A report in the Guardian newspaper makes some interesting claims about self-published books.
In particular, I was struck by the figure that 67% of books on the top ebook publishing platforms are written by women. This percentage comes from an organisation that’s new to me, called Ficshelf.
They claim that 61 of the top 100 traditionally published books on Amazon are written by men. This is seen as further proof that men rule the long-established world of book publishing. Male writers dominate in lists compiled by newspapers for best novels.
Somehow, none of this surprises me, for I’ve always believed that more women regularly read books than men, and there’s a tiresome old boy network among book firms. It’s unusual to find a literary agency or publisher that has a woman as CEO.
It’s food for thought. Perhaps I should become Pauline Whybrow to publish my ebooks that have a romantic and spiritual theme, to encourage more female readers …
It might confuse the taxman, which would help.