Correlation and Causation: A Rebuttal

Correlation and Causation: Regarding Gender Discrimination Claims in Publishing

My cousin shared a Huffington Post article with me and I thought I'd share it - and my thoughts on it - here. After all of the courses I've taken in Women's Studies, this article and the statistics it presents concerns me, however, the analytical side of me wonders if this article is forgetting that "correlation does not imply causation."

Are Book Publishers To Blame For Gender Discrimination?

[The Huffington Post] took a look at all of the books published in 2011 by four of the major imprints - Knopf, Crown, Little, Brown and Farrar, Strauss and Giroux - and tallied the authors by gender. These publishers were chosen for their focus on literary fiction - the types of books typically reviewed by places like The New York Times Book Review and The Atlantic. We only included hardcovers in our count for the same reason.

What [they] found (see below) was that the gender ratios of books published by these imprints are in a few cases almost identical to those of the publications cited in Vida's survey [Ed. Note: Vida's survey showed that reviews of literary fiction written by men far outpaced reviews of literary fiction written by women]. If the gender representation in major publications is to change, and we believe it should, then perhaps that also requires a shift either in the mindset of the more "literary" publishers, or a broadening of the books and publishers whose work is covered by the media.

Pie chart by Huffington Post.

This is a big claim to make just based on publishing numbers.

There has been a struggle between the gender binary for centuries upon centuries and only in the past 100 years have women finally been gaining a voice, especially in the publication of literary fiction. So do these statistics reflect discrimination or do they reflect progress? Additionally, could these statistics represent an underlying discrimination outside of the publishing realm that somehow prevents women from even writing the same amount of literary fiction as men, therefore limiting publishers to submissions from men and women that reflect the publishing statistics?

The only way to really get a better idea of why the numbers are so apparently biased towards male literary fiction authors is to have access to the data on the actual manuscript submissions these publishers receive. Two examples to illustrate how this information is important:

(1) Publisher A receives 232 submissions in a year from women and 192 submissions in the same year from men. This publisher accepts and publishes 58 from the women and 96 from the men. That is a 1-in-4 acceptance/publication rate for women and 1-in-2 acceptance/publication rate for men. In this instance, there is likely a problem at the publishing level.

(2) Publisher A receives 116 submissions in a year from women and 192 submissions in the same year from men. This publishers accepts and publishes 58 from the women and 96 from the men. That is a 1-in-2 acceptance/publication rate for BOTH groups. In this instance, there is no discrimination occurring at the publishing level.

Without the submission/acceptance/rejection data, this article is just a baseless jab at publishers. The numbers the article provides ARE important to show that female literary fiction authors are being published at a much lower rate than their male counterparts, but to suggest that "book publishers [are] to blame" is a bit reactionary and thoughtless without further data, in my opinion.

Note: The two scenarios above are very basic and the reality is probably much more complex, but I wanted to keep the math simple in order to make my point clearly.

Read More

A Novel Problem: Traditional or Self-Publish?

Few things are as heady to me as walking into a used bookstore or a small library and being surrounded by the sweet scent of old books. If the bookstore or library has some of that old world character (dark woods, leather chairs, and homey lighting) I could remain for days savoring the scents and devouring the words. I am very tactile, and the feel of a book in my hands, preferably hardcover, coupled with the action of turning the pages is a true joy.

This is why I want to publish traditionally.

Recently, however, I purchased a Kindle. This was actually a decision I struggled with for a year or so. I am highly averse to reading books on a computer, but I felt that the Kindle could help save me money as many of my required books are available in Kindle format.  I soon found out that I actually enjoy reading on a Kindle. I don't get the same visceral pleasure as reading a physical book, but I can transport a small library with me wherever I go. This convenience is a huge draw for me. Another huge draw for me is that it's technology, and I admit to being a bit of a technology fiend.

This is why I want to publish electronically.

So confused. When I start thinking about this subject, I start feeling a bit like  this...

I look a little like that too.

Anyhow, like my struggle with whether or not to purchase a Kindle, these warring desires over which platform to publish on have been baffling me. I know that I speak as if I have a choice in the matter, and you know what? I kind of do. Regardless, it's a bit pointless to worry about my platform when I don't even have a complete novel and won't until either next summer or after I graduate college in May 2013. Or is it?

While I can't publish TODAY, it never hurts to know the market. By following what's happening right now, when I am ready to start subbing my manuscript, I'll be knowledgeable and prepared. However, I feel as if we are on the crux of something big and I wonder if publishing is going to be playing by some different rules in the next handful of years.

Why? Well, I'm no publishing industry or economic expert, but when I read an article that Amazon now has TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING IMPRINTS, including 47North, a sci-fi, fantasy, horror imprint, I know that somehow the game has changed.

Before I had read that article, I had come to a decision: Traditional publishing for any easily-categorized novels of genre fiction that I write; e-publishing for anything that was not as easily categorized or was not generally picked up by the major houses (like collections of short stories). I had determined that if my future novels weren't good enough to even land an agent, much less an offer from a publisher, then they weren't good enough to self-publish. Self-publishing shouldn't be where you go when all else fails... it should be the option you choose because it makes the most sense (whether it's due to a non-traditional novel or collection of works, or for financial reasons).

... and I say that as a reader.

Quick note to a vast majority of self-publishers: Stop putting your garbage up on Amazon. I'm tired of trying to find new and exciting authors to read and have to wade through a mountain of badger poo to find anything.

I am not bashing e-publishing. I have read many articles where I saw the inherent value in going it on your own. But for the love of all that is NOT badger poo, please make it a conscious decision because of your needs or wants and not because you want to use it as your own personal Rejections storage bin.

Badgers? Yes. Badger Poo? No.

Back on track...

I'm no longer sure how viable my plan is, because Amazon has up and changed the entire game - or is trying to. But I do know this, I am going to be learning more about this, following it. If Amazon is able to offer authors opportunities like the legacy houses offer (advances, quality editing, quality graphic design, quality printing, opening doors towards getting your book optioned for film or tv or for international distribution, et cetera), then I will end up submitting to Amazon the moment my future novel is ready. There are a ton of reasons for this, but the main one is this: The sheer reach that Amazon has across markets around the world is absolutely insane, and as an author published under one of their imprints, that reach is going to get my book out to more people.  I'd be an idiot not to go with Amazon if they made me an offer.

But time will tell and when my novel is finally ready, I'll be ready too.

Read More