Why aren't there more writers making books geared towards teen males?
Hey guys and gals. I'm Matt and I've been wanting to comment on this issue for a while now. I am an author and am currently seeking publication for my book Dreams of Machines. As a writer I have to look at current trends in the writing market and make sure that my endeavor, while fulfilling on it's own will be something the world will want to actually read.
I used to work at a library and one of our sections that always perplexed me was the YA section. For those of you who don't know YA stands for Young Adult and is a section separated out for patrons from the ages of 13-18. The section for younger than 13 is juvenile and after 18 is adult fiction. The problem I have with the section is this: Almost all the titles are geared towards girls.
When I was young my mother used to give us all books to read and if we finished it we'd get a toy and the next book in the series. I was 11 when she started this and I was reading The Seventh Tower series by Garth Nix. A good series, that I really enjoyed and fit my demographic. When I got a little older I obviously wanted to keep reading so I looked and looked for more books but nothing kept my interest. At least anything that was written within the past ten years. I read Ender's Game (on the list I have above) and The Hobbit. While both are great books I wished there was more out at the time.
When I got a little older, around 14, I went to the library to look for books with samurai in it as I watched old samurai films every Saturday and wanted to read some books. I came across Bridge of Sparrows and was immediately hooked. Only problem was, it was a book for adults. Something I probably shouldn't have read or at least something that wasn't intended to be read by a 14 year old. It was full of sex and gore and adult themes I couldn't possibly understand. What else was there for me though?
Before you ask, I was a 11 in 2001 and yes I did read Harry Potter. But one series isn't enough to compete with the saturated market of books geared towards girls. I'd peruse the shelf and come across two things: title after title about magic/vampires/school woes, titles with female leads with no perspective for a teen boy.
While I'm not saying a boy can't read and enjoy a book with a female lead (The Hunger Games is forth on the list above) a boy or girl or anyone wants to read a story that speaks to them with characters they can relate to and be in the shoes of.
I don't know about any other guy's I was in school with but I can't relate to Tris from Insurgent, Bella from Twilight or even Katniss Everdeen. I wanted male characters, since being a young man I wanted to read about young men and their struggles. Sadly the titles are few and far between. The list I provided above includes books suited for the low end of that age range and not much for the far end. I wouldn't even consider Lord of the Rings a series intended for teens.
So I ask, Why aren't there more authors writing books geared towards boys? Or am I asking the wrong question? Are there books out there and I'm just not seeing them?
In this report by OECD Observer , girls read more than boys for pleasure. Spending at least 30 mins a day reading. Why is that?
In this article in Great Schools! they talk of the issues with academic pressures on boys and the growing gap of achievement between boys and girls. Citing that although there seem to be more alternatives to reading for boys, this issue is long running. They also talk about how the gender inequality of titles and pressure from female role-models make the boys shy away from reading as being a thing for "girls".
I personally felt the same was a teen. After failed attempts to find books I liked to read and wanting more than what the Fantasy section gives, I stopped reading for pleasure for years. Was it mostly because of my societal formed disposition towards reading or was it the fact that there just aren't any books for boys outside of the sci-fi/fantasy realm? Or was it a mixture of both?
Perhaps society needs to change before more authors will start writing for that demographic. Or perhaps if more books existed for that group of boys and it wasn't stigmatized for boys to read the market will see a new point of sale.
Only time will tell. In the meantime I'm going to keep writing what I think I'd want to read as a young man.
Keep reading. Keep learning.
No comments:
Post a Comment