While more women than ever are publishing books, the trend doesn’t hold in the business book sector

The internet is full of statistics about more women than men publishing books and women now dominating the book business.

While that may be true across the board, the statistics don’t hold up in certain genres and categories, such as business books.

Curious as to why women business leaders don’t author books as much as men, I threw on my research Wellies and waded into the world wide web in search of the answer.

Sadly, I came up empty.

What I did find was upsetting.

Bestselling Women Business Authors are Declining

While women authors are on the rise, there’s been a steady decline in bestselling female business book authors.

In 2018, 200 business books became bestsellers and only 13% were authored by women. In 2019, the percentage dropped to 11.5% and dropped again in 2020 to 8.5%.

Whether these numbers represent a decline in women business authors or a decline in recognizing their voices, the sentiment is clear: Women business leader voices aren’t as valued as men. What’s worse is the value is declining, if the bestselling statistics are any clue.

Women, especially in leadership roles, have been overlooked and underrepresented in the business world. As a writer in the business book writing niche, I can confidently say that in the past 6 years of my career, the majority of my clients have been men.

To this day, I get more leads and referrals for male clients. While I have nothing against male business book authors, as a woman in business myself, the wide gap is glaringly obvious and a bit disheartening.

Have we been conditioned by society for too long to think our voices, insights, and experiences don’t matter? Are women more prone to the insecurities of thinking no one will care what they have to say, or are they less confident in their voices?

I believe the reason we see fewer women business leaders authoring books and reaching bestselling status is more systemic, and the only way to change it is for women to raise their voices and tell their stories.

So, while websites and publications all over the web tout how more women than men are publishing books, and women are now dominating the book business, those statements are misleading. Not only because they don’t represent statistics for smaller niches but also because male authors continue to have priority in publishing and book markets.

Publishing and Book Markets Cater to Male Authors

It’s well documented that publishers favor male authors. When looking at traditionally published books versus self-published books, publishing houses continue to put out more books authored by men.

In times past when self-publishing was much more difficult, women were left behind completely. Fortunately, in today’s world, we have easier self-publishing routes to navigate. Of course, the burden of the process falls on self-published authors when they don’t have the support of a publishing house to fall back on.

Additionally, publishing house marketing boosts male authored books more than female authored books. They promote and support their male authors more significantly. So, even when women get published by a traditional publisher, it continues to be an uphill battle against their male counterparts.

In fact, some women authors are asked to use their initials or pick a pseudonym that sounds more masculine for the book cover in an attempt to make the book “more appealing.”

To top all that off, male authored books more commonly win awards and prizes, possibly because publishers are more likely to submit male authored books for awards and prizes.

It’s these systemic biases within publishing that hamper equality in writing, publishing, and marketing for women authors both traditionally and self-published.

All of which I find very ironic because there are more women readers than men.

Now, to keep things real, men are more likely to read nonfiction than fiction and women are more likely to read fiction than nonfiction. That said, there’s nothing I’ve found to say whether or not a higher percentage of men read nonfiction than women.

Given that women in general read more books, and 48% of women readers do read nonfiction, it’s a fair bet that in the big picture, more women readers read nonfiction than men.

So, if women are the target reading market, why are books authored by men favored throughout the entire publishing industry?

It’s another one of those curious systemic quandaries.

For women business leaders interested in authoring a book, don’t be disheartened. The book writing world has teams of professionals willing and able to help you leap over the systemic hurdles that push women authors (especially in business categories) down.

Working with a ghostwriter or writing consultant boosts your changes significantly when it comes to visibility, marketability, sales, and ROI. When you assemble the right team of professionals and support, you can step into the light.

I encourage all women business leaders to consider authoring a book so we together can change the status quo and show that our voices, our stories, and our books are as important, impactful, and readable as books authored by men.