If the rumor is true (and Publisher's Lunch just sent out this photograph that came from booksellers)... then... brilliant book and brilliant book club pick or not ...
Since Jan 2005, Oprah has picked 14 books for her club
All of them have been by men!
All of them for the last 5 years.
If you go back, since 2003 she's picked 20 titles.
18 of them are by men.
I'm not suggesting affirmative action here. I never am.I don't believe in it. I just continue and continue and continue to find it curious. Is it possible that in 5 years there has not been one title written by one woman that deserved to be an Oprah bookclub selection?
I have to wonder if she's aware of this bias. Naturally, she's welcome to feature whomever she chooses, but this strikes me as an odd phenomenon, especially given the plethora of strong stories written by women. Like you, I find it curiouser and curiouser.
Posted by: Alex Adams | September 16, 2010 at 12:07 PM
MJ -- If you go back to the beginning of Oprah's Bk Club, the balance tips toward women. Depending on how you count "picks" (3 novels by the same author, etc?) it's 30 men vs. 37 women, or 28 men vs. 36 women. You could even see her recent picks as redressing the balance. . . .
Posted by: JoeFinder | September 16, 2010 at 11:20 PM
Does it really matter? I mean half the problem in the world today is because we label and discriminate.
Is it possible that the books that Oprah has picked are simply the best available at the time? Or at least the best according to Oprah's personal taste?
I mean if it is a case that you have to be a woman to get on certain lists or into certain book clubs etc isn't that just another form of discrimination.
I don't mean to rant but when I read a book I don't read it because it was written by one sex or the other, I read it because it is good - the last book I read was by Maria V Snyder (Fire Study) and it was excellent.
Posted by: EdwardGGordon | November 23, 2010 at 05:25 AM
If nothing else, this is an interesting observation. I'll be paying more attention to Oprah's picks in the future.
Posted by: Enterthebetween.blogspot.com | December 11, 2010 at 10:40 PM
in 2009 The Best of the National Book Awards was held, it spanned 60years of all National Book Awards winners. Out of 77 Authors about 10 where woman, this too might seem unbalanced as well? but of the the short list of the top 6, two where woman and guess who won? Flannery O'Connor. It's not all unbalanced win you come out on top and the odds are against you, it just makes the victory that much more sweeter ! but i'm a betting man and i like long shots! lol
Posted by: JKW | January 08, 2011 at 05:41 AM
She picks some gems from time to time. I especially liked Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth." I doubt she has an actual bias toward men; perhaps the type of fiction she reads on a regular basis is dominated by male writers?
Posted by: ZM_Shah | January 17, 2011 at 07:24 PM
"Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove any thing."
-Jane austen
Posted by: Jessie Thurlow | March 03, 2011 at 01:00 PM
Nice article, thanks for the information. http://griyamobilkita.blogspot.com
Posted by: Rental Mobil Rasuna | July 25, 2011 at 05:39 AM
My guess is that Oprah simply has an affinity for male thought patterns--she certainly knows her audience is primarily female! It's fun to write characters who have tendencies like that.
www.diamondhour.com
Posted by: Steven Barnes | September 22, 2011 at 11:14 AM
"Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove any thing."
-Jane austen
This quote is no longer true, in fact, depending on your country of residence it may now be the opposite.
Source for my claim: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/fashion/07campus.html?pagewanted=all
www.jonathaneloff.com
Posted by: Jonathan Eloff | September 27, 2011 at 09:47 PM
This is an important post. Subconscious bias is the most common explanation for this kind of thing, but it isn't until someone brings out the facts that we can confront that bias.
There are only 3 reasons women don't make it to the top http://wp.me/p1xS1Q-iB
Posted by: Curtrice.wordpress.com | November 18, 2011 at 07:19 PM
Polish short stories for publication by Any Subject Books (links to http://www.anysubject.com/)
So, you’ve finished your short story, or short story collection. Congratulations!
However, now, here comes your real task: editing and polishing your work for publication.
Leave it alone.
You’ve been slaving away with your writing, right? So take a well earned break! Go do something else for a few days, or even a couple of weeks. Give yourself enough time to be able to look back at your work with a fresh pair of eyes.
Return to your work and read it thoroughly.
Sit down in a quiet room with your work. Read it slowly. Go over sentences as many times as you need. Don’t rush. Don’t make any changes at this stage; just read hard, highlight any errors or sections that need reworking or deleting anything you may want to change. Check for clichés, clumsy adverbs, abstractions, unnecessary descriptions or awkward dialogue. If any of your content does not further your story in any way, then it must go – even if you like it! Keep it clear and concise. If you want to submit a decent short story, then you must be prepared to ‘kill your darlings.’
Get a second opinion.
Always have a proof-reader, preferably another writer. Ask them to be brutally honest and don’t take it personally if they are! Try out their suggestions; if they work then great, but if you don’t like them, don’t use them! Quality should be your prime concern, but don’t use something just because someone else has told you to. It’s insincere and it will show in your work.
Now polish!
It is now time to attack your work and make all those changes. Right your wrongs and remember there is always room for improvement. Don’t be afraid to experiment – you might be surprised at the result!
So, you’re all done editing.
You’re happy with your work, or as happy as you can be. Now it’s time to prepare it for submission.
Follow the submission guidelines.
I cannot stress this enough. Publishers are busy people. If they see that you do not even care enough to follow their guidelines, then you haven’t a snowflake’s chance in hell of them caring about your work. Each company has different formatting requirements. If you are submitting to more than one, always modify your submission to fit with the guidelines.
So, you’ve finished! You’re happy with your work, it’s all dressed up the way your publisher wants it and you’re ready for anything. Sorry, but you’re still not quite there yet.
Check again.
Give it another read to see if you’ve missed anything. Make sure it’s grammar and spelling perfect and complies entirely with the guidelines. Publishers receive loads of submissions every day. Don’t forget that one tiny mistake could easily get your work rejected.
Happy? Proofread? Checked? Checked thoroughly? Really thoroughly? Okay. Now you really are ready to go! Go forth, submit and prosper. Good luck!
If you’re still at the stage of shopping around for a publisher, why not give Any Subject books a try? They’re always looking for new talent and if you’ve got real ability and have a story to tell, they’ll definitely be pleased to hear from you. Their submission process and guidelines are simple to follow and can be found on their writers wanted page.
Posted by: WiDirect | September 17, 2012 at 03:39 PM