Where have all the guys gone?

[dkperez]

I use several libraries. Including a couple that have gone to the "cloud library" (I was told by one library worker that it's cheaper than Overdrive).

I recently fired up the cloud library, and took a look at the "featured" page. Row after row of books - new arrivals, adult fiction, etc.

And in my rummaging it APPEARS that at LEAST 90% of everything they feature is written by a person with a female-sounding name... Not 100%, but a huge, overwhelming majority.

Are the vast majority of authors women? Are the people at the cloud library that set up the "featured" page attempting to bias the list in favor of certain authors or a gender?

It's not a big deal, but I found it odd that their listings would be so one-sided...

[Sirtel]

No idea what genres you read, but in fantasy and SF (both tradpubs and self-pubs) there are plenty of guy authors. Also in historical fiction.

[DiapDealer]

Authors have a gender?

[PurpleStar]

My library (overdrive) has a lot of books from female authors as well, but they get more romance than anything else, so that would explain that.

[John F]

Doing a fiction search at one of my libraries, sorted by date added, I seem to see a similar amount of male and female authors.

[dkperez]

IN THE CLOUD LIBRARY (the biblioteca online library app that's similar to Overdrive), there is a page of "Featured" books. In various genre - Recent Additiona, New Adult Fiction, Mystery, etc... For each, there is a series of books listed.

Because a couple of the libraries I use have gone to the Cloud Library, in some cases no longer even having their regular "Library website", I periodically check in there to see if they have anything I want to download.

Today, as part of running through authors, whose books I read, I checked the "Featured" page.

And was somewhat surprised that such a high percentage of the featured books appeared to be written by women. Thus my question - are there significantly fewer male authors out there today or if it was an agenda-driven effort...

It was just curious...

[rkomar]

It may be more of a marketing driven thing. I suspect that women take more books out of the library than men do, and it may be by a really large margin. I certainly see more women borrowing more books than men at my branch, and I can't remember the last time I bumped into a man in the fiction stacks. It makes sense to put forward the books that you think are going to be "hot" on the featured page, and that means books that women will like.

My library's stand of recommended fiction is dominated by female authors, but maybe 1/3 are written by men. I doubt that the latter are there entirely to appeal to the scant male patrons, more like they are books that women would still like to read.

[John F]

Originally Posted by dkperez

IN THE CLOUD LIBRARY (the biblioteca online library app that's similar to Overdrive), there is a page of "Featured" books. In various genre - Recent Additiona, New Adult Fiction, Mystery, etc... For each, there is a series of books listed.

Because a couple of the libraries I use have gone to the Cloud Library, in some cases no longer even having their regular "Library website", I periodically check in there to see if they have anything I want to download.

Today, as part of running through authors, whose books I read, I checked the "Featured" page.

And was somewhat surprised that such a high percentage of the featured books appeared to be written by women. Thus my question - are there significantly fewer male authors out there today or if it was an agenda-driven effort...

It was just curious...

Funny how people see things differently...

I happened to be on cloud library this morning (Brooklyn), and on the Featured page, to me, it looks like an equal mix (I didn't go past the first page). Some categories seem to have more of one gender than another, but it looks close to an equal mix, in general.

[darryl]

The sooner this fuss over gender stops the better. The Big 5 are crying quite loud at the moment over things like gender and race and diversity and may well have some sort of push on. I don't know. But if featured books are being featured because of gender or race than that's wrong, but then again I don't have to buy them just because they are featured. I don't give a damn about an author's gender or for that matter their race or background. I don't give a damn about whether someone writing about a particular culture or group is from that culture or group. I just want something great to read.

[patrickt]

I've noticed the same thing. My preferred genre is mystery/detective. I generally prefer novels written by men. That said, it's sometimes impossible to know without buying the book and reading it. The name of the author can be totally false. A person can be having books published under two names, one of each gender. Frequently, the short biographies are careful to conceal the gender.

In my opinion, men read different books, read for a different reason, and what they're looking for in a book is different.

I've always been a compulsive reader and years ago I was reading a book by Wallace Stegner over dinner in a cafe and another customer engaged me in conversation. It ended with me joining a reading group. I didn't know what a reading group was. It was great. It led me to read books I wouldn't normally read and we had great discussions about what we'd read. Most of the guys were connected to the local university. Out of thirteen guys, eleven were liberals. All ranged from 30 to 70. All but one was partnered with a woman. The woman had a separate reading group.

The women's group read totally different books but once a year the men's group had to select a book the women's group demanded we read. One year when we discussed the women's book it didn't go well. The wife of that night's host listened in. The men complained of factual errors that ranged from mountains in at part of Wyoming that had no mountains to the army using DC-3s to fly people around the country. The men found the errors ruined the reading and the wife jumped up and raged, "None of that matters. It's the relationships that are important."

And she was absolutely right as a representative for women. Part of what I enjoyed about Tony Hillerman's books were the details about the Navajo life and culture. My wife read one of the books and had absolutely no interest in that. She was looking for relationships. And, since most readers are women, over the years the series changed to include far more relationship details.

I also question how well a woman can understand a man's motivation or vice versa. Men are often more honest than women on motivation. I said one day that for men, sex is the goal and for women it's a means to reach the goal. Men agreed and women were furious.

Although I disagree with the percentage, the majority of fiction books are written by women. I had an acquaintance who wrote science fiction books. He had nine published books being sold. His annual income from writing was four figures. But, writing was his job. Supporting the family was his wife's responsibility. I wonder if more women write because they have the freedom to do so.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by patrickt

In my opinion, men read different books, read for a different reason, and what they're looking for in a book is different.

In my opinion, your opinion is equal parts ignorant and offensive. And patently false, to boot.

People read different books, read for a different reason, and what they're looking for in a book is different. After that, ALL lines blur, intersect and deviate.

Originally Posted by patrickt

I wonder if more women write because they have the freedom to do so.

That's just bonkers sexist. What is this, the '50s?

[issybird]

I'm appalled and outraged by the patronizing, demeaning and dismissive tone taken in several posts and I also reject their contentions outright.

ETA: If you wouldn't make such a comment about a race, nationality, religion and so forth, don't make it about women, either. We're not an undifferentiated group. Shocking, I know.

[John F]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I've noticed the same thing. My preferred genre is mystery/detective. I generally prefer novels written by men. That said, it's sometimes impossible to know without buying the book and reading it. The name of the author can be totally false. A person can be having books published under two names, one of each gender. Frequently, the short biographies are careful to conceal the gender.

...

For me, if I'm interested in an author, I use Google; It is pretty effective for determining things that are "impossible".

[astrangerhere]

I cannot roll my eyes hard enough. Also, some of the views stated above are not just sexist they are staggeringly heteronormative.

To try and at least remotely contribute to this conversation:
PD James has written some of the greatest mysteries of the modern era. Gillian Flynn, love or hate her, has turned the thriller genre on its head with her unreliable narrators and monstrous characters. Ann Leckie is the first person (male or female) to win Arthur C. Clarke, the Nebula and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in the same year.

I wonder how many people miss out on excellent stories due to something as backwards as avoiding an author's name.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by dkperez

I use several libraries. Including a couple that have gone to the "cloud library" (I was told by one library worker that it's cheaper than Overdrive).

I recently fired up the cloud library, and took a look at the "featured" page. Row after row of books - new arrivals, adult fiction, etc.

And in my rummaging it APPEARS that at LEAST 90% of everything they feature is written by a person with a female-sounding name... Not 100%, but a huge, overwhelming majority.

Are the vast majority of authors women? Are the people at the cloud library that set up the "featured" page attempting to bias the list in favor of certain authors or a gender?

It's not a big deal, but I found it odd that their listings would be so one-sided...

I regularly search newly added books (all ebooks, not just one genre/category) on my local Overdrive library and in general I have not noticed a disparity in numbers of male/female authors, the exception being that every once in a while it appears the library acquires a huge pile of romance books by women. I last noticed this in February, which was both Valentine's Day and Black History Month - there was a huge acquisition of romance books with pictures of African-American characters on the cover.

Originally Posted by patrickt

I've noticed the same thing. My preferred genre is mystery/detective. I generally prefer novels written by men. That said, it's sometimes impossible to know without buying the book and reading it. The name of the author can be totally false. A person can be having books published under two names, one of each gender. Frequently, the short biographies are careful to conceal the gender.
responsibility.

I once read a book where the author's name was female but the main character, who was female, just didn't seem to me to be thinking like a woman (I am a woman, so I am basing this on myself and other women in my life). Later I discovered the author was actually a man writing under a female pen name.