Honest question from an author’s perspective: Are you more likely to read books by an author of the same gender as you, and why?
Honest question from an author’s perspective: Are you more likely to read books by an author of the same gender as you, and why?
More and more these days, because I find female authors write female characters better, but I’m not picking a book for its author though, if the story seems interesting and happens to be written by a man, so be it.
I have no preference tbh, if the description hooks me i read it i very rarely take note of the author’s name tbh
No preference!
I read a lot more female author books than male i did find one from a male author I love, but I mostly read woman authors.
No preference, but I do seem to unknowingly gravitate towards female authors. I think because I often prefer YA Fantasy or Contemporary and those are just more often females. I love writing from male POV though, I just don’t see it often.
I find female authors in my genre more but I don’t hesitate at a man’s name if the story sounds good. I’ll read a few pages in, see the writing style, and decide whether or not it’s for me.
No preference however most of the books I read are by female authors.
Honestly I prefer female authors. Exactly what Amanda said they just know how to write female characters better (almost all the books I read have female lead characters).
This reminds me of an excerpt from a book that was going around online a few years ago. A man wrote the book and was trying to describe a woman peeing. He made it seem like pee has to travel through tubes and pipes before it finally comes out.?
No preference at all
I don’t pay attention to the gender of the author unless it is going to be an own voice. If a trans* author is going to write a book with a trans character, I am going to pay more attention because what they write about will feel more genuine to me.
*or just gender non-conforming
I will say that sometimes a story does need a specific voice. Take Madeline Miller’s Circe for example. To me, it felt like she captures female rage perfectly. I don’t know if a male could have ever done that. (She even wrote a great article about it!)
tbh i barely look at the author’s name half the time so no
When I’m first picking up a book (unless I already know about the author and have read their work), the last thing I look at is the author’s name/gender. I have noticed that male others more often do not represent women very well or write them very well. I’m not a fan of the dead woman trope or women serving as just plot points/motivation, or women’s sexuality/bodily functions being distorted through the male gaze. It’s a bookish peeve that will make me DNF a book immediately.
No preference.
No not really. I look at the authors name but only briefly before I start reading the summary. I will say that I do read female authors more, because I like reading fantasy/romance and women tend to write those in the way that interests me. I do however have read many male author’s works.
Yes.
But it’s usually a coincidence I’ve noticed
Nope! 9 times out of 10 I don’t even look at the author, but I can’t do third person books so that’s the only thing that I stay away from.
No preference.
A good story is all I care about.
Yes but only recently as I’ve been purposefully trying to read more women authors. I’ve been doing the reading women challenge this year.
I dont even look at the authors name most of the time. If the book looks good I’ll read it.
Unless I fall in love with a book, I don’t even pay much attention to the author.
I didnt ever look but as I run my eye over my bookshelves, I seem to have a majority of books by male authors! Maybe they dont focus as much on interpersonal relationships?
actually, yes. It seems like rarely male authors write about female main characters in the first person, which is what I usually prefer. Not saying they are nonexistent, I have read books by male authors in the first person but just due to numbers, the results are minuscule.
No, I care more about the genre of the story and if the plot/characters are interesting. A lot of the time, I don’t even pay attention to the authors gender, especially if their name is just initials and a last name.
Nope. Don’t care about gender, I care about the book.
A lot of great replies to go on there. The only reason I asked the question, is that in most responses to recommendations, most replies are female authors.
There’s nothing wrong with that at all in my opinion, but it always helps to find out why, and where male writers can step up to accommodate.
It also proves that male authors are no longer the dominant force in fantasy writing/writing in general, which means that, hopefully, we’ll see a stark increase in the quality on offer from writers, instead of re-writes and re-hashes of the same old stories.
Thanks for your input, readers. It’s really refreshing!
Yes, because I don’t like the way most men write about women, and I prefer to read from female character PoVs.
Depends on the genre…tend to read men for suspense/thriller/action books and women for romance/paranormal
no not really it really depends on the genre
Nope
No preference. Most days I don’t even notice unless I’m putting together a tbr.
I dont really pay too much attention to their gender. A good story is all i care about 🙂
I never look at the author. If the book sounds good I’ll read it.
Yes. It’s usually easier to read from a familiar viewpoint or perspective.
for me, depends on the plot. i’m less likely to read a book, especially from an author i’ve never read before, if the book is by a male and the perspective from a female perspective. unless i already know it will work out cuz i’ve read the author before i usually proceed with caution. i have had too many issues with it before
I find that alot of the books that I love are written by female authors. I think I can relate to the story, writing and characters more so find them an easier and more enjoyable read ?
A lot of my favourite books are from female authors, but it’s not the reason I read them. I don’t care if it’s by men or women, as long as the story is good ? Also, many male authors write from male perspective, which I don’t like to read from… So my reasons for not reading from male authors as much, is more of because what they write… ?
I don’t really have a preference on authors to be honest or at least not consciously! Though, looking at it my two favorite series have been written by women, so perhaps I do…
I mostly read books by female authors because I really like strong female protagonists. I’m not saying a male author can’t write a strong female lead but the details and emotions are a little frazzled I guess. If I was reading a book that had a male protagonist then I’d prefer a male author. Females know females best and males know males best. I hope that makes sense.