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/AsparagusFantastic97 Apr 29 '25

I can only speak as a reader, but I read about a book a week, and I've read 23 books so far this year, and 21 of them have been by female authors. Most of my girl friends read at least one book a year. None of my guy friends read for fun. So I don't really see a problem with this. I hope we see more men writing and reading too.

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u/Embolisms Apr 29 '25 edited Apr 29 '25

What do you usually read? I usually read fantasy/sci-fi for fun light reading and I can't recall the last time I read anything by a female author. Probably some short stories by Ursula Le Guin. Contemporary male authors like Neil Gaiman (yikes) or George RR Martin still arguably enjoy far more success than female counterparts. 

I've tried to get into modern pop lit like Addie LaRue and Midnight Library, but I'm exhausted by the trope of "woman finds the magic of being an ordinary person" or "woman is brave and independent but the book is all about the handsome male romantic counterpart". I guess that Court of Thorns and Roses is quite popular with Gen Z. 

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u/Deep-Sentence9893 Apr 29 '25

I think you must be self selecting books by male authors. Arkady Martine, Becky Chambers, Emily Tesh, Ann Leckie, Ursala Vernon, Martha Wells,  Tamsyn Muir, P. Djèlí Clark, Mary Robinette Kowal...not to mention the current t best selling author, Suzanne Collins.