Loveborne Illnesses: Angry Rant: Publishers think only girls read YA, and it is ruining boys -
Yet another person who completely miss the point. Who cares if you get the nail polish?The issue is whether publishers only think that girls will read their books, and then act accordingly. Some people are not very perceptive, unfortunately, but that’s to be expected. Publishers discourage boys from reading. Period.
I love Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone. It’s a wonderful, awesome book. It’s like Harry Potter written by a 19th century Russian novelist. It’s difficult not to enjoy, and it has the same sweeping, romantic feel that a lot of great YA shares with big, enveloping fiction for…
(via permafrostforest)
Loveborne Illnesses: Angry Rant: Publishers think only girls read YA, and it is ruining boys -
More people who completely miss the point. Who cares if you get the nail polish. The issue is whether publishers only think that girls will read their books, and then act accordingly. Some people are not very perceptive, unfortunately, but that’s to be expected.
I love Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone. It’s a wonderful, awesome book. It’s like Harry Potter written by a 19th century Russian novelist. It’s difficult not to enjoy, and it has the same sweeping, romantic feel that a lot of great YA shares with big, enveloping fiction for adults.
But publishers think that only girls will read it.
In fact, they make the same assumption about Graceling, aboutIncarceron, and about too many other great YA books to mention. What do I mean? Well, the cover art says a great deal, but it goes deeper. When Leigh Bardugo’s new book, Siege and Storm, was announced, I was enormously excited. I wanted to get my 13 year old son to read it. But on Facebook, do you know how the publisher decided to promote it? If you preorder, you get FREE NAIL POLISH. I’m sure that the average 13 year old boy who loves books will be lining up to read something promoted like that.
Almost all of the YA books on the shelves are designed to appeal to girls, even when the stories would almost certainly appeal to boys. Examples? How about Divergent or The Hunger Games, two dystopian YA books that boys universally loved. Notice that the covers of those books did nothing to encourage readers to prejudge the content as being “gendered” in one way or another. But publishers either believe that they need to go over the top in making books sound and appear feminine in order to attract girl readers, or they don’t believe that boys are interested in the first place and they are completely ignored.
Now, I am not disinterested in this phenomena - I wrote a YA book with a male and a female protagonist, and I am explicitly trying to get everyone to read it. But I also spent several years closely observing the Barbie v. Bratz copyright war in a variety of California courtrooms, and I know a fair amount about the way that marketing is focused on gendered assumptions about boys and girls. And the fact that publishers do everything they can to exclude boys from stories they would enjoy (If they don’t think that the story of a female teenage assassin like the one found in Graceling would be unappealing to a 13 year old boy they clearly have no idea what they are doing and should be relieved of their positions immediately).
So, in short: publishers, knock it off! How about trying to sell your books without appealing to the idea that only one sex is interested in a good story.
I don’t think that it’s appropriate to say that the Siege and Storm promotion alienates men who are interested in the book.. By saying that you wish that there were more “gender neutral” covers/promotional items, you’re creating gender roles associated with the current promotional item (the nail polish). Saying nail polish is for girls alienates men who are interested in the nail polish/use nail polish, and women who don’t feel like they should use the nail polish. The best way to stay gender neutral is to avoid creating gender roles in the first place.
I agree with the fact that some men (and some women, too) probably won’t want the nail polish (I didn’t really care for it, I would have preferred a bad-ass bookmark or something), but that certainly doesn’t alienate them, or me. Any man could just give it to their mother/girlfriend/boyfriend/someone who would like to use it, or they could sell it, or just throw it away. If a book is good enough (and trust me, this book is phenomenal) no amount of free nail polish is going to deter a potential reader.
There is no reason to start a gigantic whine-fest over it. The nail polish is a gift for pre-ordering Siege and Storm, so don’t feel entitled to start crapping over it. If you don’t like the nail polish, you are not required to use it. You don’t have to carry it with you while reading your pre-ordered copy of S&S. It is not going to be shoved into your belly button so hard that you can’t get it out (and I apologize to you if I have alienated anyone reading this if they don’t have a belly button). Toss it in the trash when you get it. Don’t give it to your son if he doesn’t want it.
I really like f3nn3kin’s response (so I’m not going to re-hash, because there’s no way it would be as well put), but I would like to add: to get the nail polish you have to fill out a form with your address and proof of pre-order, the nail polish doesn’t just automatically get sent to you. So if you don’t want the polish, don’t fill out the form. It’s as simple as that.
The Secret Root: Angry Rant: Publishers think only girls read YA, and it is ruining boys -
Awesome! A response from lbardugo:
I love Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone. It’s a wonderful, awesome book. It’s like Harry Potter written by a 19th century Russian novelist. It’s difficult not to enjoy, and it has the same sweeping, romantic feel that a lot of great YA shares with big, enveloping fiction for adults.
But…
Hey there,
First of all, thank you for the kind words on Shadow and Bone.
I’m reblogging this because I think there are some important issues here and that you addressed them thoughtfully. (It’s also important to me that a reader not feel ignored when he or she voices something less than 100% fannish.) I agree with a lot of what you had to say. To paraphrase Libba Bray: There are no boy books. There are no girl books. There are just books.
The vast majority of YA readers are women and girls. Is this because most of YA is marketed specifically to them? Definitely a possibility. And I think that we do male readers a disservice when we send the message that female characters are fundamentally “other.” (However, to say that publishers are “ruining boys” feels extreme to me.)
A few additional thoughts:
1. I think Macmillan did a fantastic job keeping the covers of Shadow and Bone and Siege and Storm gender neutral, so I’m sorry that you weren’t happy with the choices they made.
2. I think I get where you’re coming from, but I also think describing a particular item as only appealing to girls (or boys) is problematic in its own way. Men and boys can and do wear nail polish—particularly in colors like gray and blue. If you don’t think they could or should, I think it’s worth asking why. I had one male reader approach me at an event to object to the polish. But I’ve had other male readers snap it up for themselves or for their wives, girlfriends, or daughters.
Also, if a promotion like this is somehow alienating, is it because we teach boys that there’s something shameful in liking things that (some) girls like?
3. There will be other giveaway items associated with the book—buttons, bookmarks, and possibly more.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts and for your praise of Shadow and Bone.
Lb
I love Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone. It’s a wonderful, awesome book. It’s like Harry Potter written by a 19th century Russian novelist. It’s difficult not to enjoy, and it has the same sweeping, romantic feel that a lot of great YA shares with big, enveloping fiction for adults.
But publishers think that only girls will read it.
In fact, they make the same assumption about Graceling, about Incarceron, and about too many other great YA books to mention. What do I mean? Well, the cover art says a great deal, but it goes deeper. When Leigh Bardugo’s new book, Siege and Storm, was announced, I was enormously excited. I wanted to get my 13 year old son to read it. But on Facebook, do you know how the publisher decided to promote it? If you preorder, you get FREE NAIL POLISH. I’m sure that the average 13 year old boy who loves books will be lining up to read something promoted like that.
Almost all of the YA books on the shelves are designed to appeal to girls, even when the stories would almost certainly appeal to boys. Examples? How about Divergent or The Hunger Games, two dystopian YA books that boys universally loved. Notice that the covers of those books did nothing to encourage readers to prejudge the content as being “gendered” in one way or another. But publishers either believe that they need to go over the top in making books sound and appear feminine in order to attract girl readers, or they don’t believe that boys are interested in the first place and they are completely ignored.
Now, I am not disinterested in this phenomena - I wrote a YA book with a male and a female protagonist, and I am explicitly trying to get everyone to read it. But I also spent several years closely observing the Barbie v. Bratz copyright war in a variety of California courtrooms, and I know a fair amount about the way that marketing is focused on gendered assumptions about boys and girls. And the fact that publishers do everything they can to exclude boys from stories they would enjoy (If they don’t think that the story of a female teenage assassin like the one found in Graceling would be unappealing to a 13 year old boy they clearly have no idea what they are doing and should be relieved of their positions immediately).
So, in short: publishers, knock it off! How about trying to sell your books without appealing to the idea that only one sex is interested in a good story.
[video]
Writing my fingers to the bone!
http://io9.com/the-cias-secret-experiments-to-turn-cats-into-spies-453478752
Woo hoo! http://www.thesecretroot.com/
1. Go on Facebook and “like” THE SECRET ROOT: http://www.facebook.com/#!/TheSecretRoot
2. Also, prepare for the launch of the official website of THE SECRET ROOT, coming very shortly to www.thesecretroot.com
3. Watch this space for details about the official launch of THE SECRET ROOT on April 24, 2013
4. Get down tonight.
Shadow, one of the official dogs of The Secret Root, is incredibly excited about the Goodreads giveaway AND the book release party in Chicago coming in April!
To celebrate the official release of THE SECRET ROOT in April (and the end of the soft roll-out) we’re giving ‘em away! http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/46762-the-secret-root
I sing a threnody of decline
to the counterman
at the sandwich shop.
He brings me a wrap
Of guacamole and
Apocalypse,
With a side order of
Transient global amnesia.
It would be far easier to remember
the important things in our lives
if we just had
exact change.
My newest piece from my real life, this time on cancer as a metaphor and social media. You know, the usual. Actually, I get to namecheck Imhotep, The Emperor of All Maladies, The Fault in Our Stars, and my Grandma. Check it out here: http://lifesciencesnow.com/2013/01/24/2572/
s’true
(Source: iwouldslayadragonforyou)