I didn't demand the publisher change it. I stated some of my book-buying criteria. Hardly "a petulant child stamping (my) foot," though I realize acknowledging the legitimacy of my selection process would have lessened whatever impact you were going for.
And I don't need to start my own press, because, you see, there are actually publishers out there who acknowledge me as a reader with disposable income, and thus worth marketing to. Shocking, I know.
Though I do know quite a few people who would be bothered by that.
But regardless of whether or not you are bothered by a lack of inclusion of your particular minority group, apparently there are quite a lot of people out there who ARE bothered by this particular exclusion. And we can argue all day about whether or not they should be upset about it--the point is, they ARE upset. And I can pretty much guarantee that they will continue to be upset about it the future, and that they will actually in increase in their representative fraction.
The job of the publisher selling a book is not to say: you female SF readers shouldn't be upset! The job of a publisher is to decide whether or not the existence of a large number of angry female SF readers actually impacts their sales.
Oh so YOU'RE not bothered by it, then? PHEW! I was about to be kind of annoyed. but now that this man has come along to tell me what doesn't bother him, I can go back to caring about shoes and hair.
women represent 50% of the population. homosexuals, maybe 10$ if we're lucky. this doesn't just represent overlooking the one homo that turned up in a lottery; it represents overlooking 50% of the population. and it represents the ways we've been overlooked numerous times.
yes, queers get kicked in the ass too. but if you looked at the odds represented here, a gay man might end up on the cover; a lesbian wouldn't.
Well, it was 2am my time, and I was totally stamping my foot. Because I started noticing people not including women on covers decades ago, started participating in discussions pointing it out and suggesting ways to fix it years ago, and yet here's another editor/publisher combo claiming not to care that so many people think it's a problem. Foot stamping! Do you see what they've turned me into? I didn't used to be this angry all the time!
Anyway. The real point is: these days, not including women on the cover doesn't just fail to attract a certain segment of SF readers--it actively alienates them. Maybe even causing them to throw borderline-hysterical, childish mini-tantrums in bookstores, yes indeed.
It's still a marketing decision, absolutely--are we only talking about female SF readers? How many of them are there, honestly? How many of them haven't yet learned to count? How many of them have learned to count, but will still be too enticed by "Peter S. Beagle" to just walk past the shelf without picking up the book?
But constantly infuriating a segment of the population isn't quite the same thing as simply not attracting them.
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Re: The real answer
Date: 2007-08-30 01:06 pm (UTC)Re: The real answer
Date: 2007-08-30 02:59 pm (UTC)And I don't need to start my own press, because, you see, there are actually publishers out there who acknowledge me as a reader with disposable income, and thus worth marketing to. Shocking, I know.
Re: The real answer
Date: 2007-08-30 03:29 pm (UTC)I'm less interested in the gender, ethnicity or orientation of author when I'm reading. Of character, sure, of situation and themes, yes.
Re: The real answer
Date: 2007-08-30 03:33 pm (UTC)Re: The real answer
Date: 2007-08-30 03:59 pm (UTC)But regardless of whether or not you are bothered by a lack of inclusion of your particular minority group, apparently there are quite a lot of people out there who ARE bothered by this particular exclusion. And we can argue all day about whether or not they should be upset about it--the point is, they ARE upset. And I can pretty much guarantee that they will continue to be upset about it the future, and that they will actually in increase in their representative fraction.
The job of the publisher selling a book is not to say: you female SF readers shouldn't be upset! The job of a publisher is to decide whether or not the existence of a large number of angry female SF readers actually impacts their sales.
Re: The real answer
Date: 2007-08-30 05:02 pm (UTC)Re: The real answer
Date: 2007-08-30 05:30 pm (UTC)Re: The real answer
Date: 2007-08-30 05:45 pm (UTC)Re: The real answer
Date: 2007-08-30 05:47 pm (UTC)Re: The real answer
Date: 2007-09-01 04:24 am (UTC)women represent 50% of the population. homosexuals, maybe 10$ if we're lucky. this doesn't just represent overlooking the one homo that turned up in a lottery; it represents overlooking 50% of the population. and it represents the ways we've been overlooked numerous times.
yes, queers get kicked in the ass too. but if you looked at the odds represented here, a gay man might end up on the cover; a lesbian wouldn't.
Re: The real answer
Date: 2007-08-30 03:31 pm (UTC)Anyway. The real point is: these days, not including women on the cover doesn't just fail to attract a certain segment of SF readers--it actively alienates them. Maybe even causing them to throw borderline-hysterical, childish mini-tantrums in bookstores, yes indeed.
It's still a marketing decision, absolutely--are we only talking about female SF readers? How many of them are there, honestly? How many of them haven't yet learned to count? How many of them have learned to count, but will still be too enticed by "Peter S. Beagle" to just walk past the shelf without picking up the book?
But constantly infuriating a segment of the population isn't quite the same thing as simply not attracting them.
Re: The real answer
Date: 2007-08-31 03:33 am (UTC)This is excellently stated, and should be printed on small cards and handed out as needed.
Better print a lot of them, unfortunately.