Does my ethnicity really matters when writing a science fiction/fantasy?

[longgd2]

Hi everyone. This is my first time attempting to write a fantasy novel, but I am concerned that I will not be taken seriously because of my ethnicity. I have yet to see an asian writer who wrote a science fiction/fantasy novel. Will I be driven to write under a pen name inordered to be accepted? I appreciate anyone's opinion on this matter.

[scribbler1382]

I can't see how it would matter. Check out an old acquaintance's website. She's Japanese/Canadian.

http://www.sff.net/people/Michelle.Sagara/

[Saanen]

We had a similar discussion on the SF/fantasy forum not too long ago. As I recall, the concensus is that ethnicity absolutely doesn't matter. I mentioned Lawrence Yep in that thread; he's Chinese-American and a brilliant fantasy and historical YA writer who won the Newbery. As for a pen name, I don't think you'd need one, but your editor may bring it up in the future if your name is very unusual (to English speakers, that is) and you can worry about it then.

[AnneMarble]

Hi everyone. This is my first time attempting to write a fantasy novel, but I am concerned that I will not be taken seriously because of my ethnicity. I have yet to see an asian writer who wrote a science fiction/fantasy novel. Will I be driven to write under a pen name inordered to be accepted? I appreciate anyone's opinion on this matter.
There's Brenda Clough (http://www.sff.net/people/Brenda/) for one. There are others, too. Keep in mind that you can't always tell the ethnicity of a writer because last names are often changed through marriage. Also, Euroasian writers will often have Anglo last names. And there are some last Asian names that could just as easily be Anglo, so you're never sure. I doubt most readers would care about the ethnicity of the writer, anyway, as long as the book is good.

I believe that a lot of publishers would be ecstatic to see SF/fantasy from different perspectives and backgrounds because they are so sick of getting submissions that seem to take place in generic European quasi-Medieval settings. The trick is that the books have to be both good and different.

[James D. Macdonald]

As long as your name isn't hard to spell or embarassing to say aloud, it's fine.

I know several ethnic oriental SF/F/ writers.

There isn't a place in the standard cover letter to list your ethnicity. Your manuscript stands on its own.

[maestrowork]

It matters if your name is Long Duk Dong. Then get a pen name.

[AnneMarble]

It matters if your name is Long Duk Dong. Then get a pen name.
And that depends on what you're writing. For some fields, that name would be perfect. ;)

[maestrowork]

And that depends on what you're writing. For some fields, that name would be perfect. ;)

I think we're talking about fantasy... oh, not that kind of fantasy... :)

[alaskamatt17]

I don't think the author's ethnicity matters. Tad Williams' Otherland books had substantial African influences but he's not African.

As a reader, the only time I care about an author's name is when I'm looking for more books by the author because I liked a previous work of theirs.

[HapiSofi]

If you think this might be a problem, you need to read more SF and fantasy. S. P. Somtow (Somtow Sucharitkul) is a member of the Thai royal family. Samuel R. Delany's father owned a funeral parlor in Harlem. Avram Davidson was an Orthodox Jew whose first stories were in Yiddish-language publications. Jack Williamson's family emigrated to New Mexico in a covered wagon when he was three years old. Ken MacLeod grew up on the Isle of Skye, the son of a Wee Free minister. And Joanna Russ once told me about being at an SF writers' conference and listening to a couple of authors who both had Russian backgrounds spend about an hour sorting out family histories, ending when they triumphantly concluded that one writer's grandfather had in fact owned the other writer's grandfather.

If you can make the readers happy, they're not going to worry about who you are.

[veinglory]

The thing about writing is that most early contact is written--tell them as much about yourself as you think well help and leave out the rest.

[SRHowen]

it seems to matter if you write fantasy based on Native Americans if you are Native or not---to some editors anyway. But I don't think that's the general rule---

Shawn

[arrowqueen]

Only if you're a Borg. Nobody likes them.

[HapiSofi]

it seems to matter if you write fantasy based on Native Americans if you are Native or not---to some editors anyway. But I don't think that's the general rule---Not a general rule, but a good one.