Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.
For More Than a 100 Years, More Fiction Was Written by Men Than Women
We haven’t linked to much (any?) of it here, but there has been another bout of “what about the fellas?” when it comes to books. This has come and going quite a bit in the last 5-10 years. This deep historical survey was passed around recently to show just how female-heavy novel writing was, and then wasn’t, over the novel’s lifespan. This paper ends in 2018, where men were still writing more fiction than women.
But my sense is that the upward slope has continued in the last seven years, and wouldn’t be surprised if it was meaningfully over 50% now. And that is A-OK.
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New On-Screen X-Men Are Going to Be Teenagers
I don’t have many strong comic-to-screen opinions. Only one really. And that is the X-Men should (start at least) be teenagers. I was an avid X-whatever reader for a long time (that I collected X-Factor comics says something about me that I would rather not investigate) and the best versions were moody, idealistic, petulant, loyal, bickering, and just really, really fun. I’ve like Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Stewart’s X and a bunch of other portrayals. But I am really excited that the powers that be are indicating that when we next see Scott and Jean and Bobby and Kurt or whatever line-up we are going to get, they are going to be the boarding school, super-powered brats that I rode by my bike to buy every Saturday in the early 90s.
How is AI Changing Publishing?
We hear rumors. And whispers. And more than a few accusations and admissions. But how is AI really being used in the publishing industry? My sense is more than you might think, but not in ways that many of us fear. The Book Industry Study Group is launching a cleverly anonymous survey for book professionals to spill about what their houses and imprints are up to. VERY interested in the results, which will be released in September.