Kids, Cooks, Brothels & TV – Gender bias in Australian publishers’ promotions? You be the judge.

Last night I decided to do a quick trawl of Aussie publishers’ press releases to see what author events for Australian Women Writers I could publish on the new Facebook page.

I didn’t set out with an agenda. My aim was simply to find out what was out there. I set about "liking" as many Australian publishers as I could find on Facebook, having to pause now an again to prove to Facebook that I was human. Then I examined the publishers’ author promotions for the preceding 24 hours (2 November, 2011).*

Here's what I found in the Newsfeed.

1. SPUNC: note on blogging by author and bookseller AS Patric (male)
2. Hachette: Powderfinger biography by Dino Scatena (male)
3. HarperCollins: Inheritance by Conn Iggulden (male)
4. Harper Collins: That Movie Book by Marc Fennell (male)
5. Harper Collins competition giveaway of Skulduggery Pheasant: Death Bringer by Irish author Derek Landy (male) for ages 9+. Winner announced: (female)
6. HarperCollins: Hiroshima Nagasaki by Paul Ham (male) [photos of book launch]
7. Random House Teen: jacket photos of Kathy Reichs’ Seizure (female, not Australian), Evie Parker’s The Twilight Boys (Australian woman author of nonfiction, billed on RH website as “biographer, celebrity interviewer and television writer”)** & Conn Iggulden’s Inheritance (male).
8. Pan Macmillan: Brainfood by Dr Karl (male) [book launch Friday]
9. Hardie Grant, Hot Surfing Legends by Phil Jarrett (male)
10. Allen & Unwin, How Now Brown Frau by Merridy Eastman (Australian woman writer of memoir/nonfiction, regularly mentioned as former brothel receptionist). Promoting author appearance at Mosman Library Nov 2.
11. Charles Darwin University Press, Aquatic Biodiversity by Dr Bradley Pusey (male)
12. Sleepers, What the Family Needed by Steven Amsterdam (male)
13. Sleepers, Sold by Brendan Cullifer (male)
14. Hardie Grant, Marque by Mark Best (male)
15. Allen & Unwin, Hipstermatic by Matt Granfield (male) [book signing next Wednesday]
16. CSIRO publishing Burke & Wills by Doug McCann and Bernie Joyce (male)
17. Penguin: celebrating DH Lawrence’s birthday (dead male)
18. Rockpool Publishing: Earth Mother Dreaming by Scott Alexander King (male) [upcoming appearance at Mind, Body Spirit Festival]
19. Scribe Publications: House of Sticks by Peggy Frew (Australian woman writer) [link to Marieke Hardy’s discussion on ABC TV’s The Tuesday Bookclub].
20. Simon & Schuster: plug for ACA program on Kris Kardashian (female, mother of Kim Kardashian) talking about her new “tell-all book”
21. McGraw-Hill Professional, The Three Commitments of Leadership by Tom Endersbe (male), Jon Warmann (male) and Jay Therrien (male)
22. Sydney University Press: New release: "Inspired children: how the leading minds of today raise their kids", edited by Dr Rosina McAlpine (Australian woman writer of nonfiction).
23. Text Publishing: Ruby Blues by Jessica Rudd (Australian woman writer of fiction) [author appearance at the National Library]
24. Wakefield Press: Announcement of Wakefield Press books short listed for the 2012 National Year of Reading awards: Time's Long Ruin by Stephen Orr (male), The River Kings by Max Fatchen (male) or Prohibited Zone by Alastair Sarre (male).
25. Penguin: The Sending by Isobelle Carmody (Australian woman writer of children’s and YA fiction)
26. Hachette: Spirit Sisters by Karina Machado (Australian woman writer of nonfiction: “True Life Stories of the Paranormal”). [author appearance at Cronulla library] On her website Karina herself promotes several other Australian women authors appearing soon at a fundraiser to support cook Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Foundation program: Nikki Gemmel (Australian woman fiction writer, author of the With My Body and Bride Stripped Bare, published by HarperCollins); Packed to the Rafters actress, Play School presenter and former brothel receptionist Merridy Eastman, latest work, How Now Brown Frau (promoted by Allen & Unwin above); Book blogger and journalist Kerri Sackville (Australian woman writer of memoir/nonfiction, author of When My Husband Does the Dishes, published by Random House).

So what’s the gender tally?

In a total of twenty-six publicity promotions, nine out of thirty one authors mentioned are women. Of these nine, two are bestselling American crime author, Kathy Reichs and reality TV celebrity Kim Kardashian’s mum. The remaining seven Australian women authors are:

• Merridy Eastman
• Peggy Frew 
• Jessica Rudd
• Isobelle Carmody
• Karina Machado 
• Dr Rosa McAlpine and
• Evie Parker**

Do you see a pattern emerging?

Please note, I mean absolutely no disrespect to these hardworking, talented, professional writers when I write this. I have the utmost respect for any author, male and female, who succeeds in the difficult task of writing a book and getting it published. My complaint isn’t with the writers. But the pattern emerging seems pretty clear.

The above mentioned Australian women writers, including the ones Machado mentions on her website, are all – or should I say, are positioned to be by their promotion and publicity –  associated variously with cooking, children, TV soaps, celebrity entertainment, famous fathers, domesticity, angels and brothels.

I'd laugh, but I didn't make this up. It's not a hoax. I didn't even go looking for it; it was just there. 

But what does it prove?

What can an arbitrary snapshot of Australian publishing houses’ publicity and promotions on Facebook over one 24-hour period demonstrate? Surely the Newsfeed I observed simply reflects the publishing and events scheduled for this week. Another week could throw up quite a different result. Granted. A longer data analysis would need to be undertaken before any definitive statement on gender bias could be asserted. And it’s only Facebook… 

Stuff that! This isn't "privileged whining". You show me your stats and I'll stand by mine. 

Let’s be straight. If this snapshot tells us anything it’s that the sexism in Australian literary circles and publishing experienced and observed by others recently isn’t restricted to reviewing and literary prize giving. It's deeply embedded in the culture of the Australian publishing, bookselling, reviewing, distributing, and promoting industry.

Okay. So now we have the Stella Prize. That's a huge step forward. But for the rest...

What are we going to do about it?

Isobelle Carmody

Jessica Rudd

Merridy Eastman

Peggy Frew

Karina Machado

Dr Rosina McAlpine

* Note on method: To obtain the Newsfeed examined in this sample, I downloaded a list of Australian publishers from the Australian Publisher’s Association website and 
“Liked” all the Facebook pages I could find. At last count, this comprised 56 Australian publishers with active (non-Wiki) Facebook pages:

Allen & Unwin Books, Batchelor Press, Black Inc., Boolarong Press, Brandl & Schlesinger Book Publishers, Charles Darwin University Press, CSIRO PUBLISHING, Currency Press, Dragonfall Press, Exisle Publishing, Finch Publishing, Fremantle Arts Centre, Green Olive Press, Hachette Australia, Hardie Grant Books, HarperCollins Books Australia, Hay House Australia, IAD Press, Ice Water Press, Insight Publications Pty Ltd, Jane Curry Publishing, Magabala Books, McGraw-Hill Professional, Melbourne University Publishing, Murdoch Books Australia, New Frontier Publishing, New Holland Publishers, Now Age Publishing, Origo Education Australia, Pademelon Press, Pan Macmillan Australia, Pantera Press, Pearson Australia, Penguin Books Australia, Pesaro Publishing, PressPress, Radge Publishing, Random House Teen AU, RIC Publications, Rockpool Publishing, Scholastic Australia, Scribe Publications, Sleepers Publishing, Small Press Underground Networking Community (SPUNC), Spectrum Publications, Simon & Schuster Australia, Spineless Wonders Short Australian Stories, Spinifex Press, Sydney University Press, Text Publishing, Thames & Hudson Australia, The Spinney Press, University of Queensland Press, Walker Books.

** I’m assuming Evie is an Australian – I couldn’t details on the publisher's website