Who's missing?

[coalescent]

[Poll #1046886]

Actual answer here. Vote before you click.

EDIT: See also jlassen's two entries, and Andrew Wheeler here.

FURTHER EDIT: Commentary from rosefox here and cristalia here.

Comments

Re: The real answer

[cellardoor28.livejournal.com]

But why should a woman be a token? Surely the authors involved would rather be on the cover because of their own merits rather than 'shit, we need to put a bird on the cover to get women readers'?

Re: The real answer

[jamiam.livejournal.com]

I guess it depends on whether or not the authors involved believe that the merits of an entire group of writers are being systematically overlooked (by publishers, in this case; editors and readers in others) because of unconscious biases and/or a long-standing cultural perception that SF is by men, for men. For example.

But this isn't actually about the authors' reaction to the cover: since this is purely a marketing consideration, the only reaction that matters is the readers'.