Even A New York Times Writer Knows Fantasy Traditional Publishing Is Impossible For A White Male Author

Traditional publishing has been killed by the likes of Tor Books and others in fantasy publishing, focusing on identity politics.

Fantasy fiction in the traditional market stagnated in recent years, with agents and editors only wanting to pick up books from “marginalized peoples,” or people who aren’t straight, white males. With the convergence of the publishing industry, sales have declined and entered into an independently produced market where many authors self-publish. Even those with enough clout in the system to be a New York Times columnist realize it’s over.

It started in the 2010s when woke activists like K. Tempest Bradford started using race and gender baiting for clout within publishing. She posted a blog urging people to stop reading straight, white, male authors and parlayed that into industry clout where she even would be writing Star Wars novelizations nearly a decade later.

Other activists in the industry did similar, and pretty soon, all of the publishing establishment was only buying books based on race, gender, and sexual orientation, which technically is illegal. Still, as it’s favoring non-white males, the government turns a blind eye as they also are trying to push the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda on everyone.

One agent who has to remain anonymous told Fandom Pulse that unless a story featured a female protagonist and contained LGBTQ+ themes, even in the children’s and young adult book section, authors would be immediately turned down. It’s become a mainstream grooming operation.

Now, even columnist Ross Douthat from the New York Times has thrown in the towel to try to get his fantasy novel traditionally published.

Alt-History author Frederick Gero Heimbac wrote about the topic on X, stating, “As a columnist at the NY Times, you'd think Douthat would have just about the best chance of anyone of getting a contract from a major publisher for his first foray into fiction. But no; he met a stone wall of rejection.”

“So, instead, he's publishing the novel in serial form via Substack. Anyone will be able to read the first 12 chapters as they come out; for the cost of a typical bookstore hardcover, subscribers will read the whole thing,” he continued.

“He also offers various metadata, including maps. I love this conceit: ‘this map should not be regarded as fully accurate in every particular, and it may be subject to revision or supersession depending on what future research in the imperial archives might reveal,’” he spoke of the work.

“Douthat describes the novel as not having been edited by anyone but himself. So, there's a certain confessed amateurism (in every sense) to this project. But I can report, the first chapter is a banger,” Heimbac concluded.

This is increasingly the norm, as even big authors who make Tor Books a lot of money like Brandon Sanderson have taken to crowdfunding their projects in recent years, realizing they’d have a better shot at success than if they went through the traditional market. Sanderson ended up creating the largest book crowdfund of all time with his work as a result.

Douthat’s novel is being posted here on Substack, a last bastion for free speech and perhaps the last, best hope for the white, male fantasy book author.

What do you think of a NYT columnist abandoning the chance at traditional publishing in fantasy books? Leave a comment and let us know.

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