If it takes as long to swing back as it did for women to get published in the first place, I'm afraid it will be a long wait. But I don't think that will happen, I think it will become more equal. I read mostly male writers until women began to get published more. Now I read mostly women authors, but some men too. I read authors from other countries, indigenous authors, LGBTQIA+2S authors too.
so at the risk of sounding — well, we'll see — I enjoyed reading this, but I'm always a bit bewildered when I hear this idea that the male perspective is no longer respected, let alone honored, in publishing. I know that women make up a disproportionately large number of editors and agents, but I've never met a truly brilliant guy who FINISHED HIS BOOK and couldn't get it published. In my life, I've known, so far, two certifiable genius writers. One died by suicide before he finished his novel (he was locally known for theater work that had his audience reeling). The other, to my knowledge, doesn't have a complete manuscript. Do we know that there are just these mind-blowing New Great Books out there written by men whose extraordinary work simply "can't find a home," as they say in the industry these days?
Hi Sarah, I'm a male author who has been querying my finished novel for almost a year. While I would not call myself "truly brilliant," everyone who has read the book—from my two experienced editors, to paid test readers, and other authors—has rated it from good to excellent. My editor cried four times reading it, and she's a dedicated paid editor, whom I encourage to rip my work apart. 62% of my readers were female, by the way, because I wanted to make certain it was appealing to women!
I have been rejected by every single agent I've submitted to. One hundred-twelve agents. It cannot find a home. So, when we question the validity of whether or not men are struggling, it's important to ask around more. There are plenty of brilliant artists failing to get their work seen.
I appreciate this!! And your sharing your experiences gives me a lot to think about. My skepticism primarily stems from two factors, one, that I’m not seeing a whole lot of female authors in my own circles who get six-figure deals, including the well-published ones, and two — this is the main one — that the last man I heard go on a rant of this exact nature was himself a well-published author and his 1950’s period book about a white boy in the Northeast DID find a home and even won some awards. His lament seemed to be that he’s not famous ENOUGH, that a man like him (and he’s very much the stereotypical past-a-certain-age professor who is SHAMELESS in his attempts to sleep with students) WOULD HAVE BEEN worshiped decades ago. Maybe that’s true, but I’m frankly glad we live in a world that doesn’t let him get away with more than he already does. (Also, to be clear, I’m not saying this post was a rant, it’s very even-keeled, just that the sentiment was the same.)
I’m sorry that the querying process has been so epically frustrating, to put it mildly. I think the credentials you list here are definitely valuable, and all I can say is that I’m glad you keep pushing forward. My experience so far is that it’s a very specific KIND of woman the publishing world wants, but I’ll see what happens when I start to hear back from more publishers and agents. I just started the querying process a week ago, and I’m assuming I’m going to go the indie press route with this project, but I’m hitting up a lot of agents too, so we’ll see. Just to make sure — I assume you have but for informational purposes here — have you gotten professional feedback on your query letter?
Regarding paragraph one, that is some great context! That guy sounds like the kind of guy I'm hoping we don't see in publishing so much moving forward. I also deeply agree with your assessment that publishing wants a certain kind of woman. It's what's marketable right now, full-stop.
Regarding paragraph two: I am wishing you all the best with your querying as well. For context: I had an actual agent (she reps romance, not my genre,) an employee at a publishing house (who donated time to me,) my own editor who worked for a small press, and a copywriter from Apple (another friend) help me write the query letter. Bona fide talent, and all women but one! No agent wants to touch my manuscript with a 30 ft. pole, to the point it's confusing everyone. It's rough. Conversations like this, though, are beautiful, and really empower us to champion each other and our work. I will 100% be rooting for you.
Lately, most of my reading is female authors. And your description of your breakthrough -- looking at something from a young girl's point of view -- you're going to hate this -- reminded me of the novels of Jodi Picoult. All of her novels are from a particular point of view. And they are topical and formulaic. But she tells good stories. So do you. Without the formulae. There was no point here, just a few thoughts.
I am hoping that you’re writing, or have thought about writing, a memoir?
If it takes as long to swing back as it did for women to get published in the first place, I'm afraid it will be a long wait. But I don't think that will happen, I think it will become more equal. I read mostly male writers until women began to get published more. Now I read mostly women authors, but some men too. I read authors from other countries, indigenous authors, LGBTQIA+2S authors too.
so at the risk of sounding — well, we'll see — I enjoyed reading this, but I'm always a bit bewildered when I hear this idea that the male perspective is no longer respected, let alone honored, in publishing. I know that women make up a disproportionately large number of editors and agents, but I've never met a truly brilliant guy who FINISHED HIS BOOK and couldn't get it published. In my life, I've known, so far, two certifiable genius writers. One died by suicide before he finished his novel (he was locally known for theater work that had his audience reeling). The other, to my knowledge, doesn't have a complete manuscript. Do we know that there are just these mind-blowing New Great Books out there written by men whose extraordinary work simply "can't find a home," as they say in the industry these days?
Hi Sarah, I'm a male author who has been querying my finished novel for almost a year. While I would not call myself "truly brilliant," everyone who has read the book—from my two experienced editors, to paid test readers, and other authors—has rated it from good to excellent. My editor cried four times reading it, and she's a dedicated paid editor, whom I encourage to rip my work apart. 62% of my readers were female, by the way, because I wanted to make certain it was appealing to women!
I have been rejected by every single agent I've submitted to. One hundred-twelve agents. It cannot find a home. So, when we question the validity of whether or not men are struggling, it's important to ask around more. There are plenty of brilliant artists failing to get their work seen.
I appreciate this!! And your sharing your experiences gives me a lot to think about. My skepticism primarily stems from two factors, one, that I’m not seeing a whole lot of female authors in my own circles who get six-figure deals, including the well-published ones, and two — this is the main one — that the last man I heard go on a rant of this exact nature was himself a well-published author and his 1950’s period book about a white boy in the Northeast DID find a home and even won some awards. His lament seemed to be that he’s not famous ENOUGH, that a man like him (and he’s very much the stereotypical past-a-certain-age professor who is SHAMELESS in his attempts to sleep with students) WOULD HAVE BEEN worshiped decades ago. Maybe that’s true, but I’m frankly glad we live in a world that doesn’t let him get away with more than he already does. (Also, to be clear, I’m not saying this post was a rant, it’s very even-keeled, just that the sentiment was the same.)
I’m sorry that the querying process has been so epically frustrating, to put it mildly. I think the credentials you list here are definitely valuable, and all I can say is that I’m glad you keep pushing forward. My experience so far is that it’s a very specific KIND of woman the publishing world wants, but I’ll see what happens when I start to hear back from more publishers and agents. I just started the querying process a week ago, and I’m assuming I’m going to go the indie press route with this project, but I’m hitting up a lot of agents too, so we’ll see. Just to make sure — I assume you have but for informational purposes here — have you gotten professional feedback on your query letter?
Regarding paragraph one, that is some great context! That guy sounds like the kind of guy I'm hoping we don't see in publishing so much moving forward. I also deeply agree with your assessment that publishing wants a certain kind of woman. It's what's marketable right now, full-stop.
Regarding paragraph two: I am wishing you all the best with your querying as well. For context: I had an actual agent (she reps romance, not my genre,) an employee at a publishing house (who donated time to me,) my own editor who worked for a small press, and a copywriter from Apple (another friend) help me write the query letter. Bona fide talent, and all women but one! No agent wants to touch my manuscript with a 30 ft. pole, to the point it's confusing everyone. It's rough. Conversations like this, though, are beautiful, and really empower us to champion each other and our work. I will 100% be rooting for you.
Thank you for your support! I’m entirely rooting for you too.
Lately, most of my reading is female authors. And your description of your breakthrough -- looking at something from a young girl's point of view -- you're going to hate this -- reminded me of the novels of Jodi Picoult. All of her novels are from a particular point of view. And they are topical and formulaic. But she tells good stories. So do you. Without the formulae. There was no point here, just a few thoughts.
It's lonely at the top.