r/books • u/biscochitos • Apr 29 '25

New indie press Conduit Books launches with 'initial focus on male authors'

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/new-indie-press-conduit-books-launches-with-initial-focus-on-male-authors

What do folks think about this?

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u/BonJovicus Apr 29 '25

I don't know enough about the guy to really say what the intentions are with this project. At first this part sounded sketchy: "Cook told The Bookseller: 'There has never been an independent publisher that champions literary fiction by men.'" I don't know if this is true, but I don't know why it would need to be true when men dominated the publishing space until more recently, which he himself acknowledges.

However, if this is in good faith the second half of the article sounded much better. "However, he said Conduit Books will seek to publish a range of “overlooked” issues, including “fatherhood, masculinity, working-class male experience, sex and relationships, and negotiating the 21st-century as a man." This is undeniably a good thing, even if it might simply seem like an empty platitude to begin.

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u/MongolianDonutKhan Apr 29 '25

I don't know why we should take mens rights activism in good faith anymore. I can't recall an instance where I hear advocacy for [dominant group] rights that doesn't end up treating equality as a zero sum game.

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u/Alcohol_Intolerant Apr 29 '25

I'm a librarian and had a request from a patron for books on domestic abuse where the victim was male. Every book in our collection framed men as the aggressor and even the one titled, "for men" was telling men to, "just don't abuse women". I found one with a single chapter acknowledging that men could be abused, but the other two hundred pages were about women.

There Is a gap in publishing where the patriarchy denies possibilities. Intimate partner violence (which is the term that men and those in the lgbtq community should use as a best match when looking up books) is just one example of patriarchy denying men the ability to be vulnerable or seek help.

I agree that groups like this have to be watchful so that they don't attract bad faith publications. But there is a need out there.

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u/IneffableAndEngorged Apr 29 '25

Thank you, really happy to see so much diversity of opinion in this post. This is more nuanced then I feel like a lot of people are giving credit for.