Why Men Don't Read: How Publishing is

Alienating Half the Population

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Jed Diamond, Ph.D. has been a health-care professional for the last 45 years.
He is the author of 9 books, including Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places,
Male Menopause, The Irritable Male Syndrome, and Mr. Mean: Saving Your
Relationship from the Irritable Male Syndrome . He offers counseling to men,
women, and couples in his office in California or by phone with people throughout
the U.S. and around the world. To receive a Free E-book on Men’s Health and a
free subscription to Jed’s e-newsletter go to www.MenAlive.com. If you enjoy my
articles, please subscribe. I write to everyone who joins my Scribd team.

Every time I try to publish a new book focused on men’s health, I run into the old
mantra that “men don’t read. Women buy all the books.” I’m facing that now with
my new book, Tapping Power. First, I know that isn’t true. Come look at my
house. It’s full of books that I’ve read or am reading and I’m not the only man
who reads a lot. Second, if men don’t read as much as we’d like, could the
reason be that it is women who are the gatekeepers of the mainstream literary
world? Finally, someone is standing up for men. Read what author and literary
agent, Jason Pinter has to say.

Jason Pinter
Bestselling thriller writer

Posted: April 23, 2010 03:18 PM

Why Men Don't Read: How Publishing is

Alienating Half the Population
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Back in 2005, while I was still working as an editor, I had an opportunity to acquire a
book that I was confident would be a bestseller. The author had a huge media platform,
was one of the stars on a show watched by millions of people each week, hosted his own
radio show, headlined his own band, he had a fascinating life story, thousands (if not
millions) of fans worldwide, and even had a degree in journalisn. Unlike many celebrity
memoirs, I knew this author was passionate about his story and had the writing chops to
make it a great read. The author's agent wanted, in my opinion, a reasonable advance. I
had confidence that this book was low risk, very high reward. However...

The author's name was Chris Jericho. Chris Jericho is a professional wrestler. Needless to
say, pitching Jericho's book to my editorial board was like pitching iPads to the Amish. A
whole lot of blank stares and a whole lot of people saying 'I don't get it'. Now, this is not
the fault of the individuals, but it is the fault of a system in which in a room of 15-20
people, not one of them knew what I was talking about.

Like many boys, I grew up watching pro wrestling. I knew that Jericho was not only a
huge star, but a genuinely smart, charismatic guy who had some incredible stories to tell.
In an attempt to convince the editorial board, I brought in Chris's videos, action figures,
CDs, anything I could think of to prove to a skeptical room that this guy was a big deal
and his book would work. Nobody was buying my pitch. Nobody had heard of Jericho.
So here's what happened--and I swear this is true.

One of our senior editors had a 15-year old nephew who was a wrestling fan. I was
instructed to have a conference call with the editor's nephew, where I would ask him what
he thought about Jericho. If the nephew agreed that Jericho was popular and the book had
potential, I would be permitted to make an offer. If the kid disagreed, no dice. Naturally I
was dumbstruck, infuriated, since I was essentially being told that a random 15-year with
no publishing experience and questionable judgment was trusted more than I was.
Thankfully, the kid agreed with me, and thought the book was a fantastic idea. The offer
was greenlit, I acquired the book, and Chris Jericho's A Lion's Tale got rave reviews
(Kirkus loved it. Kirkus!!!) and the book became a New York Times bestseller. The sequel
is scheduled to come out this Fall.

Why do I bring this up? Because if you've worked in publishing, you've heard the tired
old maxim: Men Don't Read. Try to acquire or sell a book aimed predominantly at men,
and odds are you'll be told Men Don't Read. This story is not an isolated incident. And
while the book I'm discussing is not everybody's piece of cake, is is a microcosm of what
I believe is a huge problem within the industry. If you keep telling yourself something,
regardless of its validity, eventually you'll begin to believe it. So because publishers
rarely publish for men and don't market towards men, somehow that equates to our entire
gender having given up on the reading books. Hence the mantra 'Men Don't Read.' THIS
MUST END.

In my opinion, this empty excuse of 'Men Don't Read' has begotten a vicious cycle. I was
hesitant to write this article, mainly because in no way do I want to be perceived as
diminishing the talents of many, many brilliant women in publishing, nor do I believe
that there is a true 'gender bias'. A bias insinuates some sort of malice, a purposeful
exclusion of a segment of society for selfish or ignorant reasons. Those kind of
insinuations are not the aim of this piece, nor are they my opinions in any way. This is a
critique of the system, not those who work within it.

This NPR piece three years ago came to the conclusion that women read more fiction
than men by a 4-1 margin. Articles like this madden me because I think they miss the big
picture, or perhaps are even ignoring it purposefully. It's like discussing global warming,
while completely ignoring the fact that hey, maybe we have something to do with it.

Nobody can deny the fact that most editorial meetings tend to be dominated by women.
Saying the ratio is 75/25 is not overstating things. So needless to say when a male editor
pitches a book aimed at men, there are perilously few men to read it and give their
opinions. Not to mention that, because there are so few men, the competition to buy
books aimed at men is astronomical. I was once shot down in an effort to buy a sports
humor book because I couldn't get the support of a senior editor. The reason? This editor
had written a similar book proposal on submission and didn't want to hurt his chances of
selling it.

Men read. Tons of them do. But they are not marketed to, not targeted, and often totally
dismissed. Go to a book conference, a signing. Outside of a Tucker Max event, what
percentage of attendees are men?

I thought about this while watching the first television ad for the Barnes & Noble Nook.
The ad itself, I think, is quite well done and effective. It tells a story, hits strong emotions.
But notice something odd? It markets itself solely towards women. What about the
Kindle? Amazon is a brilliant, juggernaut of a company, but the ads for Kindle with their
twee music would make any guy groan. Why would men buy an e-reader, considering the
takeaway from these ads is you can a) learn about your pregnancy after falling for Mr.
Darcy, or b) become Amelia Earhart or Holly Golightly?

Now look at the ads for the iPad. Cool, right? They catch your attention without
alienating half the consumer population. Why can't we do that? Make a fun, cool
campaign that doesn't cut your audience off at the knees?

I'm tired of people saying Men Don't Read. Men LOVE to read. I've been a reader my
whole life. My father is a reader. Most of my male friends are readers. But the more
publishing repeats the empty mantra that Men Don't Read the less they're going to try to
appeal to men, which is where this vicious cycle begins.

Publish more books for men and boys. Trust editors who try to buy these books, and
work on the marketing campaigns to hit those audiences. The readers are there, waiting,
eager just under the surface. And I promise, if publishing makes an effort to tap it, they'll
come out in droves. It won't be easy. They've been alienated for a long time and might
need to be roused from their slumber. But as I've always said the biggest problems facing
the publishing industry are not ebooks, or returns, but the number of people reading. This
is a way to bring back a lot of readers who have essentially been forgotten about.

So the next person who tells me that Men Don't Read, I'll simply respond by saying Then
You Don't Know Men.

Print it, and they will come.

JASON PINTER is the bestselling author of five thriller novels (the most recent of which
are The Fury and The Darkness), which have been nominated for numerous awards and
optioned to be a major motion picture. His first novel for young readers, Zeke
Bartholomew: Superspy!, will be released in the summer of 2011. Visit him at
http//:www.jasonpinter.com.

If you want to learn more about Jed Diamond’s latest books on men, contact him at
www.MenAlive.com