Sexists Need Not Apply

mccardey · Sep 30, 2017

Breath of fresh air here, kids.

“Sexists need not apply” to the “dreaded women” who run Tramp Press, say the trail-blazing Irish independent publisher, which has announced it is closing its doors to “overtly sexist” submissions from writers who address them as “Dear Sirs”, or list only male influences.
The small press announced the change to its submission guidelines on social media. “We at Tramp experience sexism in lots of ways all the time, being dreaded women,” wrote Sarah Davis-Goff and Lisa Coen. “One really annoying way we experience it is when authors send us their manuscripts and do one or both of the following: 1. Addressing us as ‘Dear Sirs’ and 2. Sending us a cover letter in which they declare they do not read books by women.”

All they're asking is that authors address them appropriately and allow some female influences in their writing, but somehow I still feel a bubble of male outrage might be forming along the horizon...

Helix · Sep 30, 2017

Good on them!

be frank · Sep 30, 2017

I do love how two women named Sarah and Lisa get addressed as "Dear Sirs." I mean, if they were Alex and Sam you could maybe make a case for ingrained assumption biases, but Lisa and Sarah? Come on!

James D. Macdonald · Sep 30, 2017

Who in the world puts "I don't read books by women" in their cover letters?

Anything other than 1) word count, 2) genre, 3) title of work, 4) your name and address, and 5) whether you've been previously published in a cover letter is ... just another reason to get rejected unread.

mccardey · Sep 30, 2017

be frank said:
I do love how two women named Sarah and Lisa get addressed as "Dear Sirs." I mean, if they were Alex and Sam you could maybe make a case for ingrained assumption biases, but Lisa and Sarah? Come on!

To be fair, Frankie, one them's got very short hair.

Helix · Sep 30, 2017

James D. Macdonald said:
Who in the world puts "I don't read books by women" in their cover letters? [snip]

Quite a lot of people, apparently, either explicitly or implicitly.

mccardey · Sep 30, 2017

James D. Macdonald said:
Who in the world puts "I don't read books by women" in their cover letters?

.

It's this -

Women behind Irish independent Tramp Press say they will no longer consider submissions from authors who assume they are men, or list only male influences

Apparently it happens a lot. A real lot.

James D. Macdonald · Sep 30, 2017

Yeah, well, the list of weird things in cover letters, or included with cover letters, is long and astounding (like, I could see if they said, "Please don't include glitter in your cover letter"), but still ... that's just asking for instant rejection.

I don't usually put "This book is better than the kind of trash you usually publish" in my cover letters either, but I'm told that happens.

I've never put who my influences are in my cover letters either (though if their guidelines state that I should, I would).

Helix · Sep 30, 2017

Just looked through their catalogue. They've published some excellent titles.

:Thumbs:

cbenoi1 · Sep 30, 2017

Wait. I'm a sexist if I list a male author as an influence?

-cb

Victor Douglas · Sep 30, 2017

The kind of people who would write that in a cover letter used to be a small, tiny fraction of the writing community, but that kind of person is emboldened now by a series of unfortunate events recently...

mccardey · Sep 30, 2017

cbenoi1 said:
Wait. I'm a sexist if I list a male author as an influence?

-cb

Yes, cb, that's what it says. Anyone who reads any books by any men and likes them is totally sexist and should get in the sea.

Helix · Sep 30, 2017

cbenoi1 said:
Wait. I'm a sexist if I list a male author as an influence?

-cb

No. You might not be all that good at reading comprehension, but not necessarily sexist.

James D. Macdonald · Sep 30, 2017

mccardey said:
Yes, cb, that's what it says. Anyone who reads any books by any men and likes them is totally sexist and should get in the sea.

Not any books by men, only books by men.

So always include Ayn Rand as an influence and you're safe.

I'm still being boggled by the idea of listing one's influences. What influenced me? Absolutely everything in the world that I've ever read or experienced, that's what. No, I don't recall all of 'em.

mccardey · Sep 30, 2017

cbenoi1 said:
Wait. I'm a sexist if I list a male author as an influence?

-cb

it is closing its doors to “overtly sexist” submissions from writers who address them as “Dear Sirs”, or list only male influences.

Only is a thing.

Albedo · Sep 30, 2017

DEAR ~~SIR~~ EDITOR MY READING INFLUENCES INCLUDE BOTH THE YELLOW AND WHITE PAGES.

It probably depends on the length of your list. Listing just Nabokov and Dostoevsky would probably be alright. Listing a hundred male authors? A bit sus.

cbenoi1 · Sep 30, 2017

Oh I see. Listing only female influences would be okay then.

-cb

mccardey · Sep 30, 2017

James D. Macdonald said:
Not any books by men, only books by men..

yesss - that was my point.

Helix · Sep 30, 2017

James D. Macdonald said:
So always include Ayn Rand as an influence and you're safe.

Yair. Not so sure that a submission listing Rand as an influence would entice too many people to read on, but you never can tell.

PyriteFool · Sep 30, 2017

I seriously want to fly to Ireland and buy these women a beer/glass of wine/beverage of their choice and listen to them talk about life. They sound amazing.

ETA: Their submission guidelines ask for a cover letter that includes writing experience/influences, so that's probably where they are getting the "only influenced by men" thing

mccardey · Sep 30, 2017

cbenoi1 said:
Oh I see. Listing only female influences would be okay then.

-cb

Well, if you read the article, you'll see that the move was inspired by Anne Enright who explicitly says;

Enright concludes by noting a “new awareness, one that is fed by social media, acknowledged in print, supported by publishers and encouraged by festival curators”, and by expressing her hope that men and women will “finally sit side by side … There is plenty of room.”

But if you want to restrict your influences to the female side of the room, I guess you could try that and get back and let us know how it worked out. And which female writers you admired.

Helix · Sep 30, 2017

cbenoi1 said:
Oh I see. Listing only female influences would be okay then.

-cb

This might be helpful. It's from the link in the OP.

If, when you list your influences, you cannot name a single female author who has made an impact on your work or inspired you on some level, we won’t turn you down for that, but it’s not likely that we’re a good ideological match. We’d urge you to read more widely.

James D. Macdonald · Sep 30, 2017

I'm still trying to figure out at which point in the submission process listing your influences is appropriate at all, but if y'all say it's a thing that people do, who am I to doubt?

Do their guidelines say "List your influences in your cover letter"? Because otherwise it's like putting your favorite Muppet character in your cover letter. Why do it?

(The "Dear Sirs," thing is adequately covered in the general advice to address your cover letter to the Name-Of-The-Editor-Spelled-Right.)

cbenoi1 · Sep 30, 2017

mccardey said:
But if you want to restrict your influences to the female side of the room, I guess you could try that and get back and let us know how it worked out. And which female writers you admired.

I'd need to make a list. I don't pay attention to an author's gender or sexual orientation. If the work is good, it's good.

-cb

mccardey · Sep 30, 2017

James D. Macdonald said:
I'm still trying to figure out at which point in the submission process listing your influences is appropriate at all, but if y'all say it's a thing that people do, who am I to doubt?

Do their guidelines say "List your influences in your cover letter"?

Ireland does it differently.* See post #20

*As does Australia

Sexists Need Not Apply

mccardey

Helix

socially distancing

be frank

not a bloke, not named frank

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

mccardey

Helix

socially distancing

mccardey

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

Helix

socially distancing

cbenoi1

Victor Douglas

Things Will Change

mccardey

Helix

socially distancing

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

mccardey

Albedo

Alex

cbenoi1

mccardey

Helix

socially distancing

PyriteFool

mccardey

Helix

socially distancing

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

cbenoi1

mccardey