Recently, more male readers have noticed that sci-fi and fantasy, traditionally male-dominated categories, are not producing books geared toward men at all. Fantasy Author John A. Douglas went viral on X, showing how dire the situation is in bookstores.
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, women took over the publishing industry. It was easy for them to do as the romance novel genre surpassed all others, with literature geared toward women continually topping the charts. They weren’t satisfied with this and continually pushed in the science fiction and fantasy genres, adventure fiction naturally geared toward men, for “equality.”
It came out in the mid-2010s that men had a much harder time getting published when one ran the numbers than women did when it comes to regular short fiction magazines, the only place it’s possible to track such data. However, women continued to make their push and claim that men somehow still maintained an edge on the genre.
Recent sales data shows the top of the fantasy charts are now dominated by female writers like Rebecca Yarros and Sarah J. Maas, who write glorified pornographic romance novels in fantasy settings rather than fantasy itself. It appears romance simply took over the genre to allow women writers in.
Unfortunately, it’s about all that bookstores stock anymore for the genre. John A. Douglas, author of The Black Crown, has been posting about his trips to bookstores and showing direct evidence that real fantasy isn’t getting shown.
In a recent viral video posted to X, which has more than 5 million views as of this writing, Douglas showed local Target bookshelves and how insidious it was toward not stocking anything for men to read.
He posted, “Men still read and the books FOR them are in the indie spaces. My book The Black Crown is an independently published epic fantasy full of positive brotherhood and adventure. Read on KU, ebook, or print.”
He also stated in comments that there’s still fiction on KU, which refers to Kindle Unlimited, where there are still several genres and categories on Amazon that are geared toward male readers.
He followed up by noting the pornographic nature of such offerings by highlighting a book cover by a woman clearly made to look like a vagina, saying, “The romance authors got away with making their smut so mainstream they can put books about older women seducing minors on the shelf. This is what you get when the publishing industry is run by 80% women. Disgusting.”
The publishing industry has a massive problem on this front and it seems more and more men are noticing they’ve been intentionally forsaken in recent years by these big companies. Independent works are the only place to go at this juncture for real fantasy and science fiction.
What do you think of John A. Douglas’s Video and analysis of a lack of men’s fiction in fantasy? Leave a comment and let us know.
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The great thing about books that are aimed toward men is that they end up appealing to wider audiences, including women (like me). But books aimed toward women never appeal to a wider (male) audience. And, as you accurately point out, women’s trends somehow end up disgusting and perverted. (Feminism ruins everything.)
And I’ve never liked women’s fiction/romance/porb EVER—and I know I’m not the only woman who feels the same way—so our side of the market gets left out by this woke, pervert garbage, too. Whatever happened to a great fantasy adventure story about characters that are actually admirable?!
This is exactly how feminism works. Like a cancer it creeps in and slowly takes over until it has consumed the host and then moves on. Feminist women have already destroyed many male dominant popular IP's like Star Wars. IN the 80's * 90's teh feminist were demanding entrance to traditionally male only spaces ( sound familiar?) from gentlemen's clubs to men's gyms. It was OK for women to have female only versions o these but men could not be allowed the same; women demanded access and once they got it they began the process of changing everything to accommodate them. They did the same thing when they entered the workforce. And now today that men are trying to enter traditionally female only spaces their have a fit. I agree this trans thing is wrong but feminism laid the ground work to make it possible.
Their strategy is
1) Demand access
2) Upon gaining access change it all
3) Start targeting men (ie sexual harassment ) who aren't towing the feminist narrative
Is it a wonder men don't want to work with women today? And since HR is overwhelming female run, know that HR is NOT their to help you at all! Company first, female employee next and then you come in last unless you're gay or an illegal.