I've been hearing this a lot lately, but this is the first time someone came directly at me and made a statement that blithely intended to diminish or cheapen what I've achieved. I can assure you, I get published because I do the work, I hone my craft, I learn, I write, and I submit. Neither my gender nor my race show up on my submission letters. I don't send in my submission with the following note:
Dear Editor,
I am a part-Native female author, and I want you to accept my story simply because of that.
No, actually I don't mention either thing. My submission letters are brief, as is expected in the majority of the short story world. They list my story title, word count, and genre, plus a couple publication credits. Oh, and my contact information. That's it. My name is actually gender neutral. In certain parts of the U.S., you're more likely to find a Shannon who's male. It all just depends.
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| Ahem... |
More important is the fact that this is a pure fallacy. If you pull up a bunch of short story markets, they will likely ALL list that they're looking for diverse voices. Where people appear to be getting confused is in thinking this means that's all they'll take. Tables of contents say differently. What it actually means is that they're encouraging diverse voices to submit, and they'll consider them along with everyone else. This isn't a white male blocker. This is an attempt to not JUST have white males in publications.
I took a look through the publications I've been in, so I could break down the stated genders in the bios. I won't name them by publication, because this isn't an attack on publishers, and these are not in order of publication date. This is me bloody well being exhausted from having my achievements questioned by people who aren't doing the work, and are more than happy to blame it on whatever they can grasp at.
I only went through print publications that were still in print. I did not count the all female anthology I was in, because that came out in response to a major anthology featuring Stephen King in which there was ONE female author, and she was one of the editors. I also obviously removed any from consideration that were a single author. That left me with 21 publications to comb through.
Publication 1: M - 3, F - 2
Publication 2: M - 13, F - 4
Publication 3: M - 4, F - 8
Publication 4: M - 7, F - 4
Publication 5: M - 7, F - 7
Publication 6: M - 9, F - 2
Publication 7: M - 6, F - 4
Publication 8: M - 4, F - 1
Publication 9: M - 5, F - 2
Publication 10: M - 6, F - 1
Publication 11: M - 16, F - 2
Publication 12: M - 7, F - 8
Publication 13: M - 20, F - 9
Publication 14: M - 13, F - 6
Publication 15: M - 5, F - 8
Publication 15: M - 7, F - 10
Publication 16: M - 9, F - 6
Publication 17: M - 3, F - 3
Publication 18: M - 6, F - 6
Publication 19: M - 4, F - 6
Publication 20: M - 11, F - 11
Publication 21: M - 8, F - 4
TOTAL: M - 173, F - 114
Publications in which I was the only female: 2
Publications in which I was one of two females: 4
Publications in which there were more males than females: 13
Publications in which there were more females than males: 5
Publications in which it was an even split: 4
Publications in which there was only one male: 0
Least amount of males in any publications: 3 (there were two, one with 3 females and one with 2 females)
Largest difference between male and female authors in any publication: 14 (Publication 11 - 16 males, 2 females)
Largest difference between male and female authors in any publication where the majority was female: 4 (publication 3 - 4 males, 8 females)
Someone explain to me how much easier I have it, because I guess I'm just missing it. I especially need it explained to me how much harder it is to get published as a white male.
Happily, this shows me that the rate of females being published is improving. It also shows me that it's still skewed in favor of males. As far as race, sexual orientation, etc., it would take me forever to comb through and figure out how many of each author fit under which category, but I think we can all agree that cis white authors of any gender are still being published at a higher rate, despite calls for diversity. I count myself in that group. I'm entirely white passing, and I am mostly white. I don't feel it's my place to claim being a minority. I have mentioned it in relation to a novel I'm shopping, because the main character is mixed in the same way I am, and her experiences are similar to mine.
Why write this post? Because I've heard this so much lately. I've seen such indignation that calls are put out for diverse voices. That is not an attack or an attempt to force men or white people out of publications. It's simply a means to get the word out that publishers want to consider ALL writers.
It stings that someone in my circle would say something like this. When it's strangers or even acquaintances I can let it roll off my back (most days). When it's people claiming women can't write horror, I try to ignore it and keep writing and submitting to prove them wrong. But something like this sticks with me. It makes me angry.
It also makes me even more determined to move forward and to keep getting published.
I wish every single one of you good luck in getting published in the new year.
May you find your Muse.
*Volunteering Hands, clker.com, legacynola
18 comments:
People always need an excuse for their own failure.
Considering how long you've been doing this, I would never consider anything you've done to be "easy."
What Andrew said.
Ironically, all of the IWSG anthologies have only had one or two male authors. Not sure why it worked out that way.
Merry Christmas!
I'll fourth that. And I'm sorry that happened to you.
Hi Shannon - people just don't think before they comment or speak - we really need to listen more, and to understand that encouraging us all is the best way forward - helps everyone - cheers Hilary
What a rude thing to say. The only thing that really matters is a good story. (And maybe being able to throw a ton of money into marketing.)
I'm so with you, Shannon. I never did any statistical analysis in the short story markets that publish my genres - sci-fi and fantasy - but so far, by just scanning the names, I'd say that male writers outweigh female writers in many of the magazines.
Also, I subscribe to John Scalzi's website. He gets bunches of new books from his publisher, Tor, regularly and always posts photographs of them, with the spines facing the viewers, so we could see the author names. And most of the author names are male in his bunches too.
Those people who said those hurtful things to you are just jealous of your success. They don't do the work, but they expect publications as their due, because they are white males, and when that doesn't happen, they find someone to blame other than themselves. Happens all the time in the world history. Some throw around angry words. Others do worse - they pick up a gun and start shooting, because the world is not as kind to them as it should me. Argh!
Funny, but I thought the ratio was skewed more towards YA voices than anythings as mundane as male/female or race.
Just shows that anyone can complain about anything!
I think anyone as dedicated to writing and submitting - not to mention all the research to seek out the markets - as I've seen from your stats can't help but be frequently published. You are obviously a good writer who know how to market her hard work.
People . . . always looking for excuses for lack of skill or hard work on their part.
Thank you, I appreciate that.
Interesting! When I think about it, I'd say there are probably more female bloggers participating in IWSG. At least it seems that way. I haven't checked the numbers.
Absolutely! They're going to publish what they enjoy reading (or at least what they feel others will enjoy reading), what will keep readers reading, etc.
You're right. That same day someone scoffed about short stories and said they're easy to write. When I asked him if he'd ever written one, he said he hadn't. We should watch what we say when it's devaluing something someone else does (and I say this about myself, as well).
Marketing definitely helps! Now if only we all had a ton of money for it.
I think male outweighs female in speculative fiction, both short and novel length. I'm wondering if there's anywhere other than Romance where women dominate? Maybe YA? I'd have to look into that more.
Speaking of those who pick up a gun and start shooting, I recently watched a show on the famous college tower shooting in Texas that long preceded other school shootings. There was so much I didn't know about him, and he had quite a bit of entitlement.
That would be interesting to look into--YA vs. adult. And thank you.
Thanks, everyone! I didn't realize how upset I was until I started writing. I'd just intended to put the stats out there and address it matter of factly. Obviously, I didn't pull that off. :p I appreciate your support.
In this era of shrinking VALID markets for Horror fiction, many are struggling to justify why their own writing is not being published. There is a deficit of publication venues, as well as in education in craft. Horror has its own unique problems, which I explore in my blog https://zombiesalmonthehorrorcontinues.wordpress.com..these include sexism, but also a loss of coherence, direction, and artistic tolerance. We are clinging to a Lovecraft life-preserver with a shrinking editorial expertise and ever less publishers interested in publishing anyone NOT Stephen King. Worse, more and more writers of color and gender identity challenges are being excluded, banished to more "literary" genres when they belong in Horror, which indicates to me a real reluctance to graduate into actual Literary writing, which our genre fought so long and hard for. This "blacklisting" has been extended to many works of and writers from the 1970s and 1980s -- including Clive Barker, Tanith Lee, H.H. Munro, Susan Hill,and Roald Dahl to name a few...So not-being published just may be a compliment...
I say try not to take it personally when these types of things are said. We are clearly having an identity crisis in Horror. And we need ALL voices in the genre...our future depends upon it!
Hey Shannon, Your voice matters and your opinion! Keep up the anger.
I don't blame you for being angry. That is absolutely horrible, and unbelievable that anyone would dare say that to you. You work very hard for your success, and spend a lot of your time helping others as well.
People who say those kinds of things have no idea what it's like to be marginalized, or that we don't want special treatment--we just want a chance to have our work considered like everyone else's.
Racism against indigenous peoples is horrible here, in my country, and people say that kind of crap all the time: that if you're indigenous, you get a "free" ride--that you don't have to pay taxes, etc. I wonder if someone robbed them of their children, almost wiped out everyone in their community, and forced them into reserves with no proper drinking water or electricity, just how great they'd think the ride was.
Grr. Sorry, this shit makes me furious.
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