This post is a continuation of my
previous one in which I presented an example of the invisibility challenge
facing science fiction romance.
Exhibit
B: Authors of science fiction romance are often underrepresented or absent from
"women of genre" lists
I saw a tweet regarding a post at Worlds Without End called 100
Women Authors Added for the Women of Genre Fiction Reading Challenge. There
have been several such "women of genre" lists circulating for the
past couple of years, but I'm always glad to see another.
Lately I also peruse these lists to see if there are
any authors of SFR present, in part to explore the possibility of
cross-promotion purposes. Apart from the usual classic SF authors who have
written romantic SF, I rarely see any names of the current batch of SFR authors in existence--especially digital-first
ones.
This is another example of the invisibility
challenge facing science fiction romance, namely, authors being overlooked
and/or underrepresented in women-in-genre lists.
Now, I realize the curators of these lists can't
include every last author. It's simply not practical. Yet the goal of the lists is to increase awareness
of women genre authors, and a lengthy one is sure to make a significant
impression.
I'm also guessing the curators are generally seeking
non-romance SF authors (I'd sure love to be wrong). Perhaps they think that because
a story combines SF and romance it belongs in the romance genre only. If that's the case, though, then
what about all of the hybrid stories mixing SF and mystery? Not science fiction. SF
and horror? Not science fiction. SF and fantasy/fantastical elements? Sorry,
not science fiction. That kind of criteria would eliminate at least a third of
such lists right there.
Granted, there are SFRs with negligible science
fictional elements. And a number of authors of SFR undoubtedly feel their books
are more accurately categorized in the romance genre. All well and good.
But plenty of SFR titles straddle the genre fence
in a significant way. Therefore, I believe SFR authors should be at least
represented, and by more than just a handful of authors. These lists are
supposed to be "women in genre," not "only women who write a
narrowly defined type of science fiction/fantasy in the print medium." At
least, that's my understanding of such lists.
In the Worlds Without End's list, I
encountered a few familiar authors of SFR (familiar to me, at least): Ann
Aguirre. Gini Koch. Sarah A. Hoyt. Wen Spencer. Sharon Shinn. Karen Lord. Sara Creasy.
(The usual classic authors are present, i.e., Lois McMaster Bujold, Anne McCaffrey, Catherine Asaro, Kate Elliott, and
C.J. Cherryh. But we all know they'll end up on these lists no matter what).
(If there are indeed newer authors on the list with published
SFRs that I missed, feel free to let me know!)
But overall, SFR and especially digital-first
authors are seriously underrepresented. Is it the romance bias rearing its ugly
head again? Or is the sci-fi romance genre hidden so well these list curators
have no choice?
We could also be encountering a digital-first bias.
Dozens of authors release science fiction romances on a digital-first basis. Is
it an unspoken rule that a pedigree--whether earned organically or paid for with marketing dollars--is required for "women in genre" lists?
At any rate, Worlds Without End put
out another call for more authors. Their current goal is 175:
We’ve still got a long way to go in our quest for gender balance but this is nice milestone for everyone involved in the challenge. Thank you all for your support of the WoGF!So, what do you do when you reach a milestone? You set out towards the next, of course! I think we can reach 150 for sure so let’s move the marker out to 175 to make things interesting. So many more authors, so little time. Wish us luck!
Worlds Without End set up a forum
for title suggestions (free registration required).
Relevant submission
rules:
In anticipation of a few questions I'll just mention 2 things here to supplemnet the info on the WoGF page.- Yes. We will be adding more women authors all year. If we get enough requests for a particular author we'll add them in. No self published authors please. (Unless they're established authors who are self publishing their work now.) This is a quality control issue and a practical limit to the amount of time we have to make updates. [Emphasis mine]
According to a 10/1/13 forum
posting, list compilation is delayed because of technical issues. Still, that
doesn't mean we can't suggest authors or at least increase awareness at Worlds
Without End that more SFR authors exist. Please consider nominating an author or three. Thanks for your support!
Joyfully yours,
Heather