Young White Male Authors Go Unpublished

The mortality rates of small indie presses and literary journals are a depressing feature of our cultural landscape. Normally, the launch of yet another one might not seem newsworthy. But the launch of Conduit Books in the United Kingdom is a slightly different case. Founder Jude Cook has started this venture with the explicit aim of promoting the work of male authors, a literary demographic Cook believes has had a really rough time as publishing swings ever more decisively in favor of women — nonwestern and nonwhite female authors especially.

Cook, who is himself a novelist and a frequent contributor to the Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, The Spectator, and other publications, has said that the purview of his new venture may expand in the future. But for now, he intends to promote male writers, especially those who toil in the genre of speculative fiction (i.e., fantasy and sci-fi). Cook has gone out of his way to assure people that he seeks a pursue a “non-adversarial stance,” and that writers of different races, creeds, and sexual orientations are welcome to submit their work.

About the Author

Michael Washburn

Michael Washburn is a New York-based novelist and short story writer. His most recent book is Infinite Desert.

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J.K. Rowling

The mortality rates of small indie presses and literary journals are a depressing feature of our cultural landscape. Normally, the launch of yet another one might not seem newsworthy. But the launch of Conduit Books in the United Kingdom is a slightly different case. Founder Jude Cook has started this venture with the explicit aim of promoting the work of male authors, a literary demographic Cook believes has had a really rough time as publishing swings ever more decisively in favor of women — nonwestern and nonwhite female authors especially.

Cook, who is himself a novelist and a frequent contributor to the Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, The Spectator, and other publications, has said that the purview of his new venture may expand in the future. But for now, he intends to promote male writers, especially those who toil in the genre of speculative fiction (i.e., fantasy and sci-fi). Cook has gone out of his way to assure people that he seeks a pursue a “non-adversarial stance,” and that writers of different races, creeds, and sexual orientations are welcome to submit their work.