“I’ve experienced tremendous generosity and support from women in Australian publishing and literature; it’s a way of honouring the many rather than the few.’
By the way Kath McGurl is looking after this blog on Thursday. Pop by to read about her guide to writing stories
Women authors do tend to be nice, but they can still be just as aggressive as men when promoting their work in my experience 🙂
Sure, we can’t dump a lot of characteristics on half the human race…and I suppose when it comes to getting your book out there’s no getting away from the fact that a bit of up front self promotion is required. I stand back and learn from the ones who do it well. A writer friend who is the best networker I have ever seen in action, who is a walking PR industry as soon as she goes into a room, doesn’t elbow others out of the way. And she will put in a good word for other writers when ever she gets the chance. Her methods are full on and aggressive but she keeps her friends and makes new ones. (Sigh) If she could bottle that up, I’d buy it…
Marketing a book is tough, but the buyer isn’t facing an either/or type decision. They can (and often will) buy both books, if they think they’ll enjoy them both. So we’re not competing with each other in the traditional sense. I think there’s some gain in being competitive, but there’s more to be gained by being collaborative and helping each other. Besides, it’s more fun.
I do think that men are more likely to have the confidence to say “my book is great”, whilst woman would offer a more subdued “if you liked X, you might like my book” (even if the book really IS great). Maybe it’s because we still think that ‘nobody likes a show off, dear’.
I think many women take criticism better too. The pay off being we are always going to improve!