[backslidr]

I find that I tend to relate better with the writing styles of male writers than with female writers, though I do read both. I've also noticed that you can generally tell when a woman is writing under a male pseudonym because of the style. One of the biggest differences is in how they develop characters. Women tend to really get into the "feelings" of their characters where male authors avoid that to a point, which I think is pretty true in real life. So I was just curious as to whether the men and women here tend to stick with their gender when it comes to reading books, or does it not really matter to you?

 

[BTackitt]

I grew up reading science fiction from the 60s and 70s, mostly male authors with a few very notable exceptions. Now, I read both and it doesn't matter to me one whit. Although, if I am reading a romance novel, I want a female author.

 

[IM_Telling]

I find that I tend to relate better with the writing styles of male writers than with female writers, though I do read both. I've also noticed that you can generally tell when a woman is writing under a male pseudonym because of the style. One of the biggest differences is in how they develop characters. Women tend to really get into the "feelings" of their characters where male authors avoid that to a point, which I think is pretty true in real life. So I was just curious as to whether the men and women here tend to stick with their gender when it comes to reading books, or does it not really matter to you?

Many of my readers assume that I am female because I write erotica. Frankly, I see that as a compliment!

 

[Simone]

I agree that female authors tend to focus more on the relational and emotional aspects of their characters. I enjoy both genders, but do tend to have a preference for my own gender. My favorite authors are Anne McCaffrey and Jean M. Aul.  But I also have a new favorite series in which the main character is female, but the author is male. The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency is delightful and I love the simple way in which ethics are questioned and dealt with in its exotic setting. I was amazed to find out that the author was a man. So now I have to question, is it the characters that I'm connecting with and not the authors?

 

[Avis Black]

There are differences in how the two genders handle a character's outlook.  When a man writes about Grak the Barbarian coming to town, the first thing Grak wants is a haunch of roast meat and a woman.  When a female author writes about Grak, the first thing he wants is a bath.

 

[Grace Elliot]

Interesting.
My genre is romance (especially historical romance) and to my knowledge read exclusively female authors. However, this may not be all it seems because there is certainly one well-known author of family sagas (his name eludes me) who writes under a female pen name because his publisher thought women wouldn't buy romance-type books by a male author. To me that would suggest that women are heavily prejudiced against male romance writers.
What do you think?

 

[Debbie Bennett]

I'm not sure I even notice the gender of the author, no matter what genre I'm reading.

 

[Geoffrey]

When I read Science Fiction or Fantasy, I don't care about the gender of the author at all.  I tend to read more male authors here than female but the genres are dominated by white men from North America.  I will admit that I often specifically look for authors outside that specific group simply because of the different perspective they tend to provide.

However, I also read m/m romances and there I prefer male authors.  Most of the sub-genre are women writing primarily for other women with only a minority of male authors.  I know that's also a function of the audience demographics but I do search out male authors. 

 

[JumpingShip]

Many of my readers assume that I am female because I write erotica. Frankly, I see that as a compliment!

Nice!

I also get a lot of people writing reviews, or sending me emails who call me Mr. McDonald. My main character is male, so I guess that is why. However, like the OP stated, some readers might figure it out because I think I do try to show the character's feelings a bit. I'm not sure that is exactly a male author/female author difference though. It could just be different author styles. For instance, I haven't read a lot of Nicholas Sparks and what I did read was a while back, but I just saw the latest movie based on one of his books, and I think he does a lot of 'feeling' stuff. His books tend to split the pov (again, dredging this from a ten year old memory) but I think his books show more feeling than say, Lee Child's books do.

 

[JDHallowell]

Teresa Frohock recently ran a contest on her blog to see if readers could tell whether a given prose piece was written by a man or a woman. It's worth checking out.

 

[S.W. Hubbard]

I read both male and female authors.  I think a good male author will also explore his characters' feelings, albeit from a different perspective than a female author.  I wrote a mystery series with a male protagonist and my publisher made me use my initials instead of my first name because the fear was a man wouldn't read a mystery written by a woman but a woman would read mysteries written by either gender. 

 

[JDHallowell]

... I wrote a mystery series with a male protagonist and my publisher made me use my initials instead of my first name because the fear was a man wouldn't read a mystery written by a woman but a woman would read mysteries written by either gender.

That makes so much sense...I mean, just look at Agatha Christie. It's pretty clear that men would never read female mystery writers, right?

 

[Gone 9/21/18]

I know I read and love books by both m/f authors. I've never calculated, but romance is surely all by women. Most thrillers at a guess are by men. Mysteries, both, although I think cozy mysteries are female territory. Sometimes a book will come across as too strongly one perspective or the other. A man's book that has every woman attracted to the MC and making passes is too much. Similarly, a main female character who is a bundle of please everyone stupidity has me zapping that book without finishing.

 

[FranceBarnaby]

I don't think I could tell. If I'd guess I would be wrong half the time.

 

[Carrie Rubin]

I read novels by both male and female authors, but if a male author uses too sexist of language or doesn't develop the female characters beyond the superficial, then I won't read any more of his books. On the other hand, if a female author spends too much time discussing feelings or developing romance, I won't read more of her books either. This is particularly true of thrillers. I don't care for romance in my thrillers beyond a minimal amount. It seems to break the pace of the thriller. Beyond these considerations, I don't have preferences one way or the other.

 

[Guest]

I don't care about the author's gender, but I do care about their writing style. If they don't develop one set of characters based on gender (all men/women are cardboard cutouts), then I probably won't keep reading them, but then I don't think gender affects an author's writing as much as which genre they are writing in - look at Jessica Stirling or James Tiptree Jr..

Teresa Frohock recently ran a contest on her blog to see if readers could tell whether a given prose piece was written by a man or a woman. It's worth checking out.

Thanks for the link. She also revealed the results here which make very interesting reading.

 

[backslidr]

I read novels by both male and female authors, but if a male author uses too sexist of language or doesn't develop the female characters beyond the superficial, then I won't read any more of his books. On the other hand, if a female author spends too much time discussing feelings or developing romance, I won't read more of her books either. This is particularly true of thrillers. I don't care for romance in my thrillers beyond a minimal amount. It seems to break the pace of the thriller. Beyond these considerations, I don't have preferences one way or the other.

Yes. I agree with you on this. I had just read two books that were part of a forensic geology series. The first one was about stolen nuclear waste in the desert and the second was about a volcano watch at Mammoth mountain. They were both good stories, but I'd gotten so bogged down in the first one I nearly didn't finish it. The lead female character couldn't say a single sentence without us having to read several paragraphs about her feelings and emotions dealing with why she said it. This went on through the entire book. I think someone must have pointed that out to the author because the second book, with the same character, didn't go into quite as much detail which made the story flow better and much more entertaining. To know what a character is feeling every step of the way makes much more sense in a romantic type novel than a thriller, at least in my opinion.

 

[Guest]

Usually prefer male but I'll definitely make an exception if it's a woman like Donna Gillespie whose first book about a female barbarian is one of my all time favorites. Probably because of something like what Avis Black posted.

 

[Carrie Rubin]

The lead female character couldn't say a single sentence without us having to read several paragraphs about her feelings and emotions dealing with why she said it. This went on through the entire book. I think someone must have pointed that out to the author because the second book, with the same character, didn't go into quite as much detail which made the story flow better and much more entertaining. To know what a character is feeling every step of the way makes much more sense in a romantic type novel than a thriller, at least in my opinion.

Agreed. I feel the same way about Camilla Läckberg's Nordic thrillers. I love the thriller part, but there's too much relationship stuff in between. I've felt that way about Linda Castillo books, too.

 

[Beez]

I suppose I find it easier to relate to male authors, being of the same gender. But I have read many books by female authors, and enjoy them immensely. I'm particularly fond of Ann Rice. And Diane Setterfield's "The Thirteenth Tale" is one of my favorite all-time books.