Do male authors publish?

[psully]

Hi, this is my first post here. I am actually doing some research for my thesis, which is on erotic literature. Something I can't figure out is why are there more male author on literotica than female authors, yet when it comes to commercial publishing of erotica it is predominantly female authors. Can someone explain this to me?Could it be that male authors are publishing under female pen names? (I don't think this would explain the disparity). Are men more shy about their work? What are your opinions? Thanks!

 

[lovecraft68]

I have two pen names, one female one male(I'm male)

The female was my first one and I was going by the thought process that men would rather by erotica they think is written by a woman.

As corny as it sounds there is a faction of men who want to think their erotica was written by a woman sitting there in her thong typing one handed as she plays with herself....

When you look on amazon at all the 'female pen names" drop their author photos into google and.....many come up on stock photo sites

These days I use the female name to write more 'taboo' material because it panders to the type of crowd I mentioned my other stuff is under a male persona.

 

[lowphat]

I use both as well. I publish my romance and tame stuff under a female name, and everything else under male names.

I think if women had the choice, they''d rather read a female writer's work. I could be all wet on that, because I have no proof other than I get more female comments on my female pen name, and more comments from me on my male pen name.

Trouble with the internet is we have no idea who's truly male and female.

 

[SamScribble]

I publish my 'raunchy romance' stories under a female pen name.

 

[legerdemer]

I use both as well. I publish my romance and tame stuff under a female name, and everything else under male names.

I think if women had the choice, they''d rather read a female writer's work. I could be all wet on that, because I have no proof other than I get more female comments on my female pen name, and more comments from me on my male pen name.

Trouble with the internet is we have no idea who's truly male and female.

I publish my 'raunchy romance' stories under a female pen name.

Actually one of the reasons I stay on Lit for my erotica fetish is that I do look for stuff written by male as well as female writers - in part I want to see the differences between stories written by men and women. As you and LC68 have pointed out, it's even harder to do that on Amazon than it is here. It's not that I'm biased for one or the other, but I like the variety and people do write from experience to at least some extent. I would guess that the tone of a story differs if nothing else, not to mention the vocabulary, the type of action, etc. But I might be in the minority.

 

[sr71plt]

why are there more male author on literotica than female authors, yet when it comes to commercial publishing of erotica it is predominantly female authors.

What proof do you have that either of these statements is true? You can't identify what gender anyone is just on what they post as on the Internet. If your paper was turned in to me, I'd toss it out as being flawed and unproved at the premise.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Hi, this is my first post here. I am actually doing some research for my thesis, which is on erotic literature. Something I can't figure out is why are there more male author on literotica than female authors, yet when it comes to commercial publishing of erotica it is predominantly female authors. Can someone explain this to me?Could it be that male authors are publishing under female pen names? (I don't think this would explain the disparity). Are men more shy about their work? What are your opinions? Thanks!

See the "I don't want to read stories by male authors" thread for a hint...

 

[jezzaz]

What proof do you have that either of these statements is true? You can't identify what gender anyone is just on what they post as on the Internet. If your paper was turned in to me, I'd toss it out as being flawed and unproved at the premise.

I can't believe I'm actually going to agree with this, but yeah, he's got a point.

How do you verify your sources?

 

[lovecraft68]

I can't believe I'm actually going to agree with this, but yeah, he's got a point.

How do you verify your sources?

On the net you really can't.

I declared I'm male. I think my posting persona would back that, but how do you really know?

Short of face to face there would always be doubt.

 

[psully]

What proof do you have that either of these statements is true? You can't identify what gender anyone is just on what they post as on the Internet. If your paper was turned in to me, I'd toss it out as being flawed and unproved at the premise.

My paper isn't going to make any claims that are not supported by a source. My thesis topic isn't on the gender of erotica writers. This is just something I have become curious about while doing my research. I have turned to this board because I haven't found any other information about it. I just want to see what peoples opinions are.

 

[psully]

Another THEORY (no sources) I have about it, is that male readers/writers prefer to read/write more taboo subject matter, and therefore they are less likely to publishing on amazon or other places where content has a degree of censorship. Opinions?

 

[sr71plt]

You still have no means of reliably identifying the true gender of those in the set. Just because you want to doesn't mean you can, no matter how you slice the question.

 

[psully]

You still have no means of reliably identifying the true gender of those in the set. Just because you want to doesn't mean you can, no matter how you slice the question.

True. It would take a lot of research to prove anything. But perhaps you can see where my observation is coming from.

 

[Tigersman]

Identity

sr71plt is most definitely correct. One of my favorite authors in the real world wrote under three names. The name which this author is most known as is Andre Norton. Norton was known for the "Witch World" series which was a sci-fi/fantasy genre. Many a reader never knew until after they were hooked on the series that Norton was a woman.

 

[sr71plt]

I write under several names and in both genders (and a couple that are purposely gender ambiguous). I skew which gender I write in toward the perceived audience, so that screws up any study of preferences by actual writer gender right there. I'm sure I'm not the only one doing it.

 

[jezzaz]

True. It would take a lot of research to prove anything. But perhaps you can see where my observation is coming from.

Well, yeah, but it's coming from an unproved premise in the first place.

You are idly wondering why there are less male authors publishing on Amazon, then offering statements like "Perhaps it's because of gate keepering". Ok, fair conclusion. I don't know how you'd back up that conclusion, but that's not germaine anyway.

The point is your initial conclusion is faulty.

You are making a generalization and then building on that assertion, when the initial assertion isn't proven in the first place.

It's like saying "Well, there's a book that says the moon is made of cheese. I wonder what kind of mice would like it up there?"

It's a valid thing to wonder, but built on a assertion that's isn't proven.

You say "there are less men publishing Lit on Amazon" but that's an extremely unproven assertion. You aren't sourcing anything, you aren't looking into that statement to determine if it's true or not, you are just saying "Well, judging from the names people are using, there are more women than men publishing on Amazon". That's not a valid position to assert anything. You've nothing - apparent here, anyway - that justifies this position.

So asking questions based on top of it seems a bit pointless, as does offering reasoning on top of that. I think Rats might like the moon more than mice, because in reality, Mice don't like cheese. They eat it if they are desperate, whereas rats do like it.

But it's entirely immaterial because the moon isn't made of cheese in the first place.

For someone preparing your thesis, I'm kinda surprised that you seem to be basing it on an entirely unproven and inherently suspect initial conclusion?

 

[TxRad]

Do male authors publish?

Yes.

 

[sensualsharon]

I find this interesting. I know a couple of writers here I've done audios for of their stories were male, yet they used female pen names. Personally I like praise too much, I want all my work under the name ones know me by. I can write in many different styles, tame or very dirty. I think it showcases ones creativity when one author writes different types of stories, so I personally don't see the need for more than one name to write under.

Maybe someone like Stephen King could be writing romance novels though and how many would buy them when they expect horror? Same idea I guess for some, they want to keep things in their separate boxes. I understand why, just wouldn't be how I would do it for myself. Actors can be diverse and do many types of roles, like Johnny Depp, he's quite versatile. Can do comedy, drama, adventure, suspense all very well. Why can't authors be the same? Why must they only be able to write one type of story/book?

 

[TxRad]

I find this interesting. I know a couple of writers here I've done audios for of their stories were male, yet they used female pen names. Personally I like praise too much, I want all my work under the name ones know me by. I can write in many different styles, tame or very dirty. I think it showcases ones creativity when one author writes different types of stories, so I personally don't see the need for more than one name to write under.

Maybe someone like Stephen King could be writing romance novels though and how many would buy them when they expect horror? Same idea I guess for some, they want to keep things in their separate boxes. I understand why, just wouldn't be how I would do it for myself. Actors can be diverse and do many types of roles, like Johnny Depp, he's quite versatile. Can do comedy, drama, adventure, suspense all very well. Why can't authors be the same? Why must they only be able to write one type of story/book?

One reason I know personally is using one pen name for erotica and another for mainstream.

 

[Bramblethorn]

As previously discussed, the ratio of authors IDed as female to male is about 3:4. http://markallenthornton.com/blog/sexual-demographics/

Very likely some of those profiles are inaccurate, but I'm certainly not seeing even weak evidence for a big gender imbalance among authors. (Some specific categories, yes - but I don't know how much of that reflects actual imbalance, vs people fibbing for marketing reasons.)

I find this interesting. I know a couple of writers here I've done audios for of their stories were male, yet they used female pen names. Personally I like praise too much, I want all my work under the name ones know me by. I can write in many different styles, tame or very dirty. I think it showcases ones creativity when one author writes different types of stories, so I personally don't see the need for more than one name to write under.

Maybe someone like Stephen King could be writing romance novels though and how many would buy them when they expect horror? Same idea I guess for some, they want to keep things in their separate boxes. I understand why, just wouldn't be how I would do it for myself. Actors can be diverse and do many types of roles, like Johnny Depp, he's quite versatile. Can do comedy, drama, adventure, suspense all very well. Why can't authors be the same? Why must they only be able to write one type of story/book?

Sometimes they want to get away from expectations. JKR used a male pseudonym when she branched out into crime. Joe Hill wanted to write horror without the baggage that comes from the surname "King". (Nicolas Cage had similar reasons for not working as "Coppola".)

Even when the pen-name isn't secret, it can be useful for genre separation, as with Iain (M) Banks.

 

[HeyAll]

Hi, this is my first post here. I am actually doing some research for my thesis, which is on erotic literature. Something I can't figure out is why are there more male author on literotica than female authors, yet when it comes to commercial publishing of erotica it is predominantly female authors. Can someone explain this to me?Could it be that male authors are publishing under female pen names? (I don't think this would explain the disparity). Are men more shy about their work? What are your opinions? Thanks!

You know, I've recently wondered this myself.

It seems like the vast majority of erotica in the mainstream is written by women, yet on here, it seems like it's mostly men. (to reiterate your point)

Even more surprising, BDSM is all the rage. But on here, it's not exactly a popular category. On Lit, the most popular category by far is Incest, followed by (in no order) mature, group, first time, and a few others.

As to your question, I have a theory:

Theory: Men write on here mainly as a hobby. It's difficult to make a living writing erotica. So men are far less likely to purse erotica as a career.

However, women can stay at home while their husbands work, and write at home. Then sell their erotica on the side. So that gives them far more time to write long novels to be published.

Sounds sexist, but I've actually read many interviews with female erotica writers. There are also plenty of interviews you can watch on youtube.

Many of the female writers are married, stay at home mothers. So that's a huge advantage.

Plus, I think, it's easier to sell erotica & make a living from it if you're a woman. Generally speaking, it's easier to market. I think in the mainstream, women are more likely to buy from a female writer.

best wishes on your thesis.

 

[HeyAll]

Another THEORY (no sources) I have about it, is that male readers/writers prefer to read/write more taboo subject matter, and therefore they are less likely to publishing on amazon or other places where content has a degree of censorship. Opinions?

It was already posted above, but here's the link again.

http://markallenthornton.com/blog/sexual-demographics/

This person did a study of all the stories on Literotica, and determined that male authors heavily favor incest.

So, like you said, that stuff can't be found in the mainstream publications (at least not to my knowledge) or in large amounts. So men tend to come to sights like this to satisfy that particular fantasy.

 

[sr71plt]

By my count, I write here and/or in the marketplace under four male names, three female names, and four gender-undetermined names (In erotica, gender-undetermined names actually are common). To the extent that other writers are doing anything like that as well (and even in the mainstream there are authors writing as more than one gender, as has been noted on this thread), try to make that fit into the "categorize the author's actual gender stats and make anything meaningful out of what/where men write as opposed to women" conclusions. Can't be done.

This is just nonsense.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

You know, I've recently wondered this myself.

It seems like the vast majority of erotica in the mainstream is written by women, yet on here, it seems like it's mostly men. (to reiterate your point)

Even more surprising, BDSM is all the rage. But on here, it's not exactly a popular category. On Lit, the most popular category by far is Incest, followed by (in no order) mature, group, first time, and a few others.

As to your question, I have a theory:

Theory: Men write on here mainly as a hobby. It's difficult to make a living writing erotica. So men are far less likely to purse erotica as a career.

However, women can stay at home while their husbands work, and write at home. Then sell their erotica on the side. So that gives them far more time to write long novels to be published.

Sounds sexist, but I've actually read many interviews with female erotica writers. There are also plenty of interviews you can watch on youtube.

Many of the female writers are married, stay at home mothers. So that's a huge advantage.

Plus, I think, it's easier to sell erotica & make a living from it if you're a woman. Generally speaking, it's easier to market. I think in the mainstream, women are more likely to buy from a female writer.

best wishes on your thesis.

Yeah, not the best theory...I'm male...I don't make a living at writing, but I do publish what I write. I have two pen names, one for erotica and one for mainstream fiction.

Is it a hobby for me...I don't know, I like to create things. When I was working in my chosen profession, I created things all the time. Computer programs...I was a software engineer.

Now that I'm retired...I create things...stories, books, what have you.

 

[lovecraft68]

Sounds sexist,

Yes, just a tad