Men don’t read as much as women. We all know that, right? How do we know it? Because we’ve been told for years. Men are not as intellectual; they prefer physically doing things—or at least video games—to sitting with a book.
Really? If so, why were men reading for millennia before we started teaching women to read on a regular basis? Why were men the main readers in the past?
Could it be that men are not buying as many books as women because they don’t care for what is out there to buy?
An author Kit Sun Cheah from Singapore recently described his local bookstores, which carry books in three languages. The English language section, he reported, looks much like our bookstores here, all flowery covers and romantasy. But the other two languages carried the same kind of books men enjoy, adventures, thrillers, etc., that used to be common in the English-speaking world as well.
And these books are still selling.
Either men in Asia are significantly different from, in some cases, the same men when buying an English-language book, or something else is going on.
Recently, on social media, there was a bit of a dust-up over comments made by long-time bestselling author, Joyce Carol Oats, who reported that agents have been telling her quietly that they cannot sell books written by young White men, even if the books are truly excellent.
There was a bit of a dust-up over this subject earlier in the year when author John A Douglas filmed the fantasy selection at a Target and commented upon the preponderance of covers with flowers and the lack of books of the type men traditionally enjoyed. The result was a dog-pile of people jumping on him for going to Target instead of a bookstore or library, but some cooler heads among the commenters admitted that, currently, the shelves of many bookstores and even libraries look similar. Others mocked him, claiming that purely financial concerns drove these decisions.
So, are men not buying books because they have given up reading? Or are they not buying books because the books the New York Publishers have chosen to publish, by and large, do not appeal to them?
The fact that New York does not want to publish books by males of the majority of the population might have something to do with why that same demographic is not enjoying the books that are being published.
But such men are still writing. Shunned by the Big Houses, they have been taking to Amazon and the indie author world. One way that they are fighting back is by banding together to reach a wider audience.
Numerous attempts to do such a thing exist, but one growing concern is the Based Book Sale. Inspired by the science fiction convention, Based Con, the Based Book Sale Substack runs books sales several times a year. Now, they have added a Based Books for Male Readers sale, showcasing books of the very kind that New York Publishing has been excluding.
Twitter click-test ads revealed the existence of a definite group of people interested in a book club. I’ book club. Inspired by this, Will Estes has started such a club on Substack called Read, Friend, and Enter. While the club is new, he reports that subscriptions have been coming in.
This month, to raise awareness, we are running a Based Books for Male Readers:
Read, Friend, and Enter men’s reading club:
Jon Del Arroz has 2 books in the sale:
:
 | A guest post by
|
I made my bones in the writing industry, as an indie author, writing books for men.
I started doing it in 2011, because I couldn't find the books I wanted. Books with guys in them doing the things guys do. Not books about women who were uber powerful girl bosdes and always right and winning, while the men in the story were always second class.
You all know those stories, you've all seen them.
I quickly started piling up sales and best sellers. When people asked me what my secret was, I told them: I write for men. I write men's adventure. I write the stuff guys want to buy and read. I even had to branch out into a pen name (Jan Stryvant) to meet the demand.
Yes, once you've sold over a million copies, people start to notice.
Being one of the first (if not the first) to start this new trend was rewarding, but it also wasn't without a lot of pitfalls. A lot of feminist groups used to come to everything new I put out and 1-star the hell out of it and write vicious reviews. (oh how I miss being able to reply to reviews on Amazon! I miss calling out those harpies).
But the biggest reward isn't just the sales (though it's nice to make money), no it's all of the OTHER authors now out there writing men's adventure and other stories for MEN to read!
Oh, and one of the surprises I found out along the way? WOMEN a lot of women, ALSO want stories with strong male characters in them. Turns out there are a lot of women who are attracted to men being men, and women being women. Half of my fans of the Valens Legacy series, which I wrote under my pen name, were women - hell, I was getting fan mail from female CEO's!
Who knew? :-)
I love it! Unfortunately, unless I can buy an epub version, I can only read the book on my computer or worse, my cellphone.
So do encourage writers (frex, Mary Catelli) who have the option to post their works in some epub-buyable format to include that in the sales.
And of course, where applicable (you know who you are) I'll be buying your books in paper as funds permit.