# Do men read books written by women?



## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Years ago I overheard a woman saying that her husband wouldn't read a book written by a woman. 
Do (some) men still believe that: woman writer = chick lit = rubbish?


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## Gerund (Aug 8, 2010)

As a man, I don't read chick lit. I always thought that the term "it made my skin crawl" was hyperbole until I tried to read _Bridget Jones' Diary_, whereupon I was quickly disabused of this notion.

But I definitely read books written by women. Dorothy Parker, Agatha Christie and Judith Martin are three of my favourite authors. Lately I've also been reading Diane Ravitch, Barbara Ehrenreich, and I'm currently beavering away on Sherry Seethaler's excellent _Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics_.

In addition, as a gay man, my fluffy standing-at-the-bus-stop-so-I-don't-want-anything-too-serious fiction consists of pulpy gay romance novels, almost all of which are written by women. Sometimes you hit a hard stop (NO! HUMAN BODIES DO NOT WORK LIKE THAT! OW OW OW OW OW!), but by and large they're perfectly readable, and serviceable at worst.


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## DavidRM (Sep 21, 2010)

Authors of the books I read have genders? I have *got* to start looking at author bios more closely...

-David


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> Years ago I overheard a woman saying that her husband wouldn't read a book written by a woman.
> *Do (some) men still believe that: woman writer = chick lit = rubbish?*


I don't.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

See this very recent thread.


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Why would anybody think that?  I read books regardless of the author's gender.  I just want a good book; who cares if a woman wrote it?  Many of my favorite books were written by women.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

Some authors have used initials - PD James, JK Rowling. I wonder if this was on the advice of someone who feared there may be a prejudice on the part of readers.
I went with the gender neutral Jan (just to be on the safe side)


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## Daniel Arenson (Apr 11, 2010)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> Some authors have used initials - PD James, JK Rowling. I wonder if this was on the advice of someone who feared there may be a prejudice on the part of readers.
> I went with the gender neutral Jan (just to be on the safe side)


In J. K. Rowling's case, you are right. If I recall correctly, she doesn't actually have a middle name. She's just Joanne Rowling. Her publisher feared boys would not buy books by a woman. They told her to just use her initials. Since she has no middle name, she just picked K and went with that.

Daniel


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2010)

So many great female writers. Also, I've never in my life heard of anyone refusing to buy a book based on an author's gender or race.


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> Some authors have used initials - PD James, JK Rowling. I wonder if this was on the advice of someone who feared there may be a prejudice on the part of readers.
> I went with the gender neutral Jan (just to be on the safe side)


That's why I'm R.J. Keller. Except that my profile pic totally gives me away as a chick. Back to the ole drawing board...


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## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

I think the person who said that is definitely in the minority.

Vicki


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## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

Lately, more men than women have been reviewing and posting about my books. But my protagonist is male, and that may make a difference. In fact, I think the gender of the protagonist may be more of a factor for readers than the gender of the author. 
L.J.


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## Valmore Daniels (Jul 12, 2010)

Just off the top of my head, I love to read Nancy Kress, C.J. Cherryh, Julie Czerneda, CS Friedman, Tanya Huff, Melanie Rawn, Margaret Weis, and more than a few of the authors right here on kindleboards.


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## jbh13md (Aug 1, 2010)

I think a lot of science fiction fans would agree that Octavia Butler is a genius. I actually read about the same number of female authors as I do male writers.


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2010)

Victorine said:


> I think the person who said that is definitely in the minority.
> 
> Vicki


Are you against minorities now


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## terryr (Apr 24, 2010)

Certain genres, writing styles, or subjects can stop me, but certainly not the sexual orientation, gender, or anything else about the writer.

I don't bother vetting out an author and demanding a CV before reading a book (or an actor before watching a movie).  It's AFTER I've read and enjoyed a book that I usually even bother to notice the author's name at all (unless I've seen it here first), then look it up to see if there's more books and more information.


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

Only thing about women using initials....is that these days, most people have figured out that authors using initials are probably women.   Doesn't mean they ALL are, but I think most are.  It's those gender-neutral names you gotta watch out for (it was a long time before I knew that Robin Hobb was a woman, for instance).


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## Cliff Ball (Apr 10, 2010)

I've read Toni Morrison, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Charlotte Bronte, Laura Ingalls Wilder, DC Fontana, Jeri Taylor, Diane Duane, some because they write science fiction, and some of the others, because I was an English major.


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## OliverCrommer (May 17, 2010)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> Years ago I overheard a woman saying that her husband wouldn't read a book written by a woman.
> Do (some) men still believe that: woman writer = chick lit = rubbish?


I think the husband is being a little ridiculous there.

Talent is talent, no matter if the author has got a hoo-hoo or a hee-hee. I agree with LJ though. The gender of the protagonist matters more than the gender of the author.

In fact, 2 out of 3 of my fav authors are women: Alice Munro and Anita Shreve. 
The other one, if anyone's wondering, is Stephen King.


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Daniel Arenson said:


> In J. K. Rowling's case, you are right. If I recall correctly, she doesn't actually have a middle name. She's just Joanne Rowling. Her publisher feared boys would not buy books by a woman. They told her to just use her initials. Since she has no middle name, she just picked K and went with that.
> 
> Daniel


I know a fantasy writer whose series revolves around a male character and shortly after she was offered a deal, there was a very serious discussion about giving her a male nom de plume or initials because of that very thing. Eventually, they found enough exceptions of female fantasy writers selling epic, action-oriented fantasy with male MCs that they let her keep her first (very feminine) name.


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

Steph H said:


> Only thing about women using initials....is that these days, most people have figured out that authors using initials are probably women.


Dang! Y'all are onto me...


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## G. Henkel (Jan 12, 2010)

I read plenty of female authors. In fact, if I remember correctly, Agatha Christie was one of the writers who truly kindled my love for books.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

I remember reading about an Indian author who'd written a serious book about the history of Britain. The sales were much lower than expected. When they re-issued the book under an English pseudonym the sales sky-rocketed.
When writing articles for an African magazine I was asked if I would use an African nom-de-plume. I readily agreed as it didn't matter to me as long as they were paying me. But when an Indian male writer had a short story accepted for a women's magazine he refused their request to use an English female psuedomyn. However, when he entered a short story competition for African writers he happily used an African pseudonym.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

As I mentioned in the other recent topic about author's genders, I think it really comes down to the genre and target reader. I would find it odd for a man to read a lot of chick-lit or other books targeted at a female fan base. But female author's don't always write for a female target - there are plenty of genre's that women write in which would also appeal to men.


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## JoeMitchell (Jun 6, 2010)

It doesn't matter to me at all if an author is a woman, though the term 'chick-lit', to me, sounds derogatory, or at least a pretentious bid to gain readers based on gender.  I would be embarrassed to have my book listed as 'Dude Lit' or 'Manly Writing'.  One of the first novels I ever read was from Andre Norton, when I was 14 years old.  At that time, I thought Andre was a man, but when I found out otherwise it didn't make me want to read her any less, and I knew she was a pioneer writing sci-fi in a time when most sci-fi authors were men.  The best books I've read recently were Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games.  She's a great writer, and probably doesn't fall under the 'chick-lit' category.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

JoeMitchell said:


> It doesn't matter to me at all if an author is a woman, though the term 'chick-lit', to me, sounds derogatory, or at least a pretentious bid to gain readers based on gender.


I think chick-lit is intended to be light, easy, short but entertaining reads particularly for "modern" women so I think the name fits the genre. It's not meant to be a real serious genre and there's nothing wrong with that so I don't see what is derogatory about it. I get the impression you might look down on the genre regardless of what it was called.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

I do read some Chick Lit.  I tend to like English chick lit over the Americans - but that's mostly based on the author's sense of humor than anything else.  In gay fiction there is also a sub-set that is pretty much chick lit with gay guys instead of chicks and I think that's where I started and moved on to the women later.  

I enjoy a palette cleansing book - especially after a more difficult read.  Chick lit and gay guy lit (?) fills the bill.  If more straight guys wrote more contemporary, light comedy I'd read them too ...


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## tanstaafl28 (Oct 10, 2010)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> Years ago I overheard a woman saying that her husband wouldn't read a book written by a woman.
> Do (some) men still believe that: woman writer = chick lit = rubbish?


I can't speak for any other men, but for me, the inherent worth of any book is in the content, not the gender of the author.


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## TotallyEpic (Aug 14, 2010)

Only two female authors I can recall reading are JK Rowling and Harper Lee.


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## jackwestjr_author (Aug 19, 2010)

Absolutely, and it heartens me to see more female authors getting into the thriller writing game.  I love a page turner that is plot driven, but when an author develops complex characters in addition to that I become a dedicated fan.  In my reading experience, female authors have a better track record for character development.


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## arshield (Nov 17, 2008)

I read some chick lit.  I loved the twilight books.  My wife makes fun of me because I really liked the Princess Diaries books.  But I am also a sci-fi/fantasy fan and read a LOT of non-fiction.

I do not think I consciously avoid women authors.  I do think there are guys that do.  But there are guys that do a lot of things that are inappropriate.  

Other than authors that I consciously look for, I do not pay much attention to author bios unless I read a couple books and really like an author.  I think reading the author bios can be a bit too revealing to the characters.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I write historical fiction/romance and men do read my books. See the reviews by Geoff Thomas, Jeff Hepple and Ricky Sides for example.


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## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

The last female writer I read was Toni Morrison (Beloved).  I don't pick by gender.  I guess I pick based on my interests at the time.  I don't like frivolous books, no matter who writes them.  I want books with whole wheat, vegatables, lean meat, and maybe a few vitamins thrown in there.  Something to stick to my ribs.  Hmmmm.  Suddenly I'm hungry.  Scuse me....


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

When I was a kid I loved shoot-em-up western movies but didn't care for the mushy parts. My taste hasn't changed that much but I've read a number of very interesting romances that were written by women including Margaret Lake's _Ariana's Pride_, _Catherine and the Captain_, Monique Martin's _Out of Time_, and numerous others.


Spoiler



I tend to skip over the mushy parts and the fabric discussion.


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## mlouisalocke (May 14, 2010)

I do think it has a lot to do with genre. I know that most of the mysteries I read are more likely to be cozies-light, romantic, with female protagonists--and most of the books written in this style are written by females. I can enjoy a hard-boiled mystery, but tend to like them best if there are fully developed male and female characters. Not surprisingly, when I wrote my first mystery, it was a cozy. I suspect that most of my readers are female, although one of my beta readers is male, and probably one of the best complements I got from a reader was from a male who thanked me for having a male protagonist who was multi-dimensional and that held his own with my female protagonist.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Even Nero Wolfe (the world's foremost literary misogynist) never forgave Jane Austen for proving that a woman could write.

Jeff is


Spoiler



allergic to fabric.


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## Thumper (Feb 26, 2009)

rjkeller said:


> That's why I'm R.J. Keller. Except that my profile pic totally gives me away as a chick. Back to the ole drawing board...


Same here, but my profile pic doesn't give anything away... 

I was advised mumblemumble years ago to go with initials because I was trying to sell to men's market magazines, and back then it really was an issue.

Now, not so much, but there are those men who still think backwards...


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## Alice Y. Yeh (Jul 14, 2010)

This has been a pretty interesting thread.

Maybe I missed it, but I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned Mary Shelley yet!


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

It appears from this thread that men DO read books written by women, but there is a (mistaken?) perception that a prejudice does still exist.
We have come a long way since the days of George Eliot, but if Joanne Rowling was advised to use initials, then it is not far enough.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

My husband used to read a mystery series written by sisters.

http://www.amazon.com/Perri-OShaughnessy/e/B000APM8GO/ref=sr_tc_img_2_0?qid=1286796473&sr=1-2-ent

I'm not sure the sex of the writer is as important to men as the genre -- reading a female writer is a separate issue from reading a romance novel. The former might cause hesitation, but the latter would be a deal-breaker for many guys. Some women too.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

JoeMitchell said:


> It doesn't matter to me at all if an author is a woman, though the term 'chick-lit', to me, sounds derogatory, or at least a pretentious bid to gain readers based on gender.


Well, I'm not sure the writers like the term any more than historical romance writers like the term bodice ripper. It's a name that's sorta stuck and that some writers reluctantly admit serves a purpose. I'm thinking a good portion would prefer another name.

Some literary ladies released an anthology called This is Not Chick Lit and then there was a response anthology called This Is Chick Lit. I think I got the titles right. Both books were good and both had selections that could have been in the other anthology. I thought the initial effort was a little back-stabby (and pretentious) in a way that some women specialize in. Men don't pull that stuff on one another, at least not as much.


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

Let's see, the last book written by a woman that I read was one of Elizabeth Moon's.  And that was . . . last week.  Then there are the ones by Steve Miller & Sharon Lee.  Should I only read the words written by the one and not the other?

Stack me up with those who don't care about gender.  Tanya Huff, Elizabeth Moon, CJ Cherryh and Diane Duane grace my bookshelves.  Long as it's a good book written about a subject that interests me, I won't care who wrote it.


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

I read books written by women all the time. Some of my favorites are Octavia Butler, Lisa Gardener, Chelsea Cain, Suzanne Collins, Aprilynne Pike, and of course, J.K. Rowling.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> It appears from this thread that men DO read books written by women, but there is a (mistaken?) perception that a prejudice does still exist.
> We have come a long way since the days of George Eliot, but if Joanne Rowling was advised to use initials, then it is not far enough.


JKR was targeting young boys who are more likely to have an attitude rather than adult men with a mature outlook.

And speaking of not having come far enough, why are we not talking about women reading books written by men? Len Deighton, Rex Stout, Robert Ludlum, Alastair McLean to name some of my old favorites. Judith Michael and Sergeanne Golon, husband and wife teams. Not to mention Mike Hicks and Jeff Hepple from KB.


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> JKR was targeting young boys who are more likely to have an attitude rather than adult men with a mature outlook.
> 
> And speaking of not having come far enough, why are we not talking about women reading books written by men? Len Deighton, Rex Stout, Robert Ludlum, Alastair McLean to name some of my old favorites. Judith Michael and Sergeanne Golon, husband and wife teams. Not to mention Mike Hicks and Jeff Hepple from KB.


I know several women who routinely ignore books if they are written by men. Never seemed quite fair to me, but that's their right.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

David McAfee said:


> I know several women who routinely ignore books if they are written by men. Never seemed quite fair to me, but that's their right.


I haven't read yours and I'm sure you haven't read mine, but that's the genre, not the gender. If you wrote mysteries, e.g., I would read them.

How do you readers of romance feel about men who write them? Would you read a romance novel written by a man? There are some out there writing under women's names from what I understand.


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## David McAfee (Apr 15, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> How do you readers of romance feel about men who write them? Would you read a romance novel written by a man? There are some out there writing under women's names from what I understand.


Would Nicholas Sparks be considered romance? He's quite popular. With good reason, I might add. I'm not big on the romance genre, but one of the women in my book club picked _The Guardian_, by Sparks. Despite the fact that I felt the first 200 pages of the book were pretty slow, I quite enjoyed the writing itself. Sparks is very good at what he does.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

David McAfee said:


> Would Nicholas Sparks be considered romance? He's quite popular. With good reason, I might add. I'm not big on the romance genre, but one of the women in my book club picked _The Guardian_, by Sparks. Despite the fact that I felt the first 200 pages of the book were pretty slow, I quite enjoyed the writing itself. Sparks is very good at what he does.


From RWA (romance writers of america):

Two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally-satisfying and optimistic ending.

I haven't read Sparks yet. He's in my ever-growing TBR.


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## Guest (Oct 11, 2010)

Of course there are some men that won't read a book written by a women. There are also men that think women should be home barefoot and pregnant. Neanderthals still exist. But what is the point? Do I care about these people? No. Because if they are so narrow minded as to think that way, they aren't going to like my books anyway. So I don't think about them or worry about them. I'm not going to go around calling myself J.A. ***** to trick stupid men into buying my book. I don't write for stupid people, after all.

Honestly, there comes a point where those of us in the majority that don't care about gender need to stop making a big deal out of gender. And we ARE in the majority. Anyone that thinks men don't read female fantasy authors has never heard the name Margaret Weis. I recently did an interview where the interviewer was asking questions about women in gaming. I've been answering these same questions for almost 20 years now! They get old. We need to move beyond them. You aren't going to change the tiny, stunted minds of those few men who think that way, and by even bringing up the conversation of "Do men read books by women" in many ways reinforces the myth and puts men on the defensive and makes them feel the need to list the authors they have read while planting the seed in women's minds that maybe this is a problem. It's like going up to a beautiful, thin girl and asking her "Do you think some people still look at you and think you are fat?" Guess what? If the question never crossed her mind, _now_ she is thinking it.

Personally, as a woman, I won't feel we have finally achieved full equality until we no longer feel the need to stress about whether or not we have achieved equality.


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## Laurensaga (Sep 29, 2010)

L.J. Sellers said:


> Lately, more men than women have been reviewing and posting about my books. But my protagonist is male, and that may make a difference. In fact, I think the gender of the protagonist may be more of a factor for readers than the gender of the author.
> L.J.


I agree with you. I could care less if the author was from the planet xenon and reproduced by budding. Usually it is the point of view (first or thid person) and the gender of the protag. I've read first person male protags before, but they have to be really great. Third person POV I don't mind male or female.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Is there a male version of chick-lit?


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## Guest (Oct 11, 2010)

Monique said:


> Is there a male version of chick-lit?


Gentlemen's magazines? _(completely unrelated: I always was amused at the use of the word "gentlemen" to describe soft-core girlie mags.) _


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

I don't think there's a male equivalent other than escapist fiction. I think that female writers writing about the things that interest (a lot of) women should be no less respected than a male writer writing  what (a lot of) men want. Also, if you slap a male name on a book, people tend to take it more seriously. I'm reading the latest Franzen book (also have the audio book, long story) and if a woman had written it I don't think it would have received the same reception and would have been dismissed by many.


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Looks like some people call it "manfiction". Eh. Not catchy enough.


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## Guest (Oct 11, 2010)

MichelleR said:


> I'm reading the latest Franzen book (also have the audio book, long story) and if a woman had written it I don't think it would have received the same reception and would have been dismissed by many.


What is that based on? Who are these "many" that you speak of? How much of that perception is you projecting your own insecurities onto the situation? There is no statistical evidence of this. There's no historical data to substantiate this belief.

I'm not picking on you. Please don't take it that way. But you made this huge, sweeping statement that has no basis in reality as far as any actual evidence. It's like when people make the statement "Oh, publishers don't want to publish first time authors." Forget the fact for a minute that about 40% of the books I see advertised in Bookpages each month are in fact new authors, and forget the fact that all authors at some point are indeed first time authors (Stephen King wasn't born with a publishing contract coming out of the womb.) But people make the statement as if it is a proven, documented fact. And what they are really doing is projecting their own insecurities and fears onto the situation.

As a woman, I refuse to be afraid of being a woman. I don't make excuses like "Oh, guys don't want to play a game written by a girl" or "Oh, men won't read a horror novel written by a woman." It is all BS. And if there ARE guys out there that think that way...their loss. Not mine. I'm not going to be ashamed of my gender to try to increase my sales volume or submit to some unsubstantiated stereotype of what people think others think about gender roles.

Now excuse me, I have a bra to go burn.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> Gentlemen's magazines? _(completely unrelated: I always was amused at the use of the word "gentlemen" to describe soft-core girlie mags.) _


My personal favorite is "gentlemen's clubs."


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Monique said:


> Is there a male version of chick-lit?





Spoiler



dick-lit


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## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> dick-lit


 

Makes sense.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> (Stephen King wasn't born with a publishing contract coming out of the womb.)


I'm not so sure about that.


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

I think I know what you're saying, Michelle, although I don't want to put words in your virtual mouth. Franzen's novel is a quirky/darkly humorous story about a modern American family and is being praised right and left in literary circles and has been given lots of media attention; rightly so, because it's a good book. Similar novels by female writers, though, have been labeled "women's fiction" and not given nearly as much attention. It's frustrating. My own novel has been frequently labeled "romance" by book bloggers who haven't read it. When I've asked about it, the response has almost always been, "I figured it was a romance since it was written by a woman." GAH! But what can ya do? I like my bra far too much to burn it.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> What is that based on? Who are these "many" that you speak of? How much of that perception is you projecting your own insecurities onto the situation? There is no statistical evidence of this. There's no historical data to substantiate this belief.
> 
> I'm not picking on you. Please don't take it that way. But you made this huge, sweeping statement that has no basis in reality as far as any actual evidence. It's like when people make the statement "Oh, publishers don't want to publish first time authors." Forget the fact for a minute that about 40% of the books I see advertised in Bookpages each month are in fact new authors, and forget the fact that all authors at some point are indeed first time authors (Stephen King wasn't born with a publishing contract coming out of the womb.) But people make the statement as if it is a proven, documented fact. And what they are really doing is projecting their own insecurities and fears onto the situation.
> 
> ...


I never said that men won't read books written by women -- I did mention earlier in this thread that they might shy away from books written by women in certain genres. The Franzen book if written by female author would have a good chance of being labeled a woman's book rather than literary fiction, imo, because of the focus on the -- what's her name -- Patty Berglund (?) character.

Woman writes a book with a strong focus on a woman in suburbia, her coming of age, her marriage, her children, her -- well, no spoilers -- I think the temptation would be to stock it in a different section on B&N than if a man wrote it. To maybe laud the male writer a little more. Franzen is on record as being terrified of being seen as a writer who appeals too much to women. Maybe you need to wonder about his insecurities.

Which reminds me that I have no idea what insecurities that you feel I have. Didn't understand that part. Somehow I think that you think I have an issue with being a woman because -- this is where you lost me. No idea. I can't tell if you're picking on me until I understand your point. 



rjkeller said:


> I think I know what you're saying, Michelle, although I don't want to put words in your virtual mouth. Franzen's novel is a quirky/darkly humorous story about a modern American family and is being praised right and left in literary circles and has been given lots of media attention; rightly so, because it's a good book. Similar novels by female writers, though, have been labeled "women's fiction" and not given nearly as much attention. It's frustrating. My own novel has been frequently labeled "romance" by book bloggers who haven't read it. When I've asked about it, the response has almost always been, "I figured it was a romance since it was written by a woman." GAH! But what can ya do? I like my bra far too much to burn it.


Yep.

Diana Gabaldon used to lose her mind when Outlander got labeled romance or got shelved in that section -- don't know if she still does -- because she felt it would limit her audience. I think she was aiming more for general fiction. If a guy had written that book, it probably would have been shelved there or with science fiction, although -- let's face it -- the romance elements are strong.

It would be interesting to give ARCs to two different groups of readers with a male name listed on one set and a female name on another and see if there's a difference in perceptions -- or how they'd be labeled by the readers.


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## Jan Hurst-Nicholson (Aug 25, 2010)

I think the male equivalent of chick-lit is dude-lit.


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## Guest (Oct 11, 2010)

MichelleR said:


> Woman writes a book with a strong focus on a woman in suburbia, her coming of age, her marriage, her children, her -- well, no spoilers -- I think the temptation would be to stock it in a different section on B&N than if a man wrote it. To maybe laud the male writer a little more.


But this is my question: What is this based on?

I have a different perspective. Is it that "if a woman wrote it, she would be treated differently" or it is "because men so rarely write this sort of book, he stands out like a sore thumb?" Is it men slathering praise on him because he is a man, or women because they are shocked a man wrote the book? I would challenge that if he is getting more attention than a woman with the same type of book, it is because women are making a bigger deal out of him...not neccessarily because the industry itself does. The industry responds to buyers. The majority of book buyers are women. Women account for 80% of the fiction reader market. I'd sooner assume that, if there_ is _ a gender issue at play, it is caused by women...not men...because we tend to look at everything in terms of gender (which was the original point of my first comment in the thread).


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## D. Nathan Hilliard (Jun 5, 2010)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> Gentlemen's magazines? _(completely unrelated: I always was amused at the use of the word "gentlemen" to describe soft-core girlie mags.) _


Ahem! We read them for the articles!


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> But this is my question: What is this based on?
> 
> I have a different perspective. Is it that "if a woman wrote it, she would be treated differently" or it is "because men so rarely write this sort of book, he stands out like a sore thumb?" Is it men slathering praise on him because he is a man, or women because they are shocked a man wrote the book? I would challenge that if he is getting more attention than a woman with the same type of book, it is because women are making a bigger deal out of him...not neccessarily because the industry itself does. The industry responds to buyers. The majority of book buyers are women. Women account for 80% of the fiction reader market. I'd sooner assume that, if there_ is _ a gender issue at play, it is caused by women...not men...because we tend to look at everything in terms of gender (which was the original point of my first comment in the thread).


The answer: my opinion based on reading lots. I'm aware a lot of other people here read lots, even more than I do, and might disagree. If I had a list of sources to cite, I'd do so -- I promise.

You're saying that the NYT kisses Franzen's rear because the chicks dig him? Okay. What is THAT based on? Does Franzen know this? I'm not the least bit shocked he wrote that book. Also, men write this type of book fairly often -- and it seems to me that it's called something different when they do so.

I read a book last year called More Than It Hurts Me, written by a guy, reviewed in the NYT, very much something Picoult would write -- and yet if history suggests anything it's that in she'd written it, or any number of other women had, it would have been ignored. (The topic was Münchausen syndrome by proxy.) I can't prove it wouldn't have been reviewed, any more than I can prove anything else that did not happen. This is why I wrote it would be cool if it were put to the test somehow.


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## rm663 (Mar 4, 2010)

Yep...

I love the Calder series by Janet Dailey!

Dave


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## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

I've read somewhere (can't find the post now, but I'm sure it's somewhere if you google it), that J. K. Rowling used her initials and tried to portray herself as being a man, because she was told no publisher would take her seriously being a woman.  After the publisher requested her first Harry Potter book (signed on the dotted line), she then revealed herself as being a woman.  Hopefully I'm not butchering the article I read ... gosh-darn-it, where can you find things when you need them?

I also know that Louisa May Alcott did the same thing ... (and I'm sure a lot of other woman author's have too).


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

rm663 said:


> Yep...
> 
> I love the Calder series by Janet Dailey!
> 
> Dave


I thought I'd replied to this, weird. I loved those books, the first ones, but could never forgive her from plagiarizing from Nora Roberts back then NR was the lesser known author. From Wiki:
_
Dailey was sued in 1997 by fellow novelist Nora Roberts, who accused Dailey of copying her work for over seven years. The practice came to light after a reader read Roberts' Sweet Revenge and Dailey's Notorious back-to-back; she noticed several similarities and posted the comparable passages on the internet. Calling the plagiarism "mind rape," Roberts sued Dailey.[9] Dailey acknowledged the theft and blamed it on a psychological disorder. She admitted that both Aspen Gold and Notorious lifted heavily from Roberts's work. Both of those novels were subsequently pulled from print. In April 1998 Dailey settled the case. Although terms were not released, Roberts had previously indicated that any settlement funds should be donated to the Literacy Volunteers of America._


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## RJ Keller (Mar 9, 2009)

julieannfelicity said:


> I've read somewhere (can't find the post now, but I'm sure it's somewhere if you google it), that J. K. Rowling used her initials and tried to portray herself as being a man, because she was told no publisher would take her seriously being a woman. After the publisher requested her first Harry Potter book (signed on the dotted line), she then revealed herself as being a woman. Hopefully I'm not butchering the article I read ... gosh-darn-it, where can you find things when you need them?


Actually it was her publisher's idea to change her name. She went along with it because she would have changed her name to just about anything to get her book out. (Source: the Oprah interview, linked somewhere in the KB regions.  )

And, for the record, I was joking up yonder about that being _my _ reason for using initials in my pen name. It was actually to pay tribute to my brothers (Rob and Jim) after we almost lost one of them. My real last name is frequently mispronounced, which is why I decided on a pen name in the first place.


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## julieannfelicity (Jun 28, 2010)

rjkeller said:


> Actually it was her publisher's idea to change her name. She went along with it because she would have changed her name to just about anything to get her book out. (Source: the Oprah interview, linked somewhere in the KB regions.  )


See I knew I would butcher it (and probably should have kept my mouth shut until I found the article, but my silly head told me to post it anyway)! Thanks for the correction, RJ. 

I love, love, love how you chose your pen name. I was boring and just used my real name. A lot of people asked me why I used my husband's last name, saying I should have used my maiden name. Though in my head, my maiden name is easily mispronounced and I thought Titus would be easier to say (and remember).

I think, when I break from the literary fiction genre and try for the YA group, I'll change it up.

I will be honest and say, when I was in high school, my pen name was Spencer Collins. I did that so that it was gender neutral (and I was hoping HarperCollins Publishers would see that I was a 'Collins' too, and would want to immediately publish me - in my defense I was only 14!).


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## emalvick (Sep 14, 2010)

Interesting thread.  

I can't say I pay attention to gender when choosing books, but then I can't say I've read a ton of books by women, either.  I think that may be more because I am one to favor classics over everything else, and then I favor items in historical fiction.  The result seems to be that most authors have been men, but that has never been a criteria.  The story is important.  I can say I don't like romance novels, but that doesn't matter who the author is, and the cover often turns me away before I even see an author's name. I've tried reading Jane Austen, and I just find it lacking for me.  I don't think its because it lacks quality, it's just not my thing.  At the same time I've loved the two Toni Morrison books I've read.  I enjoyed the first couple Harry Potter books I read, and To Kill a Mockingbird is fantastic.

I really think it would be odd to dismiss a book on author's gender alone as I know that a fantastic book is just that regardless of who wrote it. 

I do think it odd that J.K. Rowling used initials for the gender reason, just because I find it a bit sad that there may still be a gender bias out there. Interestingly, I had heard of that initial use when I was quite young and reading the Chronicles of Narnia... I think I had assumed that C.S. Lewis was a female, although it didn't really matter to me as a kid (only hurt me in a junior trivia competition).  I haven't really cared about author genders since.


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## carl_h (Sep 8, 2010)

I do.  Some of my favorite authors are women .... Lisa Gardner comes to mind.  Sandra Brown can spin a good yarn.  Used to really enjoy Patricia Cornwell, but lately her books have been disappointing, almost as if she's in a hurry to wrap them up and get the next one out.


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

L.J. Sellers said:


> Lately, more men than women have been reviewing and posting about my books. But my protagonist is male, and that may make a difference. In fact, I think the gender of the protagonist may be more of a factor for readers than the gender of the author.
> L.J.


I think you may be right about that. I don't care about the gender of the author, but for some genres, I have a preferred gender for the main character. For thrillers and such, I want the mc to be male, for romance, female, but in either, there is a lot of leeway. If the premise sounds really good, I don't care what gender the mc is, as long as they're well developed.


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## DaronFraley (Sep 27, 2010)

Quite a few of my author friends are women, and therefore, I read their books. Most of them are outstanding. 

Even as a youth, I loved reading Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. LeGuin, and others. For me, I don't care who the author is, as long as the book is a great read.


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## chiffchaff (Dec 19, 2008)

The comments about J. K. Rowling reminded me  of a passage in what P. D. James described as her "partial autobiography" (A Time to be in Earnest).  For what it's worth, she had this to say:

"...I am often asked...whether I deliberately chose to write under the name P.D. James in order to conceal my sex.  Some questioners actually assume that I thought it an advantage to be mistaken for a man.  This certainly never entered my mind... I would certainly never dream of pretending to be other than a woman.  Not only would this be pointless, since the truth becomes known fairly quickly, but women are generally well regarded as crime writers and only a minority of readers would reject a book because they disliked the sex of the author, although I have to admit I have known cases."

Personally, I don't think about the gender of the author when choosing a new book.  I glance to see if it's someone whose work I'm familiar with, then look at the synopsis and reviews.


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## rm663 (Mar 4, 2010)

MichelleR said:


> I thought I'd replied to this, weird. I loved those books, the first ones, but could never forgive her from plagiarizing from Nora Roberts back then NR was the lesser known author. From Wiki:
> _
> Dailey was sued in 1997 by fellow novelist Nora Roberts, who accused Dailey of copying her work for over seven years. The practice came to light after a reader read Roberts' Sweet Revenge and Dailey's Notorious back-to-back; she noticed several similarities and posted the comparable passages on the internet. Calling the plagiarism "mind rape," Roberts sued Dailey.[9] Dailey acknowledged the theft and blamed it on a psychological disorder. She admitted that both Aspen Gold and Notorious lifted heavily from Roberts's work. Both of those novels were subsequently pulled from print. In April 1998 Dailey settled the case. Although terms were not released, Roberts had previously indicated that any settlement funds should be donated to the Literacy Volunteers of America._


I'm aware of and don't condone what she did. We are all human and make mistakes! I guess I have forgiven her.

_Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. (NIV)_

I've read all ten books in the series and just finished the latest "Santa in Montana" and loved it!

http://www.amazon.com/Santa-In-Montana-ebook/dp/B003IYI818/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1286881998&sr=1-1

Dave


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

rm663 said:


> I'm aware of and don't condone what she did. We are all human and make mistakes! I guess I have forgiven her.
> 
> _Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. (NIV)_
> 
> ...


rm, 
Oh, I think you should read whatever you want and forgive whomever you want. I think there needs to be more forgiveness in the world. That's just not a place I'm going with this particular author and on this particular issue. I don't have any ill-will toward her, she's just off my list. 

Like I said, loved the first books in that series quite a lot. Beyond that, she started out with Harlequin right when I was a tween and reading those things like salted peanuts. She set a book in every state in the union. The one in Michigan was on Mackinac Island, but I don't recall the one for the state I'm in now -- confusion Minnesota. So, I've probably read at least thirty by her and was saddened when I read she lost her husband. I still remember her on Donahue -- soooooo old -- representing romance novelists.


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## sal (Aug 4, 2009)

I'm surprised no one mentioned James Tiptree Jr. 
She's my favorite female author. And in my top 5 favorite authors ever.

She successfully wrote under a male name for many many years before being exposed
as a woman (Alice Sheldon).

For me it comes down to genre and storytelling ability.
I don't read *fluff* or *romance*. 

But I think some of the best writers of ALL TIME are female. 

Ursula Le Guin, Octavia Butler, C.J. Cherryh  -- to name a few.

Sal


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

How about women who think that if men read and enjoy a romance novel it's not really a romance?

Silly, but true.


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## Guest (Oct 14, 2010)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> How about women who think that if men read and enjoy a romance novel it's not really a romance?
> 
> Silly, but true.


I thought the belief was that a man reading and enjoying a romance novel anywhere women would actually see him was in fact trying to pick up women?


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> I thought the belief was that a man reading and enjoying a romance novel anywhere women would actually see him was in fact trying to pick up women?


I don't know about that, but I can tell you from experience that if you sit in a restaurant by yourself reading a romance novel, particularly one of those Harlequin covers, young men will try to pick you up.


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## brucesarte (Oct 11, 2010)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> Years ago I overheard a woman saying that her husband wouldn't read a book written by a woman.
> Do (some) men still believe that: woman writer = chick lit = rubbish?


I read books written by women... in fact I'd say Bronte is up high on my list of favorites... Anne Rice introduced me to the world of vampires that live amongst us long before Charlaine Harris... and one of my recent purchases on Amazon is an amazon author Heather Matthew's newest release, _The Secret of the Emerald Sea_... waiting for that one to arrive but her first novel _Carolina_ was a great journey!


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## patrickt (Aug 28, 2010)

I don't believe woman author=chick lit=whatever. I also rarely read a book written by a woman author. The last book I finished, this morning, was an Agatha Christie, though, so I don't have a hard and fast rule. In my opinion, women read different books and what they want in a book is different from what a man wants. 

I remember a reading group of women insisting that a reading group I was in read a book they'd enjoyed. Since many of them were wives of men in our reading group, we read the book. Two women sat in on our meeting and their husbands made a valiant effort at praising the book. The fact was, we didn't enjoy the book. It was full of factual errors which bother the men and didn't bother the women at all. It was full of lengthy discussions of relationships which the women loved and the men didn't care about. For the men, the book didn't seem to have a point but for the women the relationships between men and women were the point.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

Historically I have read novels by the likes of John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, David Weber, David Drake, James Michener and the like.
More recently I have read novels by Raymond Feist, Alan Dean Foster, Terry Brooks, Stephen Donaldson, David Eddings, Stephen Hunter and others.
And most recently, since I picked up a Kindle - Brent Weeks, Michael Hicks, Jeff Hepple, Boyd Morrison, China Mieville....
Now I always did read Andre Norton and Anne McCaffrey.
But perhaps my favorite author even before Terry Brooks is C.J. Cherryh - because she is so incredibly good.
And I have picked up within my genre comfort zone works by C.S. Marks (archer here), Carolyn Kephardt, Kathy Bell, Monique Martin, A. Sparrow and others.
And outside my genre comfort zone works by Margaret Lake (Gertie) , K.A. Thompson (thumper), and some others.
Now you will notice that I have not gone outside my comfort zone much. And frankly Gerties books are Historical Romance and Thumpers books are Action/Thriller romance so I really have not been reading any bodice-rippers.

But I read authors.

If the work is good and I like the style, I read it.
And I have read Jane Austin - I think one must - classics.  And you need to get the historical perspective of women in that time period.  And that can only be done by reading her.

Nora Roberts does not appeal to me.

But who knows if I ever run out of books from my favorite authors (see the lines above), I would read Nora rather than not read.

Just sayin.....


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Just so you know, Geoff, Nora Roberts writes very strong male characters. She has four (I think) brothers. She also does 9 yr old boys and dogs very well. Moe is my favorite NR dog.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

geoffthomas said:


> And frankly Gerties books are Historical Romance and Thumpers books are Action/Thriller romance so I really have not been reading any bodice-rippers


"Bodice rippers" are historical romances. Well, not all historical romances are bodice rippers, but almost all -- if not all bodice rippers -- are historical romances, and so the sentence is the equivalent of _I read Gertie, and she writes historical biographies, and so I haven't read any books about Abe Lincoln._ Both might be true, but the former in no way rules out the latter.


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## Taborcarn (Dec 15, 2009)

I admit that I do tend to read more books written by men, but I'm currently reading (and really enjoying) a book by Margaret Atwood.  And I've liked books by Barbara Kingsolver and J. K. Rowling in the past, among others.


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## Music &amp; Mayhem (Jun 15, 2010)

Are we talking novels or non-fiction books?

Statistically speaking (or so I've heard) men read more non-fiction than women. 

I'm guessing biographies and books about sports and politics and history, but I could be wrong. 

Here's a question: would a man read a book about sports written by a woman? Like Doris Kearns Goodwins' book about baseball?


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## lowspark (Apr 18, 2010)

This is definitely an interesting topic. Love the responses, men and women alike. I think, for me, when I choose an artist of any kind whether it is a book or music or even a director gender CAN play a part. I think it all depends on the person. I don't really want to read a romance novel. I do want to read a thriller/suspense or even horror novel. Sarah Langan ( *Audrey's Door* and *The Keeper*), Chelsea Cain (*Heartsick* series) come to mind. Sometimes a women's perspective and their way of telling the story is completely unique. If a book grabs my attention gender is irrelevant. A good book is a good book regardless.


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## Fardog (Sep 6, 2010)

I read a lot of cozy mysteries and most of them are written by women.


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## jason10mm (Apr 7, 2009)

Like I said in the other similar thread, I actively avoid female authors. I read plenty in my youth, typically fantasy or sci-fi, and I guess crime, and gradually just started tuning them out as my tastes matured. Calling me a small minded neaderthal isn't going to change my mind either 

Still read female written fiction on occasion though, and certainly for non-fiction it is irrelevant if the topic interests me. Currently listening to Cherie Priest's "Boneshaker" on audiobook. I heard her a bit at a recent con and she sounded interesting, so I gave this book a try. But despite an interesting premise and competent writing, the extended segments of the mother pining for her missing teenage son, and their horribly awkward dialogue between each other is just killing me. I can't help but think that a male author would have severely truncated the relationship stuff, distilled it down quite a bit, and then leveraged in some fight scenes or perhaps a long chase scene and ended up with a more interesting book. Of course I realize this could be an issue with a PARTICULAR writer, divorced from gender, but it seems to come up more with female authors. Male authors I dislike tend to be due to the crudely done female relationships they insert for whatever reason, or poor prose or grammar.

As for the male version of "chick-lit", clearly the male action book, stuff like Marcinko's "Rogue Team", Mitch Rapp, Scott Harvath, etc is the equivalent. Lots of fisticuffs, one man saving the world, women are just sexual conquests or fail to tame the beast within, stuff like that. Of course this is epitomized by John Norman's "Gor" series, which I think was actually created due to a bet to create a male romance series


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## Shandril19 (Aug 18, 2009)

Geoffrey said:


> I do read some Chick Lit. I tend to like English chick lit over the Americans - but that's mostly based on the author's sense of humor than anything else. In gay fiction there is also a sub-set that is pretty much chick lit with gay guys instead of chicks and I think that's where I started and moved on to the women later.
> 
> I enjoy a palette cleansing book - especially after a more difficult read. Chick lit and gay guy lit (?) fills the bill. If more straight guys wrote more contemporary, light comedy I'd read them too ...


I agree with both the English over the Americans preference and thinking there should be more light contemporary stuff by straight guys. The UK actually has some of this that they call "lad lit". Mike Gayle is my favorite and much of Nick Hornby's stuff qualifies too...


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## Maryann McFadden (Oct 18, 2010)

I have actually had quite a few men read my first novel, *THE RICHEST SEASON*, despite a very feminine cover. It tells both sides of a marriage realistically, so we get the husband's entire story. It was originally self-published (after 5 yrs of rejection, I refused to give up!). Independent booksellers and book clubs championed the book and I got a major book deal! 

As an author of women's fiction, and a woman, I can tell you that a lot of women authors feel they are discriminated against by the media, and male readers, because their books are called "women's fiction," when the same topic, written by a man, would simply be called "fiction." Both Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner have been raising their voices on this hot topic.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

Maryann McFadden said:


> I can tell you that a lot of women authors feel they are discriminated against by the media, and male readers, because their books are called "women's fiction," when the same topic, written by a man, would simply be called "fiction." Both Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner have been raising their voices on this hot topic.


Yes, they have. But I don't buy it. As a man, (and a straight man, LOL), I have at least as many books on my Kindle written by women as I do books written by men. And on my writing/Kindle blog, I've ONLY interviewed women (so far... but I'd like to interview David McAfee someday...)

But I've never bought, read or reviewed Picoult or Weiner. Not because they're women. Because their novels don't interest me. Along with novels by a bunch of male authors, too. I don't buy/read/review everything. No one does.

But it's not because of gender. It's because of interest in a storyline... pure and simple.


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

Yeah, I have to say that IMO Weiner and Picoult don't get taken seriously in the same way that James Patterson and Dan Brown don't get taken seriously.


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## AuthorTerry (Aug 13, 2010)

Most men who write romance use female pen names. And even though he writes mystery, nothing close to 'chick lit', J.A. Konrath was told not to use his 'real' first name because his protagonist is a woman and readers might not accept a man writing a female character.  The books genre might dictate which gender is more likely to pick up a book, but the author's gender? That seems silly. Lots of women write thrillers, mysteries, science fiction, etc.


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## CraigInOregon (Aug 6, 2010)

AuthorTerry said:


> Most men who write romance use female pen names. And even though he writes mystery, nothing close to 'chick lit', J.A. Konrath was told not to use his 'real' first name because his protagonist is a woman and readers might not accept a man writing a female character. The books genre might dictate which gender is more likely to pick up a book, but the author's gender? That seems silly. Lots of women write thrillers, mysteries, science fiction, etc.


That's the kind of second-guessing and rely-on-stupid-assumptions marketing decisions that we've been gifted with from the traditional New York publishing culture. I don't care what gender a writer is if they're telling a story I find compelling.

I would hope that in the new era of indie publishing, we can all just be ourselves and write whatever the heck we want.

Oh, and tell Sidney Sheldon and a few others that "only women write romance." His "Rage of Angels" was huge in the early 1980s, for example.

Amanda Hocking writes horror, L.J. Sellers writes kick-butt crime fiction, etc.... get over it.


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## eidahl (Oct 16, 2009)

I don't have a particular preference.. as in, most of the time, I don't even look at the name of the author. Though, irritably, female authors do -seem- to have a tendency to either make their male characters 'less than straight' or abusive and evil. =P


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## monkeyluis (Oct 17, 2010)

Doesn't matter to me, I just look for what I'm interested in.  If I like then I'll buy more.  I don't think female authors = chick lit either.  There are plenty of female authors who go outside of this genre.


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## Terrence OBrien (Oct 21, 2010)

Do men read women authors? Sure they do. I think the notion that some don't comes from guys who look at a rack of romance novels and notice so many by women authors. I think they might be confusing genre with gender. In fiction, I just finished the Southern Vampire series by Charlene Harris. In non-fiction I recently read Amity Shales' economic analysis of the Great Depression titled The Forgotten Man. I highly recommend both authors.


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## P.A. Woodburn (May 22, 2010)

Intereting forum. I know my husband reads books by women, but I haven't had any reviews from men yet.

Ann


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## chiffchaff (Dec 19, 2008)

Terrence OBrien said:


> Do men read women authors? Sure they do. I think the notion that some don't comes from guys who look at a rack of romance novels and notice so many by women authors. I think they might be confusing genre with gender. I


I think this is a good observation. There seems to be a correlation between author gender and certain genres (not 100%, obviously - as many examples in this thread prove - but a higher percentage of one gender among authors than would be expected by chance in, say, romance or action thrillers). So you can't really separate gender from genre preference just by looking at readership data.


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## Music &amp; Mayhem (Jun 15, 2010)

I think more and more women are writing gritty suspense thrillers and mysteries. And more men are reading them. Interestingly, I've had a couple of women read my book, a gritty thriller, and comment on the "salty" language in the first chapter but say they kept reading and fell in love with the book.

Check it out here: Kindle version only $2.99 and I just got another excellent review.

http://www.amazon.com/ABSOLUTION-Susan-Fleet/dp/1435708415/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209685077&sr=1-1

On the other hand, I seldom if ever read romance. I know some very talented romance writers, but I just can't bring myself to read the books. Not even the so-called romantic suspense. It's just too lovey-dovey, not enough suspense.


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## AuthorTerry (Aug 13, 2010)

> On the other hand, I seldom if ever read romance. I know some very talented romance writers, but I just can't bring myself to read the books. Not even the so-called romantic suspense. It's just too lovey-dovey, not enough suspense.


Maybe you haven't read more recent offerings -- there are a lot of 'focus on the suspense' authors out there, even though there's an established relationship by the end of the book as well. The envelope is getting much bigger. Have you read Allison Brennan?


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Joan Didion, Erica Jong, Anais Nin, Kamala Das, Kiran Desai, Zadie Smith, Toni Morrison. There are many more on my to-read list.


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## Rhynedahll (Oct 23, 2010)

I think what matters most to me is the content. That begin said, I must say that I tend not to read genre fiction written by women.

I prefer the fantastic to the traditional. My personal preference excludes most urban fantasy and anything vauguely romantic in nature. If its got elves or vampires, it's right out. Much of this type of fiction seems to be written by women.

I like military fiction and not many of those that I have seen are written by women.


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## Christopher Meeks (Aug 2, 2009)

Daniel Arenson said:


> In J. K. Rowling's case, you are right. If I recall correctly, she doesn't actually have a middle name. She's just Joanne Rowling. Her publisher feared boys would not buy books by a woman. They told her to just use her initials. Since she has no middle name, she just picked K and went with that.
> 
> Daniel


A friend of mine, Ehrich van Lowe, came out with a YA book entitled _Never Slow Dance With a Zombie_. The protagonist is a girl, and his publisher worried that girls might not buy his book if they thought a man wrote it, so he's E. van Lowe for the book. It did well, by the way, picked up by the Scholastic Book Club. Because 80% of fiction is bought by women, perhaps more men will have initials. (J.A. Konrath?)


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## Lisa J. Yarde (Jul 15, 2010)

I find the reverse is definitely true. I'm a reviewer for the Historical Novel Reviews blog, and the comments and visitors plummet whenever the author and/or the protagonist are men. I don't understand it - I've found equally talented writers of both sexes in historical fiction. If men read less novels by women, there's the perception that any novel written by a woman will focus on only stereotypical or pre-conceived notions of what might concern women.


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## Terrence OBrien (Oct 21, 2010)

An interesting case that reverses the questions somewhat is Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell. In this book, a male author writes a fascinating novel where the main character is a 16-year-old girl.


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## ClickNextPage (Oct 15, 2009)

Gerund said:


> As a man, I don't read chick lit.


As a woman, I don't read chick lit, either. I don't even read it as a human being.


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## Neil_Plakcy (Mar 28, 2010)

I think it's a larger issue-- do men read? Most guys I know who read prefer non-fiction over fiction. And I know a lot of men who don't read books at all, just magazines and newspapers.

Certainly, some men read. I write a mystery series about a gay Honolulu homicide detective (not on Kindle yet, but coming very soon) and most of my readers are men. But most of the readers of my gay romance series, Three Wrong Turns in the Desert and Dancing with the Tide, are women. I think that's just because for whatever reason, women read a lot more fiction than men do.

For my golden retriever mystery, In Dog We Trust, the readership is split (at least in terms of those who write me) 50-50 between men and women.

Neil Plakcy


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## AuthorTerry (Aug 13, 2010)

Neil, in a very broad generalization, I think you're right. A very unscientific sampling confirms your hypothesis. When striking up conversations, most men have said they don't read much fiction. I did have one man read When Danger Calls and tell me that "about halfway through I had the feeling I might be reading one of those .... romance novels."  I asked him if he kept reading, and he said yes, and he enjoyed the book.

I believe that women buy most of the books sold in bookstores. 

Hubster is retired now, and he's reading a lot more fiction. Prior to that, it was mostly scientific journals, Time Magazine, and EQMM. 

And on a totally off-topic side note, I just found out a lot of my titles are now available at the iBookstore. I don't have an iPad, but my daughter does, and she brought it along when she visited. So you can search for my name and find my books there.


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## Robert Tell Author (Aug 17, 2010)

I do! Why not? How many men can write as beautifully as Barbara Kingsolver? What difference does gender make as far as talent is concerned. And what about Middlesex, a fantastic book about an hermaphrodite. Writing talent is something that is gender neutral as far as I'm concerned.


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## Roger E. Craig - novelist (Aug 28, 2010)

No, I don't normally read books by women authors.  When I try them I find it annoying to have to read long passages about feelings and details and emotions.  I  want a story to pass the time, to learn something new;  preferably a story with information about a place or circumstances I know little about.


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## Roger E. Craig - novelist (Aug 28, 2010)

Terrence OBrien said:


> An interesting case that reverses the questions somewhat is Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell. In this book, a male author writes a fascinating novel where the main character is a 16-year-old girl.


Terence,
I saw the movie Winter's Bone and loved it. It had the main element of interest that I favor - new information. I knew little about the Ozarks and their culture. I discussed the movie with one of my Missouri friends and he told me that the story is absolutely authentic. He has relatives that live in the Ozarks. I must read this book.
Thanks for mentioning it.
Somewhere I read recently, perhaps on this forum, that reading a good novel is as near as you can get to experiencing a different life from your own. Perhaps it's better than the struggle of living your own life. After all, you don't have to suffer the slings and arrows ..... .. In my novels I rely heavily on my experience in the Senate and courtroom as well as other offbeat experience.

Roger


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## Carl Ashmore (Oct 12, 2010)

With immense pleasure.


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## AuthorTerry (Aug 13, 2010)

I think there IS a frequent difference in the way men and women read and write. There's a fundamental difference in hard-wiring. Since my books include male protagonists, I had to learn to get into their heads. And since I read for characters much more than plot, there IS a requisite emotional connection. I started looking at male authors who wrote female protagonists, and found many of them sorely lacking. Getting into the character's head means understanding how they'd respond in a variety of situations, and I can recall one major NYT best selling mystery author who put his female protagonist into an emotionally charged situation (not sex!) where anyone--male OR female would have responded, yet he never once showed her reactions. She became cardboard very fast. 

I do have male readers vet my male POV scenes to capture the right responses, just as I have crit partners and beta readers vet my combat scenes, my cooking scenes, or anything else I want to get 'right.' 

I read books written by both genders, and certainly hope I'm not discounted for mine. I can understand preferring "genres" but not "genders."


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## jbh13md (Aug 1, 2010)

I'm looking forward to the time when the question of gender is completely obliterated from literature. I for one exclusively read books written by robots these days and I highly recommend it to anyone tired of puzzling over whether or not writers should create protagonists of genders other than their own. Some people might find all the 0's and 1's distracting at first, but trust me when I say that once you get used to them and the requisite brain implant you're going to have a great reading experience.

Death to the humans!


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## Music &amp; Mayhem (Jun 15, 2010)

Terrence OBrien said:


> An interesting case that reverses the questions somewhat is Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell. In this book, a male author writes a fascinating novel where the main character is a 16-year-old girl.


Exactly. I truly believe that any author worth his/her salt must be able to inhabit the mind of their own and opposite genders. After all, most books have characters of both genders. And, for that matter, varioius ethnicities. When reading books set in contemporary times, I'm always appalled when all the characters are white. In my books, admittedly set in New Orleans where the racial/ethnic mix is different than many cities, I couldn't imagine writing a novel without black characters in important roles.


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## Alan Simon (Jul 2, 2010)

I can only speak for myself but I do. A good example: Gone With the Wind. To be fair, though, most of my favorite authors are male: Larry McMurtry, Herman Wouk, Stephen King. However if I'm "judging a book by its cover" (and cover copy) to decide if I want to buy and read, I definitely don't rule out a book written by a female author.


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## sabinfire (Nov 11, 2010)

The most important part of choosing fiction to me is the plot and writing style.  I initially come across books based on reviews or word of mouth most of the time.  The author (if it's a name I don't recognize) plays no part whatsoever.  I don't make a conscious decision to read or not read a book based on gender.

However, a quick scan of my books shows nearly all male authors.  In fact, the only book I saw was 'The Bell Jar' by Sylvia Plath.  I enjoyed that book and her writing in general.  Other than that, I hope to tackle some of Ayn Rand's material soon, so I'll have to reserve judgment on that.  And... that's about it... unless Anne Frank counts?


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## Iwritelotsofbooks (Nov 17, 2010)

To me it's the concept that's the most important, not the gender of the writer.  I'm into humor books, so I don't care who's telling the jokes as long as they're funny.


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## 5711 (Sep 18, 2009)

For me, it's really about the types of books I usually read. I honestly don't think much about the gender of the author. That said, you got me thinking. (Thank you!) The books I do usually read include literary thriller, espionage, crime/mystery, dark humor -- and indeed are usually written by men. So, when a female author has written one of these usually done by men that I read, such as literary espionage or historical crime, I find myself looking forward to reading it all the more. Recent examples are Rebecca Cantrell's _A Trace of Smoke_ and Kelly Stanley's _City of Dragons_, each of which I think (thinking now!) probably did bring something different than a male writer might. I probably like Patricia Highsmith, Ruth Rendell and recently Helen Smith for the same reasons. But what really matters is whether it's done well.

My brain hurts -- too many carbs and tryptophan still working on my post-Thanksgiving brain. Good topic. Also, someone mentioned _Winter's Bone_ -- a fantastic film that makes me want to read the book.


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## Walterrhein (Nov 19, 2010)

This is an interesting question.  I was a Literature major in college so I read a lot of women writers (Austin, Dickinson, Chopin, Morrison), and although I can appreciate the craftmanship of these books, I wasn't really drawn to them.  (Actually, I don't think Kate Chopin shows a lot of craftmanship..."The Awakening" isn't a very empowering text.)

Generally I'm drawn to fantasy, and there are a couple significant fantasy writers, most notably J.K. Rowling.  But I've never really been hooked by "Harry Potter."

So I would say that I don't usually read books that are written by women, but not out of a lack of respect for them.  It's just that the ones I have read so far just don't approach a story from the way that I'd like them to in order to find it entertaining.

I guess what it comes down to is that I would have zero hesitation to purchase a book that was written by a woman if it grabbed my attention and looked interesting.

So the deeper question, I suppose, is whether there is a fundamental flaw in my perception of the world that means I don't find the books that are already out there interesting enough.  I'm pretty open to things though.  I've lived in several foreign countries and I speak a couple languages, so I'm no stranger to trying things that make me uncomfortable.

Still...I'm going to think about this some more, I guess I don't have a good answer.


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## Kathelm (Sep 27, 2010)

If a woman were to write a book that fit my genre and content preferences, then yes.  A good example is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, one of my all-time favorite fantasies.  However, I feel like women are more likely to write romance fiction, which doesn't interest me at all.  Male authors definitely constitute a higher ratio of the books I read, but again, I think it's because of genre bias.

That said, I don't think I've ever refused to buy a book based on the author's gender.  It doesn't directly factor into my decision.


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## Music &amp; Mayhem (Jun 15, 2010)

Kathelm said:


> I feel like women are more likely to write romance fiction, which doesn't interest me at all. Male authors definitely constitute a higher ratio of the books I read, but again, I think it's because of genre bias.


While it's true that the majority of romance writers are female, large numbers of women are writing very gritty crime fiction: Lisa Gardner, Patricia Cornwell, Val McDermid, Tess Geritson, Kathy Reichs, to name a few. Oh yeah, almost forgot, and me.

But perhaps gritty crime fiction doesn't appeal to you.


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## AuthorTerry (Aug 13, 2010)

Music & Mayhem said:


> While it's true that the majority of romance writers are female, large numbers of women are writing very gritty crime fiction....But perhaps gritty crime fiction doesn't appeal to you.


I can add Karen Rose and Allison Brennan-I wonder if we could have a 'blind reading'. Author Barry Eisler once asked me if I thought a reader could tell whether a man or woman wrote an anonymously submitted sex scene, and I think most of the time it's clear enough. But that wouldn't be a deal breaker, and certainly not something where I'd decide never to read a book by a man because the sex scenes would be boring.

As so many here have said, it's the book--the characters and the story that should be the deciding factor. My husband, who generally skips any 'mushy parts' of books admitted that he enjoyed reading the galleys of my "When Danger Calls."


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## joanhallhovey (Nov 7, 2010)

I've gotten some of my most enthusiastic comments from men.  After reading my books, I mean.    Seriously, most books with women as the main character, are read by women.  But men read them too.  I remember reading that Charlotte Bronte received many favorable reviews by men for her scandalous book at the time, Jane Eyre. But come to think of it, that may have been before they knew she was a woman writer, which was frowned upon at the time. 

Joan Hall Hovey


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

I guess I don't read that much genre fiction, and the genres I DO read -- horror and a very very select few fantasies -- are pretty gender neutral. You've got your Susannah Clark, Shirley Jackson, and Elizabeth Hand on one side of the gender divide, and Lev Grossman, Graham Joyce, and Joe Hill on the other. Mostly I read narrative nonfiction lit-fic, old and new (really love Victorian novels) and it probably splits pretty evenly male/female. I certainly don't think "Oh, if it's by a woman it must be a romance and if it's a guy it has to be a techno-thriller" -- I don't read romances OR techno-thrillers, so that would leave me with nothing to read!


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## Jim Bunt (Nov 30, 2010)

Agatha Christie, Lisa Scottoline, and Sue Grafton are among my favorite authors.


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## terrireid (Aug 19, 2010)

I've had several men read my stories - and even post lovely reviews about them.  So, I guess it just boils down to if you write what they like to read.


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## Dave Dykema (May 18, 2009)

Just discovered this thread.

I too think that subject matter matters. That's all there is to it, really. I couldn't give a toot one way or the other.

I love Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books. My wife would lie in bed reading them, cracking up every few minutes. I decided I needed to see what these laugh-fests were about. They're pretty crazy and enjoyable. A romp, you might say. Sometimes I think Steph's a bit flaky, and I don't quite get her, but she always makes me laugh and I think she's sexy.

Please, no one spoil anything. I'm a few numbers behind.


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## jbh13md (Aug 1, 2010)

Kathelm said:


> If a woman were to write a book that fit my genre and content preferences, then yes. A good example is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, one of my all-time favorite fantasies. However, I feel like women are more likely to write romance fiction, which doesn't interest me at all. Male authors definitely constitute a higher ratio of the books I read, but again, I think it's because of genre bias.
> 
> That said, I don't think I've ever refused to buy a book based on the author's gender. It doesn't directly factor into my decision.


Great book, by the way. Susanne Clarke is awesome. And, as a dude, I don't mind saying so.


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## Music &amp; Mayhem (Jun 15, 2010)

I'll pose a slightly different question. Do men read books with female protagonists? Again, it may depend on the genre. From other responses I've seen here, a good number of male readers enjoy books by female authors, but do they "believe" male protagonists written by female authors? 

I've more than a passing interest in this because I write gritty suspense fiction and my series protagonist, a homicide detective, is male (and I'm not). 

Il await your answers with great interest.


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

Music & Mayhem said:


> I'll pose a slightly different question. Do men read books with female protagonists? Again, it may depend on the genre. From other responses I've seen here, a good number of male readers enjoy books by female authors, but do they "believe" male protagonists written by female authors?
> 
> I've more than a passing interest in this because I write gritty suspense fiction and my series protagonist, a homicide detective, is male (and I'm not).
> 
> Il await your answers with great interest.


Your post makes me unsure of your question. Do you mean, as you stated:

Do men read books with female protagonists? or
Do men read books by women with male protagonists?

In either event, if the books is well written, I don't care about the gender of either the author or protagonist.


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## M. G. Scarsbrook (Nov 22, 2010)

I don't care who wrote the novel, or what gender the main character is -- just as long as the character is sympathetic and the story is compelling. 

There are too few really great novels out there to pick and chose based on silly things like gender! If you do, then you're missing out!


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## Kathelm (Sep 27, 2010)

> From other responses I've seen here, a good number of male readers enjoy books by female authors, but do they "believe" male protagonists written by female authors?


You'll probably be fine, unless you start trying too hard to prove that he's male. Characters written by the opposite gender often fall into the same problem as a gay character who constantly reminds the reader that he's gay. It comes off as one-dimensional and shallow.

For example, you don't want to write something like:

"As I listened to my wife babble about stupid crap over the wussy feta-pecan salad she insisted on cooking tonight, I fantasized about going outside, revving up the chainsaw, cracking a beer (in that order), and finally cutting down that pine tree that keeps shedding all over my immaculately maintained yard. I haven't been able to play a game of backyard football in three years without someone tripping over a fallen branch."

Or the converse:

"My boorish husband was taking the day off to fulfill his immature lumberjack fantasies. I couldn't stand to watch him recklessly endanger himself (because I just love him so much and I would die if I saw him get hurt), so I went shopping. I piled the kids into the minivan and we were off to the mall for a day of fun. I think Sally is old enough to have her ears pierced. Oooh, I can't wait. Shoes for everyone!"

Just think of male and female characters as characters, but with different pronouns.


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## Mark Adair (Dec 4, 2010)

A couple of years ago I read through a couple Nora Roberts books, specifically trying to get a sense of how a commercially successful series writer does things. Like a few others have said I tend to read male-dominated genres. Having said that, one of my favorite mystery writers of all time is Dorothy L. Sayers.


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## jbh13md (Aug 1, 2010)

Kathelm said:


> You'll probably be fine, unless you start trying too hard to prove that he's male. Characters written by the opposite gender often fall into the same problem as a gay character who constantly reminds the reader that he's gay. It comes off as one-dimensional and shallow.
> 
> For example, you don't want to write something like:
> 
> ...


I like the examples. I would add, if I may, that sometimes it is really interesting to write stereotypical characters and people, myself included, do often respond well to familiar types. I would suggest, in addition to the excellent advice here, that a writer, male or female not withstanding, should consider each character individually and keep in mind that fictitious or fictionalized characters are not human beings and should serve a purpose within a narrative if it is well constructed. While reading a good story, I have never asked myself, "Does this character seem like a real man?" If the character is well written and well developed, I just don't think it comes up.

If the question being asked here is, "Can a woman write a good male character?" or, conversely, "Can a man write a good female character?", I think the obvious answer is yes. As for whether one prefers male characters written by female authors or female characters written by male authors or any combination thereof, I would guess that just comes down to personal preference and, alas, there are no rules when it comes to personal preference.


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## chris.truscott (Dec 3, 2010)

I have 17 novels on my Kindle (one in progress; one unread). Five are by women, including the one I just finished and loved...."No Good Deed."

http://www.amazon.com/NO-GOOD-DEED-ebook/dp/B003PPDB8K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1291517922&sr=1-1


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## Music &amp; Mayhem (Jun 15, 2010)

D.A. Boulter said:


> Your post makes me unsure of your question. Do you mean, as you stated:
> Do men read books with female protagonists? or
> Do men read books by women with male protagonists?
> In either event, if the books is well written, I don't care about the gender of either the author or protagonist.


You're correct. My question was poorly stated. Let me clarify. Do men read books written by female authors who feature male protagonists? Happy to know that you don't much care about the gender of author or protagonist. In fact, I big time like Thomas Perry, who often features female protagonists. His Nightlife, in particular, is fantastic!


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## AuthorDanielSpringer (Nov 23, 2010)

Wow, very interesting thread.

The gender of the author never crosses my mind when choosing a book to read. I love Sue Grafton, Patricia Cornwell and many other female authors. In fact, I am finishing up a Lisa Jackson book called _Malice_ right now and am loving it.

Regarding "Chick Lit"--I read and enjoyed _The Devil Wears Prada_--made me laugh out loud


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## Robert Tell Author (Aug 17, 2010)

At this very moment I'm reading Blackout by Connie Willis. It never occurred to me to consider not reading it because the author is a woman. What in the world does gender have to do with writing talent? I really don't understand the question.


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## Scott Neumyer (Dec 8, 2010)

Absolutely!! I even read and admire Lorrie Moore though it's pretty obvious that she hates men.


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## robins777 (Aug 10, 2010)

Yes without a doubt. Checking the last 50 or so books I have read (ebooks and paperbacks) I find that over 40 were written by female authors. A few names below.

Christine Feehan 
Kelley Armstrong
Mary Janice Davidson
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Keri Arthur
Charlaine Harris
Rachel Caine
Kresley Cole
Angela Knight
Rachel Vincent
Richelle Mead
Stephenie Meyer
Karen Chance
Kim Harrison
Audrey Niffenegger
L .J. Sellers 
Lexi Revellian
Penelope Fletcher


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

interesting discussion. Reminds me of the online gender checker I saw once whre you could pop in some writing and the generator would tell you if the author was male or female. 

I've been told (by Red Adept and many others personally) that I write men well. I prefer male protags to female when I write and often choose a male character naturally over a female in most of my Sstories. I chalk that up to being brought up with 3 brothers and a neighborhood of boys. 

however, I have no illusions that I write what men like. I don't expect men to read my novels. They're litfic and many men i know who read like more action than what litfic provides. A friend of my husband's read two of my novels recently (picked them up at my launch party) and told him, "man your wife is one dark dude."

I wonder if the author had been male if he'd even have noticed.

so i've found this discussion pretty enlightening. It seems men do read woman authors afterall and in a variety of genres.


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## TheRiddler (Nov 11, 2010)

I'm a male in my mid-30's and have been an avid reader since as long as I can remember.

I never used to enjoy books written by women - not as a hard and fast rule, I just found the ones I read didn't 'click' with me as much.

However now I couldn't really care less about the gender - I usually find I either like an author, or I don't.

Similarly I never used to enjoy female comediens, but now I've found quite a few I like.


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## patrickt (Aug 28, 2010)

Music & Mayhem said:


> I'll pose a slightly different question. Do men read books with female protagonists? Again, it may depend on the genre. From other responses I've seen here, a good number of male readers enjoy books by female authors, but do they "believe" male protagonists written by female authors?
> 
> I've more than a passing interest in this because I write gritty suspense fiction and my series protagonist, a homicide detective, is male (and I'm not).
> 
> Il await your answers with great interest.


I would not read a book written by a male with a female protagonist. I would not read a book written by a female with a male protagonist. I think the motivation that moves men and women are quite different. Imagine a book when a man just loves to go shopping.


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## Will Write for Gruel (Oct 16, 2010)

I think there is a tendency for male readers to read mostly male authors. I remember Martin Amis joking about it, saying he was very "homosexual" in his reading habits. 

I know that when I read genre stuff -- thrillers, mystery, etc. -- I gravitate towards male writers. 

I've also read that female readers are much more open about reading male authors.


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## terryr (Apr 24, 2010)

theapatra said:


> interesting discussion. Reminds me of the online gender checker I saw once whre you could pop in some writing and the generator would tell you if the author was male or female.


LOL, that gender checker marked all my battle scenes and male POV scenes as written by a man, and most of the regular scenes as written by a woman. Guess my yin and yang can adapt to the moment.


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2010)

patrickt said:


> I would not read a book written by a male with a female protagonist. I would not read a book written by a female with a male protagonist. I think the motivation that moves men and women are quite different. Imagine a book when a man just loves to go shopping.


You don't think a writer can write convincing characters regardless of gender? Isn't that a bit like saying white people shouldn't write black characters, or non-Christians shouldn't write Christian characters? And what about elves? Do I need to BE an elf to write a convincing elf. 

I guess I'm stuck writing only stories about pagan white human females.


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2010)

terryr said:


> LOL, that gender checker marked all my battle scenes and male POV scenes as written by a man, and most of the regular scenes as written by a woman. Guess my yin and yang can adapt to the moment.


I actually got an interesting review regarding male/female POV the other day for _A Game of Blood_.



> Darius Hawthorne is the new Lestat. Bored, decadent, and homicidal, he a 300 year old vampire that selects detective Mitch Grogan to be his personal Van Helsing to bring some excitment to his current existence. This is less a true horror novel than it is a twisted crime thriller with a cast of supernatural characters.* My one gripe is that while the male characters are incredibly fleshed out and interesting (even the secondary characters like the mayor and DA have distinct personalities), most of the female characters are either victims, love interests, or people that need protecting*. I almost subtracted another star for it but I have read another book by this author that featured a very strong female protagonist so I don't think it was a particular slight just the way the story went.


Does this mean I can write like a man? Or that I secretly hate my own gender?  Or is it a case of political correctness in reviews?


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

Personally I don't see any difference, except between writers I like and those I like less.
I've read books by Colleen McCullough, Mary Renault, Agatha Christie (when I was much younger), JK Rowling, Sharon Kay Penman and Josephine Tey, to name but a few. I've read non fiction by Barbara W. Tuchman and a few others.
If the book is good, I couldn't care less who wrote it, and women can write male characters as well as men. Just read Mary Renault. Or should that have been Larry Renault to be more believable?


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## chris.truscott (Dec 3, 2010)

I think I've commented here before, but the thread is still active, so I'll go again.  

For whatever reason, I do read more books written by men, but I don't hesitate to read something written by a woman if I like the premise. In fact, two of the books I've enjoyed a lot in the last month -- "Jobless Recovery" and "No Good Deed" -- were written by women.

Both books have male and female protagonists who are very well-done characters....

There's no reason I can see to take gender into account when deciding what I want to read.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

Valmore Daniels said:


> Just off the top of my head, I love to read Nancy Kress, C.J. Cherryh, Julie Czerneda, CS Friedman, Tanya Huff, Melanie Rawn, Margaret Weis, and more than a few of the authors right here on kindleboards.


I agree with all those...and Elizabeth Moon, Andre Norton, Anne McCaffrey, Kage Baker, etc.

Its not that they are or aren't women...but they are writing books I like. I wouldn't read "Chik Lit" about shopping and dating whether it was written by a male or female


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## jbh13md (Aug 1, 2010)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> You don't think a writer can write convincing characters regardless of gender? Isn't that a bit like saying white people shouldn't write black characters, or non-Christians shouldn't write Christian characters? And what about elves? Do I need to BE an elf to write a convincing elf.
> 
> I guess I'm stuck writing only stories about pagan white human females.


I always thought you _were_ an elf, Julie.


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## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

Last one read by moi was Beloved by Toni Morrison.  Quite enjoyed it.


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## patrickt (Aug 28, 2010)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> You don't think a writer can write convincing characters regardless of gender? Isn't that a bit like saying white people shouldn't write black characters, or non-Christians shouldn't write Christian characters? And what about elves? Do I need to BE an elf to write a convincing elf.
> 
> I guess I'm stuck writing only stories about pagan white human females.


Elves, fairies, orks, and so forth are easy because they don't exist. No ork is going to say, "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

Saying what someone does is easy. But, if you're a man, do you really know why women can't go to a public restroom alone? Do you know why they can spend an entire day "shopping"? Do you know why women get married? How about why a woman would say, "Well, if you're going to be her friend you can't be my friend."? I suspect you know all those things if you are a woman.

I believe a religious person can write about other religious people even if they are different religions. There is a common thread in believing.

I'm sure there are writers who are convinced they can write a believable story about something with which they have no experience. I don't.


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

If you think of women as "those people who shop all the time and giggle a lot," then yeah, I imagine it would be hard to create a believable female character. WOMEN who think that's women are like that can't write good female characters either!


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I think someone needs to get out more and meet more women  

I hate shopping, hate hate hate it. I have no clue about the restroom, not understanding that comment.  . Are you saying women go in a stall to share?   Why can't I go alone? No clue there. Women get married for the same reasons men do, right? No? 
Also not getting the friend thing. 

Seems like a lot of stereotypes there. 

Interesting thread though. I never really thought much about the gender. Now I am reading mostly a few genres and most of the books there are written by woman, or I assume, who knows really  

Back when I read lots of Stephen King, fantasy, mystery, thrillers. I think there were more male writers I read, but I am not sure. I can't remember.

I do think though that women in general read more male writers than men read female writers. 

Some men I think are freaking out about potential love scenes of any kind  .

I also think that the line has been blurring more and more in recent years.


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

patrickt said:


> Saying what someone does is easy. But, if you're a man, do you really know why women can't go to a public restroom alone? Do you know why they can spend an entire day "shopping"? Do you know why women get married? How about why a woman would say, "Well, if you're going to be her friend you can't be my friend."? I suspect you know all those things if you are a woman.
> 
> I believe a religious person can write about other religious people even if they are different religions. There is a common thread in believing.
> 
> I'm sure there are writers who are convinced they can write a believable story about something with which they have no experience. I don't.


Women going to the restroom together is a cliche I've only seen on TV or in movies. I've never seen it in real life. I've never heard a woman say, "Well, if you're going to be her friend you can't be my friend," But I understand the sentiment, just as men pick their cliques as well. Being an atheist, I can write about religion just as well, if not better than the religious folk. The more 'religious' someone is (ie the more hung up on their own faith), the more they tend (note the word 'tend') to NOT understand those of different religions. 'The common thread of believing' in those folks is replaced by the lack of understanding as to how someone could believe different than they do--since they believe in the One True God.

Hundreds of Science Fiction writers have written very believable stories about life on other planets, life in space, different life-forms and fantastic societies. Are you saying that they have experienced them?


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## jbh13md (Aug 1, 2010)

D.A. Boulter said:


> Women going to the restroom together is a cliche I've only seen on TV or in movies. I've never seen it in real life. I've never heard a woman say, "Well, if you're going to be her friend you can't be my friend," But I understand the sentiment, just as men pick their cliques as well. Being an atheist, I can write about religion just as well, if not better than the religious folk. The more 'religious' someone is (ie the more hung up on their own faith), the more they tend (note the word 'tend') to NOT understand those of different religions. 'The common thread of believing' in those folks is replaced by the lack of understanding as to how someone could believe different than they do--since they believe in the One True God.
> 
> Hundreds of Science Fiction writers have written very believable stories about life on other planets, life in space, different life-forms and fantastic societies. Are you saying that they have experienced them?


Philip K. Dick and L. Ron Hubbard were both contacted by extraterrestrials and it informed their writing.


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## patrickt (Aug 28, 2010)

D.A. Boulter said:


> Women going to the restroom together is a cliche I've only seen on TV or in movies. I've never seen it in real life. I've never heard a woman say, "Well, if you're going to be her friend you can't be my friend," But I understand the sentiment, just as men pick their cliques as well. Being an atheist, I can write about religion just as well, if not better than the religious folk. The more 'religious' someone is (ie the more hung up on their own faith), the more they tend (note the word 'tend') to NOT understand those of different religions. 'The common thread of believing' in those folks is replaced by the lack of understanding as to how someone could believe different than they do--since they believe in the One True God.
> 
> Hundreds of Science Fiction writers have written very believable stories about life on other planets, life in space, different life-forms and fantastic societies. Are you saying that they have experienced them?


Someone as unobservant as you would not get far. I've noticed the women going to the bathroom together isn't a cultural issue because it's the same in Mexico. Saying you could write about religious characters as well as a religious person really addresses your ego.

Science fiction isa different issue because there is no reality for comparison. I can write about an Ork's motviation because there are no Orks.


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## destill (Oct 5, 2010)

When I do back of the room book sales or book signings, I've observed that about 40% of my sales are to men. I've received book reviews from men too. 

Once, I had a guy walk up to me and say, "You saved my marriage! I didn't know other couples argued over such things." 

Another time, a man who was an acquaintance stopped my spouse and said, "I'm so glad your wife wrote that story about not knowing which way the AC filter should be installed. I thought I was the ONLY guy out there who couldn't figure that out."

So I know men DO read humor books written by women--just as I read Dave Barry, David Sedaris, and other male authors.


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

patrickt said:


> Someone as unobservant as you would not get far. I've noticed the women going to the bathroom together isn't a cultural issue because it's the same in Mexico. Saying you could write about religious characters as well as a religious person really addresses your ego.
> 
> Science fiction isa different issue because there is no reality for comparison. I can write about an Ork's motviation because there are no Orks.


When in doubt attack the speaker personally. But you're covered, as you say you're not 'convinced', that you'd 'suspect', not that it is impossible.



patrickt said:


> I'm sure there are writers who are convinced they can write a believable story about something with which they have no experience. I don't.


That last paragraph doesn't make sense. The 'I don't', should be "I'm not." However, whether or not you personally don't or aren't convinced makes little difference to reality. I have proof that you are incorrect in the wider sense upon my bookshelves, in my discussions with other people, in forum posts (not this forum).

As for:



> Science fiction isa different issue because there is no reality for comparison. I can write about an Ork's motviation because there are no Orks.


you couldn't be more wrong. Because there are no Orcs, and everyone KNOWS there are no Orcs, to write a 'believable' story about Orcs you have not only to create a believable society for the creatures from which that motivation is drawn, but you must also overcome the reader's disbelief in the subject itself. Dealing with other genres you don't have that problem. Almost everyone believes in the existence of humans. Thus, if you are writing about a man or a woman, you already have that covered. Most of us believe in the existence of New York so, if you base your story there, you have that covered, too. A lot of us believe in the existence of American society and culture: again you are covered. Now, all you have to do is convince us of the existence of that particular person of that species in that location of that society. That is simple in comparison.

By the way, I've known a man who loved to shop. He could spend hours going up and down the isles of Future Shop. You tend to think (at least as far as your posts go; I have no idea how you think in real life) in stereotypes. Women and men come in various shapes, sizes, demeanors and have various interests, motivations and loves. You cannot sort them by gender. I've read writers who do not seem to have a good fix on the opposite gender at all, and writers who write both genders superlatively.

I figure that, if you are widely read at all, you've read books by authors whose gender is the opposite of what you thought--ever heard of pen names?--and believed their characters, whether they were of the same gender as the author or not.


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## jbh13md (Aug 1, 2010)

As a writer and an orc, I find it very difficult to relate to humans except as food...


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

But at least you already believe in humans -- at least, as food, nicht wahr?


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## jbh13md (Aug 1, 2010)

Yeah. I believe in humans. And, though I prefer to joke when posting on internet forums, I do agree with most of the points you've made.

"Science fiction isa different issue because there is no reality for comparison. I can write about an Ork's motviation because there are no Orks."

My nerdy rebuttal: 

Orks were an invention of J.R.R. Tolkien. He was a fantasy writer (probably the most beloved of all time, as a matter of fact). He did not write science fiction that I know of, but there are orcs in some modern science fiction (Tolkien used both spellings as well). As far as science fiction being different because there is no reality for comparison, I would suggest to anyone who thinks this that he or she is not reading enough good science fiction and that most science fiction writers who care about their craft will take issue with what amounts to a trivialization of their medium. Science fiction often deals with the most profound issues facing humanity up to and beyond what it means to be human. Thus creatures like orcs are often utilized to personify the barbaric or war-like impulses we humans posses. In a way, orcs are actually people too because sometimes people act like monsters. I would hope that the motivations of an orc would be something of a struggle for most people to write about, but, perhaps sadly, I think we all feel like orcs sometimes; ready to fight over nothing, take insult over nothing, rage over nothing, ect.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

To a man, every woman is a book, and a mystery at that. Though woman is by far the more important sex, we men go to our deaths almost as ignorant as we were when we emerged from our mothers' wombs. All men that is, except my ex-brief-friend Wally Lamb, who I am convinced knows all that there is to know about women. To conclude: those of us who don't, or don't read enough of them, ought to read many, many more.

Or else, at least marry half a dozen, as Saul Bellow did. That should help, because the first marriage is in any case doomed, a catalog of mistakes.


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## JaydeS (Dec 12, 2010)

I write psychological thrillers under a pseudonym because I was once told I needed a male pen name to reach my male target audience. So, yes, I assume some men might be reluctant to read books written by women, but I wouldn't go as far to say it applies to every one.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

Women write books?!        *ducks*


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

OK.

Women write books?
American culture? Really?
Tolkien is the most beloved author? Or just the most beloved fantasy writer?
To a man, every woman is a book? (It's on my shelf. DR;TL. I am gay.)

I think I just lost the will to live...

Seriously, here was I thinking writing was (partly) about exploring boundaries. Books have been written from the perspective of a dog, but I don't seem to remember the author needed to adopt a canine pen name (Rover McWoof?).

Oh come on people, Mary Renault's Alexander the Great is not a chick with the proverbial appendage, and neither are Colleen McCullough's Marius, Sulla, Caesar et tutti quanti.


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## jbh13md (Aug 1, 2010)

Tolkien is arguably the most beloved fantasy writer of all time and I will argue it. I site the the hundreds of thousands of people who have enjoyed his books and products based on his creations as my evidence! Orcs alone appear in dozens of books, role playing games, and video games. If you don't like Tolkien, that's fine. I don't understand why you don't, but some people just don't like fantasy and, though as a fantasy writer it makes me a bit sad, that's fine too. I'm not sure why it would, in part, make you lose your will to live though. Unless you really thought I meant he is "the most beloved author" and then... Nope, still not getting it.   Do you think there is a MOST beloved author? Like... author number one, the best of them all? Harper Lee, maybe? Because I think that's a bit wacky and probably hard to prove to anyone, but also fine.


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

I was joking.
Everything above the word _"Seriously"_, was not serious.

This being said, I believe you when you say Tolkien is possibly the most beloved fantasy writer of all time (up until now). I do sort of like fantasy, but I'm not a big Tolkien fan. Read it, didn't regret it, and that's about it. However, I do dislike Pullman's _His Dark Materials_ trilogy, although everybody I know keeps telling me they are masterpieces. Ah well, undoubtedly my fault. I did like _Dune_, though technically that's SF. I even liked the sandworms.
I'm perfectly at peace with not necessarily liking what the majority likes.

(please note tongue in cheek, and apply liberal amounts of grains of salt)


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## Guest (Dec 20, 2010)

A good author is a good author, don't see gender having anything to do with it.


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## Music &amp; Mayhem (Jun 15, 2010)

patrickt said:


> I would not read a book written by a male with a female protagonist. I would not read a book written by a female with a male protagonist. I think the motivation that moves men and women are quite different. Imagine a book when a man just loves to go shopping.


Hmm. I'm a woman and I hate shopping. So does my male protagonist. Men and women may have different motivations sometimes, but let's face it, we all have male and female characteristics within us, whether we care to admit it or not. I used to hang out with my father a lot as a kid. Then I worked in a male dominated profession for 3 decades. I feel pretty comfortable with most men. Some women annoy me, especially when they kvetch about problems and won't try to find a solution. I'm a problem solver. Give me a problem and I immediately start trying to find a solution. Don't expect me to pat you on the head and say, awwww, you poor thing. Not gonna happen.

My point: I've never read a book with exclusively male characters. Or female characters. Any writer worth his/her salt must be able to write both genders believably.


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

Also, most of us have known various people of the opposite sex fairly well over the course of our lifetimes, and have some ability to understand what motivates them and how they feel, and how different they are from each other. There's no one way that "women are" (or men, of course).

Every novelist must write about people who are not himself. That's one of the requirements of the job.


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## sal (Aug 4, 2009)

As far as the "males writing female characters" thing goes, I enjoy doing that. 

Now, granted, I am writing strong female characters who don't take any sh1t from anyone.
It would be a challenge for me to write a "girly girl."

I've never had a female reader complain I don't write good female characters. 
(which they probably would if I were writing them as "victims")

"Male" and "Female" is a sliding scale and similar personality traits can exist all along it.
(girls can be angry and insensitive and guys can cry, etc.) 

Great characters are great characters.  

I don't care if the writer is male or female (or using a pen name to pretend to be the opposite).
And I don't care if they are writing a protagonist that is the opposite sex.

I only care about the story and the characters.
It is good? Are the characters complex and interesting?

Sal


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## patrickt (Aug 28, 2010)

I am well aware that it is popular to believe that men and women are, other than a few minor physical differences, identical. It's nonsense of course but I understand a lot of people wish with all their heart to believe this.

I am also aware that a lot of authors want to believe they can write believable characters and their motivations for both sexes. They can't, beyond basic stereotypes, almost caricatures but it's important for them to believe they could. 

I don't really have an investment one way or the other. I buy my books so I buy what I want to read. For fiction, I read mostly male authors. A male writing has a chance to have believable motivations for a male protagonist.


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## Andrew Ashling (Nov 15, 2010)

> For fiction, I read mostly male authors. A male writing has a chance to have believable motivations for a male protagonist.


That would mean that in the books you read women are not portrayed believably, as male authors can't fathom the motivations of females according to you. So, actually, you're making a personal choice here in wanting to read about believable male characters while female characters don't need to be that accurately portrayed for you.

I don't believe this of course. I think it is for a great part culturally defined what someone finds a 'believable male'. Education will play a part in this as well. Not so long ago portraying Alexander the Great as having sex with men would have been considered 'unbelievable'. Wasn't he a great general and personally very brave on the battlefied? So how could he have sex with men? Even recently an (American) general stupefied the world by declaring that gays weren't good soldiers. He himself isn't nearly as good a general as Alexander of Macedon though.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with making a choice. Some people only read books in which the maid marries the young, handsome rich heir. To each his own.


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## Randy Kadish (Feb 24, 2010)

As long as the book looks interesting to me it doesn't matter if a man or woman wrote it.

I find, however, some chick lit rather shallow.

I like a good love story, but I don't want to read descriptions of sex no matter who wrote it.

Randy


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## tintaun (Apr 20, 2010)

I don't read chick lit, but read literary fiction by women writers. I especially like Edna O'Brien, Flannery O'Connor, Alice Munro, Anne Beattie, Isabel Allende, Anne Enright, Emma Donoghue, Kate O'Brien.


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## SilasGreenback (Dec 18, 2010)

I've only started reading some of her titles this year, but Ruth Rendell is turning out to be one of my favorite authors. I haven't read any of the Wexford books, but her non-series novels are some of my top reads of 2010.


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## Some Writer Cat (Sep 22, 2010)

Looking at my bookshelves (both real and virtual), my reading tastes seem to lean slightly more to male authors (maybe 60/40), but I don't really think I judge a book by the gender of its author.  It's about the story.  That said, I'm less inclined to pick up a book by Nora Roberts or Jennifer Weiner, but I have done both on occasion.


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## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

So Patrick, you believe that any novel is going to have either unbelievable female or unbelievable male characters? I guess we could set up coed writing teams to produce books with both ... or men could write only books set in nuclear submarines and so forth, with no pesky unrealistic women intruding. 

Some of the most compelling characters I can think of were created by writers of the opposite sex. The female, diabetic protagonist in James McManus' Going to the Sun is so believable in every detail that I found it almost impossible to believe she was a created by a healthy man. From the other side, you have the boozy egotistical director/protagonist in Iris Murdoch's The Sea, the Sea.


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

patrickt said:


> I am well aware that it is popular to believe that men and women are, other than a few minor physical differences, identical. It's nonsense of course but I understand a lot of people wish with all their heart to believe this.


I don't believe women and men are the same. Just the effect of different hormones on the brain makes men and women different, not taking into account how differently the sexes are socialized, etc. However, that doesn't mean that a writer with a great deal of sensitivity and empathy can't realistically portray characters of the opposite sex. One of my favorite books is Arthur Golden's _Memoirs of a Geisha_, which he wrote exclusively from a 1st person female POV. With a good imagination and some talent, a writer can write just about anything and make it seem believeable.

I love reading novels set in different time periods. The past really is a foreign country, and some writers have the ability to take me there. Others don't. It's the same with writing from the POV of a woman when the author is a man or vice versa. Some writers can do it, some can't.



Andrew Ashling said:


> However, I do dislike Pullman's _His Dark Materials_ trilogy, although everybody I know keeps telling me they are masterpieces. Ah well, undoubtedly my fault.


I've tried to read _His Dark Materials _ and couldn't get into it. Beautiful writing but it seemed soulless to me.


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## SimonWood (Nov 13, 2009)

gregruns said:


> A good author is a good author, don't see gender having anything to do with it.


Couldn't agree more with this statement.


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## MoriahJovan (Jul 9, 2009)

I dunno. I find my male readers are just as enthusiastic (if not more) than my female readers.


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## vidhya.t (Apr 16, 2010)

That maybe true because of the genre, but then a man who wont read chick-lit wont read one written by a man either. 

I don't think otherwise readers worry about the gender of the author.


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## jbh13md (Aug 1, 2010)

purplepen79 said:


> I don't believe women and men are the same. Just the effect of different hormones on the brain makes men and women different, not taking into account how differently the sexes are socialized, etc. However, that doesn't mean that a writer with a great deal of sensitivity and empathy can't realistically portray characters of the opposite sex. One of my favorite books is Arthur Golden's _Memoirs of a Geisha_, which he wrote exclusively from a 1st person female POV. With a good imagination and some talent, a writer can write just about anything and make it seem believeable.
> 
> I love reading novels set in different time periods. The past really is a foreign country, and some writers have the ability to take me there. Others don't. It's the same with writing from the POV of a woman when the author is a man or vice versa. Some writers can do it, some can't.
> 
> I've tried to read _His Dark Materials _ and couldn't get into it. Beautiful writing but it seemed soulless to me.


As soulless as the children who are parted from their demons?  Sorry, I couldn't resist. Just struck me as a funny choice of words. Or did you mean it as a joke? I can never tell on this forum (as I'm sure many of you have probably seen ). If you did, bravo. If not, life's just funny sometimes, I guess.


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

jbh13md said:


> As soulless as the children who are parted from their demons?  Sorry, I couldn't resist. Just struck me as a funny choice of words. Or did you mean it as a joke? I can never tell on this forum (as I'm sure many of you have probably seen ). If you did, bravo. If not, life's just funny sometimes, I guess.


LOL! I didn't mean it to be funny but that doesn't mean I can't laugh about it now! I think I subconsciously picked that word because I know Pullman's an atheist. I actually didn't get that far in the books. I should probably pick them up again and give them another shot.


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## DmslinaDrtyDrss (Dec 2, 2010)

Well... I guess the majority of authors I read are female.  But I don't pick them for that reason.  I choose them because I enjoy the style of writing


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## Amy Corwin (Jan 3, 2011)

What a fun topic!
I'm so curious to read what the men have to say about this.

I know that I actually have a slight preference for male writers--due mostly to the style and the fact that I have an addiction to humorous crime fiction and for some reason, there are very few females who write really good, funny crime fiction. LOL

Some of my crit partners have accused me of having a more "masculine" style, although I'm not really sure what that means.

Personally, I think certain styles of writing resonate with us and others don't. I know several NY Times bestselling authors who just set my teeth on edge no matter what they write (male and female) while I've discovered other writers like Mel Starr who just seem to work for me. Sadly, I've noticed a certain trend in suspense fiction that has led me to abandon it, at least for the time being, because of the current styles in use, even though I use to love it when authors like Mary Stewart wrote what was then classed as romantic suspense such as "My Brother, Michael". But I'm sure things will continue to evolve.

I'm just thrilled with the Kindle and burgeoning numbers of new authors as I'm sure that I'll start to find authors who have styles that resonate for me! It's just a matter of sifting through to find them!


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

I've never given it much consideration. I read Ursula Le Guin and C.J. Cherryh. I read Ellis Peters' (real name Edith Pargeter) Cadfael stories. There's no reason that men can't write realistic female characters, and no reason that women can't write realistic male characters. Any author has to deal with the characters having a perspective that is not their own. If you can't do that, you won't be able to write realistic characters that are own your OWN sex, the sexes are not monoliths.

As far as creatures like orcs go, they can be whatever you want them to be. But that doesn't make it easy, you still have to write them so the characters hold together well. World-building can really be a challenge.


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## Dee_DeTarsio (Oct 26, 2010)

My husband wouldn't be caught dead reading "chick-lit"...but he does accept my recommendations and enjoys several female authors, including novelists like Patricia Cornwell and Geraldine Brooks (People of The Book, March...). I do, however, think I read more guy authors than he does women writers!


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## Mike Dennis (Apr 26, 2010)

Vicki Hendricks is one of my favorite authors. She's known as the High Priestess of Noir, and her writing backs it up. I will read everything she writes.


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## KindleLovinMike (Jan 6, 2011)

This is an eye-opener for me. I guess I thought that kind of prejudice was long gone.


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## LaFlamme (Dec 9, 2010)

Anyone with that prejudice should probably go read Shirley Jackson, for starters.


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## dncharles (Jan 3, 2011)

I do. There's no barrier- good writing is good writing. My first real insights into great women writers came with the likes of Bobby Ann Mason (who I met in Australia) and the knockout voice of Lisa Alther in the 70s and since, and I'm still blown away by good women's writing. Two recently read examples: Fault Lines (Nancy Huston) and The Visitor (Maeve Brennan)- the latter rare now but worth chasing up.


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## Robert Tell Author (Aug 17, 2010)

This topic continues to astound me. Nine pages of comments on a topic that I would never have believed had "legs" in America in 2011. Maybe the Taliban believes that women have nothing important to say, but most of us know better. I don't see a topic entitled: "Do women read books written by men?" Or "Do Europeans read books written by Americans?" Or "Do straights read books wriiten by gays?" Etc. Talent is talent guys (and gals). Get over it.


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## Mike Dennis (Apr 26, 2010)

One of my favorite authors is Vicki Hendricks, aka the High Priestess of Noir. She has written some killer novels, as well as a collection of very dark and twisted short stories.

Not chick lit by any means.


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## LaFlamme (Dec 9, 2010)

Seems to me that Anne Rice had a fairly robust male following.


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## James Everington (Dec 25, 2010)

Of course, as a manly man I only read books by other manly men. My favourite authors are George Elliot, James Tiptree Jr, and Ellis Bell.

Grrr.


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## Ray Rhamey author (Jan 6, 2011)

You bet I (a male of the species) read books written by women. Some who come immediately to mind are Tess Gerritsen, J.K. Rowling, Patricia Cornwell, Anne Rice, Ayn Rand.


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## Scott Stoll (Jan 16, 2011)

I enjoy reading any good book in any genre by any body.


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## marshacanham (Jul 30, 2010)

Jan Hurst-Nicholson said:


> Some authors have used initials - PD James, JK Rowling. I wonder if this was on the advice of someone who feared there may be a prejudice on the part of readers.
> I went with the gender neutral Jan (just to be on the safe side)


When I first started writing historical romances...erm...going back a few years here to the early 80's, it was considered strictly a genre for women writers, and it was the men who had to use pseudonyms, like Jennifer Wilde (Tom Huff) It was a closely guarded secret for years. *s*

M


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## samtorode (Jan 26, 2011)

Flannery O'Connor was my favorite author in college, and I loved "The Secret Life of Bees" (Sue Monk Kidd). 

But I won't touch any book that references shoes, shopping, dieting, or dating on the cover. (Although I did skim "Maybe He's Not That Into You" for kicks. Wait--I think that was actually co-written by a guy.)


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## joanhallhovey (Nov 7, 2010)

I've gotten some of my best reviews from men !  My suspense novels, I mean.  
Yes, I think men will read books by women though most men aren't as interested in romance novels.

Joan


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## *DrDLN* (dr.s.dhillon) (Jan 19, 2011)

I never thought it should matter who wrote: gender, race etc. A good book is a good book. The reader wants to spend time on a good book. So to me it doesn't matter. I am a nonfiction writer and helpful information is all I care.

_--- edited... no self-promotion in posts outside the Book Bazaar forum. please read our Forum Decorum thread._


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## charliehill (Jan 26, 2011)

i once stumbled on a lecture about 'the female canon'. (i think it was part of the birmingham book festival. whatever, there was wine available...) as a consequence, i don't think there's any such thing. there's just good books and bad books and disposable books. the only books that are gender-specific are, i think, disposable books (chick-lit or dad/lad lit). the rest are either good or bad...


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