written from the relational feminine part of the heart and soul, whether that heart and soul is in the body of a man or woman. Ideas are written about from the problem-solving goal-oriented masculine part of the heart and soul, whether that heart and soul is in the body of a man or a woman.
Often, when women write non-fiction they sue stories about their own lives and othe rpeople's lives more extensively than men. And often when men write fiction it is about solving a problem, accomplishing a goal or about some idea.
And I'm wondering what the point is about the gender issue. Is it important to have equal gender representation in all categories and genres of writing?
You mentioned cookbooks, and that reminds me: women do most of the cooking, but the famous chefs are all men.... It's sort of like that in many things.
Now, in the past, we know there was discrimination, if that word even begins to describe the situation when women were not supposed to do anything but stay at home and be pretty (if they were the lucky upper class) and household, childcare and other menial and mostly unpaid work (if they were the majority). We know that this has changed a lot, but is it gone completely? Is the playing field completely level? Were Ms. Rowling and presumably her publisher wrong when they decided to follow the example of many women writers and made her "J. K. Rowling" instead of "Joanne Rowling"?
I concede that, statistically, men and women do have different interests, and I would add that there is clearly a similar statistical difference in their willingness to pursue a goal to the point of sacrificing other things like children and family. The question is, how much of the gender gap (in publishing as well as in other areas) is due to these intrinsic differences, and thus has no relevance for the individual, and how much of it is still due to perhaps subconscious prejudices about what men and women should be about. If there's much of the latter, then women who do have the interest and the willingness to pursue an area dominated by males will still find themselves restricted by their female status.
I've co-authored a number of technical books with my partner (we have the same last name) and every contract has specified how our names are to be displayed in connection with the book. We alway say that it MUST be "john smith and jane smith" or "jane smith and john smith" and that it must NOT be "john and jane smith" ever. Period. We swap whose name is first based on the specifics of the book and who is managing the project so we've got both versions in use but it has to have both of our names because we are two individuals and our relational status doesn't matter.
Guess what the book galleys always say?
Yep, you've got it. "john and jane smith" Every single time.
Male editors, female editors, development editors we know personally, makes NO difference. The first time we see our names in a mockup, it is always wrong.
So, we send corrections - and here's where it gets good. If we send a request to change it to 'john smith and jane smith' it almost always happens correctly. If we send one asking for my name to come first...well, not so easy. I've seen this come back as 'jane and john smith' (this came with a note from the editor saying it looked wrong...hmmm, because it *was* wrong, maybe?)
I am not claiming to know exactly what is at work here. There is obviously some bias at work, and some of it is very conscious (I know because they argue with us) and deliberate. We're talking BIG publishers and people with decades of industry experience. And our names. Which matter. A lot. (and they know it)
As a woman who writes professionally - and one who would like to publish my cookbook now that I have written a bunch of very technical stuff - I find fighting this sort of bias exhausting at times. It's almost like a tiny carbon monoxide leak - I am tired and I have a splitting headache and I am not sure exactly why.
Contenconnections could either be right or wrong from their statistic, for it could be their own supposition basing from what they perceived it to be. I think the equation depends, men also purchase books in a great degree or volume as for buying power is cocern... but I guess yes, females tend more on various books for many reasons, being their nature. Yet the truth is, that is a competitive word--where women and men competes in any of life's offerings, like BOOKS and its consuming pleasures'...
Are women failing to buy these non-fiction works on the basis of the author's name? Or is it that the subject material doesn't interest them? Frankly, I rarely buy non-fiction, just because I don't enjoy reading most of it. As a side note, I happen to write software manuals and software specifications for a living, so it's not like I'm a non-technical person. I'm just not interested in spending my spare time with non-fiction.
On the other hand, one rarely sees romance or relationship based novels written by men. Or, if they are written by men, they do so either under a feminine name, or the 'initial' form of their name.
And to Peg's point, where are the women in the publishing industry, the ones making the decisions? If a woman is smart and savvy, and there are lots of them, why not start her own publishing company, and open a few doors?
Makes me glad my name is gender neutral.
Is there a bias toward men in the publishing industry? In many fields, such as academia, there is still a strong bias toward men in higher educaton; perhaps this is so in publishing, too.
from Wikipedia: Amantine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin, Baroness Dudevant (July 1, 1804 – June 8, 1876), best known by her pseudonym George Sand, a French novelist and feminist.
I think there is a bias. Many of Japan's brilliant female poets have only in recent years come to be recognized. decades after their deaths.
However, I have seen some male non-fiction writers recently, especially in the enviornmental area, getting barracked for being overly emotional, so there seems to be some evening out of gender politics recently.
As for fiction - if I ever write a book (which I'm currently doing and failing at) I will either have a male nom de plume or a gender neutral one (like Chris or something). I still remember a few years back when a female author getting interviewed on TV was asked "as a woman and mother, how do you write such violent material for your crime fictions". Never heard a male writer asked that!
And yes, I agree that it's unfortunate that we're still analyzing by gender at this late date, but the world still does that. Look at polls about the upcoming election: there's endless discussion of the "woman factor" when it comes to Hillary Clinton, for example.
Losing physical hangups is a worthy goal.