And Other Stories Announces It Will Only Publish Books by Women

The news that most literary prizes are won by men should come as no surprise. The chances of getting published - and reviewed - are much greater if you are male. (There are two literary strongholds for female novelists: romance and "women's fiction." The rest are dominated by male authors, and feature male protagonists.)

Kamila Shamsie has challenged publishers to address this disparity by making 2018 the Year of Publishing Women, in which no new titles should be by men. So far, only And Other Stories, a small British press, has taken up Kamila Shamsie's challenge.

A point of interest is that And Other Stories accepts submissions directly from unpublished authors, and for translations of work into English. If you are a woman who has not yet published a novel, you may want to consider submitting. 

Further reading: 

Research shows male writers still dominate books world

Kamila Shamsie: let’s have a year of publishing only women – a provocation

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No men allowed: publisher accepts novelist's 'year of women' challenge

The Guardian: Alison Flood, Thursday 11 June 2015 03.00 EDT

Small press And Other Stories has answered author Kamila Shamsie’s provocative call for a year of publishing women to redress “gender bias” in the literary world.

The novelist made what she called her “provocation” in Saturday’s Guardian, revealing that just under 40% of books submitted to the Booker prize over the past five years were by women, and pointing to everything from the author Nicola Griffith’s research, which found that far more prize-winning novels have male than female protagonists, to the Vida statistics showing that male authors and reviewers command more space than female.

“At this point, I’m going to assume that the only people who really doubt that there is a gender bias going on are those who stick with the idea that men are better writers and better critics,” wrote Shamsie. “Enough. Across the board, enough ... I would argue that is time for everyone, male and female, to sign up to a concerted campaign to redress the inequality ... Why not have a year of publishing women: 2018, the centenary of women over the age of 30 getting the vote in the UK, seems appropriate.”

And Other Stories, the literary press that uses a network of readers to source its titles, has become the first publisher to accept the challenge. “I think we can do it,” said publisher Stefan Tobler. “And if we don’t do it, what is going to change?”

Read the rest of this article HERE.