Hi Squiggle:
I was surprised at your response because the source of the video is very clearly conservative Christian and political. His zeitgeist video he actually posted on election day presents a chart where strong men create weak men that breed strong men etc. This video also supports a strong man vs weak woman election... Cant get more political than that. Wo giving a stiff-armed salute.
Raising Boys by Steve Biddulph, an Australian psychologist is a wonderfully clarifying source for understanding the concepts that need to be discussed about masculinity and boys. He later wrote Raising Girls , about what little girls need growing up. Testosterone and Estrogen when released in utero do affect the brain. Nature evolved testosterone and estrogen for sex and evolution.
( I would agree boys are in trouble, but I would argue the underlying message of the Netflix series is, "Everything you do is wrong. Act at once." which breeds inertia. This from a parent who told her sons they could have a phone when they could buy it with their own money- here's a sword and a horse now go out and play.)
But it is men who control publishing. They are deciding to print more books written by women, especially sexy finger banging books by young women. Which is something the conservative christan author of the videos was especially disapproving of. Personally I think there are probably men interested in what women find sexy. Male porn is quite taken with girl on girl.
Yes there are more women workingin publishing-but frankly it is because the pay is lousy. And notice how the earnings for writers have gone down since women became the predominant readers?
There are Christian publishers who are looking for exactly the books described as "masculine" in the video. Anyone who wants to write for "men" can submit there, but the market principle remains. You may be better off self-publishing and not with the established Amazon choices now. Look for higher risk bigger return new options. Forge a new path.
The premise that men are underserved would mean that a political bias rather than market forces prevail in publishing. Which is the argument of Novel Marketing, the guy in the video. "The libs are starving your testicles of adventure nutrients."
Litopia was founded and is husbanded by one of those poor bastards who has to try, "to get you published." We have often discussed what needs to be suppressed at Huddle. Our conclusion has always been it is unclear, unpolished, self-indulgent , info dumping (and by the way the guy in the video makes clear elsewhere info dumping is bad), writing that doesn't give a damn about the poor reader.
"The premise that men are underserved would mean that a political bias rather than market forces prevail in publishing. Which is the argument of Novel Marketing, the guy in the video. "The libs are starving your testicles of adventure nutrients."
This is not what they said at all. This is NOT a politically motivated shift, it's a demographic one. Of course, if you really believe that's what they think it's going to color your whole perspective.
Now, I think the term "info dump" deserves some clarity. In the video, it is a tongue and cheek use of the term, and obviously the clickbait. I try to abide by what Abraham Lincoln used to say: "whatever you are, be a good one."
Sometimes exposition is necessary to help the reader, and sometimes it can enhance a story--if it's done well. That is the core contention if we're being charitable. Umstadtt often says that none of his advice matters if the book isn't good, so the priority is a good book.
Sometimes back story is necessary, but what do you do with world backstory in a 350 page thriller? You gonna take an extra fifty pages to "work it in so it feels natural" or are you going to pick the right spot and tell it in an engaging and concise way that fits the context?
I think part of the art of fiction is knowing when telling helps and when it hurts. Honestly, I read Blake Crouch's Upgrade recently and was shocked at how quickly and dumps world-building on the table so he can move the story forward. (Honestly it was a little mechanical for me, but would my husband enjoy it? Yeah.)
And what I mean by people "trying to get you published" is a class of mostly female influencers who want to train you along a very specific way of writing fiction. (I waded through a lot of that before I found people like BookFox, who takes a more nuanced approach.) This way (no exposition, no prologues, loads of interiority, relationship focus vs. physical problem focus) happens to favor female editors and female readers. Given these influencers are trying to help you get traditionally published in a (yes, it is) female-populated industry that caters to a mostly female audience, it's pretty good advice. But the result (again, not political, just demographic) is less stuff that interests men.
Nobody is trying to push men out of novels, as if they don't deserve to read. Novel Marketing did not argue that, neither did Kristan McTiernan, who also did a video on this topic. Men just aren't a priority demographic. You can argue that maybe they shouldn't be, because they're content with their video games and their Manga. Others are making a different calculation, thinking they can attract this demographic back to novels as steady readers. It's up to you as a writer what kind of novel you want to write and what kind of readers you want to target. Sex is one factor of many, but an underestimated one.
