So Many Female eBook Authors!

[Lemurion]

Writers are a subset of readers.
Women read more than men, therefore women write more than men.

It's got nothing to do with anything other than the numbers.

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

Writers are a subset of readers.
Women read more than men, therefore women write more than men.

That's a flawed reasoning. It assumes that the writer/reader ratio is the same for men and women

I'm only talking about the logical aspect, I don't care about the truth of its premises or conclusions.

[Anne Bradshaw]

Could be because there are more women at home with time to write once the children are old enough for school.

[anilom]

this could be true as well. i guess that women have more time to write 'cause their at home, but is a pretty sexist thing to say. i'm a big fan of the romance theory. i'm also of the opinion that because the romance sector is so huge there 'seems' to be more female writer.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by Jellby

That's a flawed reasoning. It assumes that the writer/reader ratio is the same for men and women

I'm only talking about the logical aspect, I don't care about the truth of its premises or conclusions.

The principle of mediocrity indicates that barring evidence to the contrary, the only reasonable presumption is that the writer/reader ratio is going to be very similar, if not identical, across gender lines.

The other factor is that given the size of the gender disparity among readers, women could have a noticeably smaller ratio of writers to readers and still outnumber men.

[=X=]

Where are you getting you facts from, this is the first time I've ever heard anybody make that claim.

From personal experience I've seen men read more, but I would never make a blanket statement that men read more be of it.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by =X=

Where are you getting you facts from, this is the first time I've ever heard anybody make that claim.

From personal experience I've seen men read more, but I would never make a blanket statement that men read more be of it.

Two factors - one this NEA report that showed 55% of women read at least one piece of fiction in 2004 as opposed to 38% of men. Also, romance fiction, which according to the RWA website has a 90% female readership is the largest genre of fiction.

Particularly when it comes to reading for pleasure, women read more than men.

[Joykins]

The only megareaders I know are female. That would be myself and a friend. By megareaders I mean we read several hundred books a year. A lot of romance.

[durkinrobinson]

I do believe that romance writers are the only area where male writers actually take a female name and it benefits them. Just because those names look girly, doesn't mean they are.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

Two factors - one this NEA report that showed 55% of women read at least one piece of fiction in 2004 as opposed to 38% of men. Also, romance fiction, which according to the RWA website has a 90% female readership is the largest genre of fiction.

Particularly when it comes to reading for pleasure, women read more than men.

Okay so these numbers don't jive with the post. The author correlates a 1-5 male to female. That would have to have 80% of women and 20% men reading difference.

Also the study your citing a study is based on "fiction". There is a world of difference between stating "Women read more" and "Women read more fiction".

Most couples I'm acquainted with the males and females read about the same. But the females mostly read fiction where the males read a mix of the two.

Me personally I read 2 non fictions to one fiction.

Which brings me back to my original premise the OP is not doing an all encompassing evaluation, s/he made an observation based on the genre(s) the OP reads.

=X=

[emoorman]

I am a 73-year old male and, personally, I don't care one whit about the gender of the author as long as they can spin a yarn and not bore me to tears. If the author can't tell a good story and keep the plot moving, I usually lose interest.

Modern female authors generally, in my opinion, tend to write a slower paced novel with considerable emphasis on the relationship of the main characters. I prefer a faster paced novel, no matter what the gender of the author is, but that is my personal preference.

One of my favorite authors is Jayne Ann Krentz (and her pseudonyms, Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick). I read everything she writes. She writes a fast paced novel with snappy exchanges between the main male and female characters. Invariably, there are 1 or 2 murders in the first chapter. her books remind me of the romantic mystery movies of the 30s, 40s and 50s. Since her books are nominally 'romance," they contain the obligatory 3 soft porn, sex scenes, which I admit to skimming over quickly.

My other favorite authors are Tom Clancy and W. E. B. Griffin. I am attacking some of the mystery/suspense books from here on Mobileread.

Bottom line is, in my opinion, there is too much talk about gender and not about how good the story is. The only reason I care about who is the author is so I can find another of her/his books.

[CaraM]

Originally Posted by Joykins

I know, offhand, of 2 husband-wife teams who write romances, who take a woman's name as a pseudonym. (Toni Carrington and Leda Swann).

I've met the Toni Carrington duo at a romance writer's conference. Very nice couple. I wonder if there really are more female authors or it just seems that way. Romance novels account for more than 50 percent of the paperback market. Many epubs are romance publishers. Now that the smaller presses and epubs have paved the way, the large romance publishers like Harlequin and Avon have jumped on the ebook cart. This could be why you see so many female authors.