Pippa Jay Ponders The Invisibility Of Women SF/SFR Authors At Spacefreighters Lounge

At Spacefreighters Lounge, author Pippa Jay (KEIR) reflects on the challenges facing women SF and SFR authors: Without the romance, Dune was just a book about worms...

Over the last few weeks I've been thinking about the problems in promoting and selling SFR, and even SF if you happen to be a female author. It's bugging me (can you tell?). I've seen a lot of conversations on Twitter about why female SF authors aren't necessarily a minority, but aren't given the same recognition or notice as male SF authors...

...Their [io9's] research found there's a (probably) unconscious bias toward male authored speculative fiction by reviewers, but it was the comments that kicked off the Twitter conversation.

1.Female SF authors only write character driven or even romantic scifi (or as one person said on Twitter "eww, romance") as opposed to action driven.

2.Male SF authors only write action driven SF.

Oh, really?

Good food for thought.

Joyfully yours,

Heather

Kindle Ebook Sale: WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM For 99 Cents

Veronica Scott's WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM (and SFR Galaxy Award winner!) is on sale for $.99 cents now through midnight on 5/31/13. Here's the cover and blurb:

SFR & Discoverability

While exchanging emails with an author of SFR, she raised the issue of discoverability. It reminded me I'd been wanting to touch upon the topic.

Image source: icanhazcheeseburger

While growing up, I had the unfortunate experience of believing the only TV shows available were those offered by the three main networks (and a handful of local channels). And that terrestrial radio music was the only kind in existence. The only valid stories were those offered by mainstream print publishers through brick and mortar stores. I feel embarrassed even now when I reflect on my ignorance (because I let myself be manipulated?).

As an adult, I witnessed a time where all of the above has been disproven. There are so many more entertainment choices available than what corporate marketing machines put in front of our faces. Yet there are still obstacles to discovering books, films, music, etc., beyond the mainstream--including how we limit ourselves as consumers.

While I can't help but depend on mainstream sources for some of my entertainment needs, I don't rely on them as my *only* source. Science fiction romance is a prime example of that. Heck, as a U.S. resident I got my start in this subgenre by watching a show from Japan!

But discovering SFR stories takes more work than simply opening a magazine and looking at ads or walking into a bookstore and perusing the end cap displays. Finding more SFRs to read involves online research and networking extensively with readers and authors.

"Cream of the Crop" Vs. "Best Fit" Sci-Fi Romance

I'm perplexed about the "cream of the crop" mentality regarding elevating some science fiction romance books (and authors) above others. I wouldn't say it's rampant, but I encounter it enough to be concerned.

By "cream of the crop" I mean the idea of placing mainstream print books on a pedestal simply because they're released by a Big Six publisher. This situation manifests when the same authors are mentioned (in forums, blogs, comments, etc.) over and over and over again, as if no one else was writing books in this subgenre.

When it comes to a niche subgenre like SFR, "cream of the crop" as defined by mainstream print distribution is meaningless because there are so few books in that category. You need an entire crop before you can identify the creamy bits (no pun intended!). In fact, where SFR is concerned, the main crop right now is actually comprised of digital-first titles.

Rather than approach titles/author recommendations in terms of "cream of the crop," I'd like to see a greater focus on connecting readers with SFR books that are right for them. Maybe the right book is a mainstream print release or maybe it's digital. Maybe it's by a well-known author or it could be a book by someone no one's ever heard of, with a single SFR title to her name. (Like space pirate heroines? Check out Karin Shah's STARJACKED!).

Charming SFR Archetypes for the SFR Author By Maybelle

[The Galaxy Express is excited to present a series of posts by a Very Special Guest. Her name is Maybelle and she's here all the way from sweet home Alabama to give us her take on archetypes in science fiction romance. This is the fourth installment of a ten part series. Maybelle's posts will go live Saturday 9 am EST).] Part I Part II Part III

The King of the Galaxy might be the king, but he ain’t the only stud in the stars. Here’s a few more archetypes you might meet when you get kidnapped by aliens. I hope you’re finding my expert tease on this subject handy. I mean, I been getting a few speaking gigs and such now that I’m back on Earth, but they don’t pay as much as being Queen of the Galaxy would have. Dang it.