By K.P. Gresham
Sara Paretsky’s letter to the editor of the New York Times (June 14, 2019) has created quite a stir in the mystery writing community. This actually surprised me a little.
Sara Paretsky by Mark Coggins, licensed under CC BY-2.0, via Wikipedia.
For years the majority of U.S. publishers, editors and booksellers have preferred male-authored novels in the mystery thriller genre. Let’s define our terms here. Hard thrillers are generally male-oriented in intended audience, protagonist sex, and author generation while cozy mysteries are intellectually gender-neutral and character- and puzzle-inclined) The New York Times put out an op-ed that said female authors are finally breaking into this male-dominated genre.
Ms. Paretsky’s point is that women have been writing thrillers for decades. . . .
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Austin Mystery Writers 
I had not seen the article, in the Times, but it makes interesting reading, and hopefully would have provoked some thoughts in the Editorial Team? One wonders who or what is really to blame for what we see or perceive at the present time. As a reader I do not choose my books, initially at least, by the readers name or gender, but by genre. As a writer however, I am conscious that my work is judged by editorial, agent and publishing perceptions as falling within defined categories and gender specifics. Time and scope for an industry wide change, maybe?
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