International Mens Day - Books
Send me your book recommendations
This is a short and improvised post. I had no idea it was International Mens Day until this morning, but I’ve been reading a lot of conversation over on Twitter about how many readers and authors feel that traditional publishing no longer produces enough books for men.
The arguments range from videos showcasing Barnes & Noble bookshelves stuffed with Dark Romance books, to stories about male-centered books being overlooked and ignored by agents, publishers, conventions.
There’s more to think about, but I don’t think I can properly weigh in on this subject because I don’t feel I read enough modern fiction to have any idea what’s going on. I’m still working through hundreds of vintage Science Fiction paperbacks.
What I do know is that traditional publishing aims for what it thinks will sell, so there are trends that develop. If a story about robot pirate dragons from space becomes popular, you can bet the next three major deals from competing presses will be about robot pirate dragons from space.
This doesn’t happen to indie books.
Each of us is a publisher, a marketer, an agent, a mascot, an author.
Plus, Indie books often defy genres.
I’ve been congratulated on my realistic female characters before. I never expected this would happen. I just wanted Stephanie to have the adventure she was always seeking, for Lucy to meet a different kind of soulmate, and for Effemie to rise to the challenge of dealing with a starship filled with panicking nerds. I wanted Annette to be our silent guardian, Anya to figure her own way out of her digital limbo, and Brigid to hold her time travelling team together1.
In the same way, I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and thought about writing a story that men would come up to me and congratulate me about, but I’ve had it happen once with a slam poem, and Nori Furukawa seems to have become a popular character for guys who like problem solving.
I want to use today to hear about more books.
I want to ask you, what does “books for men” mean to you?
And could you recommend a book that a man might enjoy?
(Authors: Feel free to self-promo here, I know you want to)
That’s not all.
I would be remiss, as a publisher, if I did not use this moment to capitalise on the fact that Macabre Multiverse is an all-male anthology. This was not intentional (Hi Grace, sorry you missed the deadline), but for this brief paragraph it can be a sales tactic. Feels weird.
It’s also half price until December 1st, when the eBook goes back to being 5.99.
This is high quality literature.
This is a book written, edited, and illustrated by men who I think might have feelings and ideas, aspirations and inventions. I know I do, and John Coon has feelings. I saw them once. He showed them to me.
You can buy the book by visiting my online bookshelf, which soon will have links to every book I have ever published. Macabre Multiverse is down in the ‘multi author anthologies’ section.
https://linktr.ee/phillipcarter/shop
You’ve also got about 12 hours left to claim the stories in Treasures of Darkness. So far 96 people have found a free story and claimed it there.
Have you?
https://books.bookfunnel.com/treasuresofdarkness10/r5m7vu5trj
If you’re interested in any of these stories, most of them happen inside Who Built The Humans?, which can also be found on the MY SHOP link above.
Every day is Men's Day.
"The Golden Age of Science Fiction is 12."—Peter Graham (if you're a boy)