A survey request for male short story writers

[Raph Luo]

Hello guys,

I'm conducting a quick survey for male short story writers here to see how we are currently doing in publishing our works. I'm building a short story community website, and would like to understand writers' thoughts better to make the site useful.

Please only participate if you're male writers who write short stories regularly. You can copy the questions below and answer them in your reply. Thanks a lot!

1. How long have you been writing short stories?

2. How frequently do you write short stories (e.g. how many pieces a month)?

3. How many words do your short stories typically have?

4. What genre(s) of short stories do you write most?

5. What drives you to keep writing them?

6. How do you write your stories? (on desktop, pc? On paper?)

7. Where do you publish your stories?

8. If you publish your stories on websites, can you show me the sites/blogs where you publish them?

9. How do you upload your stories to the websites? (copy-paste into a text box, upload word document directly etc.)

10. With whom do you usually share the stories?

11. How much audience and comments can you reach with these channels (e.g. 50 readers and 10 comments per story?)

12. How do you feel about the current publishing channels you have?

13. What are the 3 biggest problems you have in the current publishing process (if any)?

[JuniperWoolf]

Why only men? Also you'd probably get more responses in the short story subforum.

[Raph Luo]

Why only men? Also you'd probably get more responses in the short story subforum.

Thanks I'll try with short story subforum if that's ok with the rule.

It's only limited to men since I'm studying how male writers approach fantasy, horror and sci-fi genres, while female writers are more likely to go with genres such as romance and drama.

[Calidore]

Thanks I'll try with short story subforum if that's ok with the rule.

It's only limited to men since I'm studying how male writers approach fantasy, horror and sci-fi genres, while female writers are more likely to go with genres such as romance and drama.

Woof. I'm about to run out now, but if you're not soon hit with long lists of quality and successful female fantasy, horror and sci-fi writers, I'll be happy to give you one.

Plus, how do you expect to make a men-only website anyway, given the anonymity of the internet?

[Charles Darnay]

Ah yes, the sociological test to confirm that girls spend their days tearing up flower peddles dreaming of lost love - and can write nothing more than the anguish of said love. "Oh, how I need a man!" Women surely do not possess the imagination to create a world outside of their myopic scope. Nope. You need a male writer to do that.

Maybe one day in the distant future (so distant only a male author can conceive of it) there will be authors like Shelley, Atwood, Butler, L'Engles, Collins, Bujold, James, &c.

[cafolini]

Woof. I'm about to run out now, but if you're not soon hit with long lists of quality and successful female fantasy, horror and sci-fi writers, I'll be happy to give you one.

Plus, how do you expect to make a men-only website anyway, given the anonymity of the internet?

Agree.

[Raph Luo]

You guys are right. I modified the survey in short story forum so it covers all stories. Thanks for the inputs

[JuniperWoolf]

Maybe one day in the distant future (so distant only a male author can conceive of it) there will be authors like Shelley, Atwood, Butler, L'Engles, Collins, Bujold, James, &c.

But I'm sure that like all well-known women, Mary Shelley owes her success to the trail-blazing of men and her role is just being exagerrated to push a pro-feminist PC agenda, for there are by far more groundbreaking and influential male-written works of science fiction that preceeded her. Like for example...

...

...

[Babyguile]

Thanks I'll try with short story subforum if that's ok with the rule.

It's only limited to men since I'm studying how male writers approach fantasy, horror and sci-fi genres, while female writers are more likely to go with genres such as romance and drama.

How have you come to that conclusion?

Is this for school work or something?

[JCamilo]

But I'm sure that like all well-known women, Mary Shelley owes her success to the trail-blazing of men and her role is just being exagerrated to push a pro-feminist PC agenda, for there are by far more groundbreaking and influential male-written works of science fiction that preceeded her. Like for example...


Voltaire

Cyrano de Bergerac

:D

[Shevek]

If it were true that men dominated these genres, then why specifically target them? That's like, asking regular litnet posters to fill in a survey but only if they're interested in literature.

[JuniperWoolf]

Voltaire

Cyrano de Bergerac

:D

Hah, yeah what child doesn't know of Voltaire's influential and earth-shattering works of science fiction? Frankenstein who? Also, they both sure stayed out of the womanly realm of romance, didn't they?

[Darcy88]

Women should stick to writing romance and grocery lists.













Just kidding.

[chris_eriksson]

1. Seven years.

2. Never kept a tally.
3. Between 9,000 and 10,000 (10,000, as I understand it is the limit)

4. Comedy

5. Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim.

6. Desktop. Better editting.

7. I'll keep you posted.

8.

9.

10. Anyone who wants to read them.

11.

12. Cautiously optimistic.
13. Getting noticed.

[AuntShecky]

It's only limited to men since I'm studying how male writers approach fantasy, horror and sci-fi genres, while female writers are more likely to go with genres such as romance and drama.

Tell that to the (literary) descendants of Ursula le Guin, Angela Carter, Carolyn See, and a plethora of female writers who eschew "romance" in favor of the so-called "male" genres you've mentioned.

[tonywalt]

I like Lorrie Moore and think she is one of the better short story writers around, although she writes very little today.

The funny thing about the male female thing is that roughly (very roughly) writers(short and long) and poets(all forms) break down to about 50% from each sex, but the majority of fiction readers is around 70% depending on genere. I always find it interesting that the percentage of male writers is so much higher than the percentage of male readers. Again- PLEASE, I don't want to get into arguing about statistics but the 70%/30% reader breakdown is a good average.

[Raph Luo]

1. Seven years.

2. Never kept a tally.
3. Between 9,000 and 10,000 (10,000, as I understand it is the limit)

4. Comedy

5. Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim.

6. Desktop. Better editting.

7. I'll keep you posted.

8.

9.

10. Anyone who wants to read them.

11.

12. Cautiously optimistic.
13. Getting noticed.

Solid thx!