Write Away

Ooh, I saw that second article - the gendered cover art one. I wonder how much truth there is to it. I've heard (but don't have sources offhand) that there is still a ton of sexism in the publishing world, and unless you write chick lit, male author names are more likely to get reviewed, etc. I've heard some people say they are annoyed when women use abbreviated names (such as J.K.Rowling) because it doesn't help give female authors exposure but I feel like if I got published, I might opt for an abbreviated name, too. Not only because I feel like it gives me a little more privacy, but in my genre, I feel like sexism is stronger than in other genres. Then again, looking back, most of the fantasy I read growing up was written by female authors (K.A. Applegate, if I recall the name correctly, wrote Animorphs, and I don't ever remember not knowing she was a woman, and those books were insanely popular in my elementary school for boys and girls alike), then as I got older, the Deverry series (beautiful covers, not remotely sexist imo), Marion Zimmer Bradley (very feminine covers, but then again, her writing focused very much on women and femininity), etc.

The race article was interesting, too. I'm not as familiar with this topic, but I recall some controversy with The Hunger Games. Several covers apparently portrayed Katniss, and as a white girl with medium brown colored hair. Though I have no strong opinion either way on Katniss's race, there seems to be a possibility that she might be biracial, as she is described as having olive skin and black hair. Her sister and mother seem to be white, but Katniss implies her father was darker - which could mean white, could mean a different race, who knows. But the cover using a white, lighter haired model seems a bit off, anyway. The article you posted is certainly a lot more blatant, though. My favorite was the cover that had a white girl who wasn't even a character in the story, and was just supposed to be symbolic of the book's themes or something. Wow.

I don't remember the book, but I recall reading about a controversy too, where the female protagonist and narrator is fat. I don't know if her weight was an important part of the story, I hadn't read the book, but the cover model was really thin.

I would be so grateful if the book I am writing was ever published, and a horrible cover might just be something you have to get over. But I would be really put down if my female warrior protagonist was half naked or wearing boob armor or something. That would kind of be a slap in the face. I'd rather my cover be blank except for the title than that. Hey, it worked for J.D. Salinger, right?