A Tour of the SF/F/H Field

Prepared by the Broad Universe Bean-Counting and Research Division
(Bean-counters needed! Apply here)

All lists include reference to the primary source of the data. We welcome feedback that will help improve the factual accuracy of these lists.

• Market Share
• Composition of the Field
• Editors
• Awards
• Reviews
• Year's Best Anthologies
• Magazines
• Convention Guests

 

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MARKET SHARE

Sales of popular fiction in 1999 including hardcovers and paperbacks. From Publishers Weekly (13 Nov 2000, p.42)

• Science fiction/fantasy: 7.3% of sales
• General fiction: 12.1% of sales
• Mystery/detective/suspense: 25.7% of sales
• Romance: 38.8% of sales

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COMPOSITION OF THE FIELD

Authors of Forthcoming Books

From Locus (Dec 2000), list of Complete Books by (American) Publishers for Nov 2000 through Sep 2001. Note that not all these books represent new works of fiction; many are reissues of older works:

• 373 female authors (31%)
• 812 male authors (67%)
• 21 authors are of unknown gender (2%)
• Total: 1206

From Locus (Dec 2007), U.S. Publishers for October 2007 through September 2008. Approximately 1/3 are reprints or reissue editions:

• 695 female authors/editors (39.7%)
• 1019 male authors/editors (58.3%)
• 35 unknown (anonymous, gender concealed by author) (2%)
• Total: 1749

Authors/Editors of Books Received
From Locus, Jan-Dec 2000:
(Fractional points indicate two, three, or four editors.)

• 636.75 female authors/editors (31.4%)
• 1331.75 male authors/editors (65.7%)
• 57.5 authors/editors of unknown gender (including house names and anonymous) (2.8%)
• Total: 2026

Books received from U.S. Publishers in July-October 2007

From Locus, September-December 2007

• 407.16 female authors/editors (41.7%)
• 560.83 male authors/editors (57.5%)
• 8 anonymous or undetermined (0.8%)
• Total: 975.99

Membership in SFWA:
(From SFWA's 2000 directory, excluding estates and companies.)

• 518 members are women (38%)
• 807 members are men (58%)
• 55 are of unknown gender (4%)
• Total: 1380

From SFWA's 2007 directory, excluding estates and companies:

• active members = 428 female, 641 male, 60 gender unknown
• supporting members = 72 female, 92 male, 22 gender unknown
• affiliate members [frequently reviewers] = 63 female, 84 male, 10 gender unknown
• senior members = 4 female, 19 male, 3 gender unknown
• Total: 1533

Membership in HWA:
(From the Horror Writers of America 2000-2001 directory)

• 184 members are women (21%)
• 708 members are men (79%)
• Total: 892

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EDITORS

Pro Markets
From www.ralan.com, June 2002
half points denote co-editors.

• Women: 14.5 (26%)
• Men: 40.5 (74%)

Semi-Pro Markets
From www.ralan.com, June 2002

• Women: 24 (27%)
• Men: 60 (67%)
• Unknown: 6 (7%)

Professional-Level SF/F Magazines
From the SFWA Bulletin (issue 148, Winter 2000, #148)

• Women: 6 (21%)
• Men: 22 (79%)

Semi-Pro Magazines
Listed in the SFWA Bulletin (Winter 2000) as paying at least 1 cent/word.

• Women: 9 (29%)
• Men: 22 (71%)

Publishing Houses
Listed in the SFWA Bulletin (Winter 2000) as the main contact for each house.

• Women: 5 (45%)
• Men: 6 (55%)

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AWARDS

From www.dpsinfo.com/awardweb. The data is limited to awards for writing: short stories, novelettes, novellas, novels, first novel, short fiction, long fiction, and short story collections of one author. Anthologies edited by, grand master awards, movies, and non-fiction are not listed here.)

Campbell

• 1973-79: 2 women, 6 men (25%, 75%)
• 1980-89: 5 women, 5 men (50%, 50%)
• 1990-99: 6 women, 5 men (55%, 45%)

Dick

• 1982-1989: 1 woman, 7 men (12%, 88%)
• 1990-1999: 1 woman, 10 men (9%, 91%)

Hugo

• 1953-59: 0 women, 13 men (0%, 100%)
• 1960-69: 1 woman, 26 men (4%, 96%)
• 1970-79: 11 women, 30 men (27%, 73%)
• 1980-89: 9 women, 31 men (22%, 78%)
• 1990-99: 13 women, 28 men (32%, 68%)

Nebula Awards--details on the linked page

Stoker

• 1987-89: 3 women, 14 men (18%, 82%)
• 1990-99: 14 women, 44 men (24%, 76%)

Tiptree

• 1991-1999: 15 women, 1 man, 1 transgendered (88%, 6%, 6%)

World Fantasy

• 1975-79: 1 woman, 13 men (7%, 93%)
• 1980-89: 6 women, 32 men (16%, 84%)
• 1990-99: 11 women, 33 men, (25%, 75%)

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REVIEWS

Locus magazine, Jan-Dec 2000

Author Interviews:
22 total

• 6 women (27%)
• 16 men (73%)

Long Reviews
(more than two paragraphs long, including book cover photo. Half points denote co-authorship.)
151 total

• 43.5 books by female authors (29%)
• 104.5 books by male authors (69%)
• 3 books by authors of unknown gender (2%)

Short Reviews
(one to two paragraphs long, no book cover photo. Half points denote co-authorship.)
177 total

• 79 books by female authors (45%)
• 85.5 books by male authors (50%)
• 9.5 books by authors of unknown gender (5%)
• Books Received during the same time period

(From LOCUS, Jan-Dec 2000. Books Received lags two months behind the issue month. More or less comparing what came in the door vs. what was reviewed. Fractional points indicate two, three, or four editors.)

2026 total

• 636.75 books by female authors/editors (31.4%)
• 1331.75 books by male authors/editors (65.7%)
• 57.5 books by authors of unknown gender (including house names and anonymous) (2.8%)

Reviewer: Carolyn Cushman
104 short reviews:

• 66 books by female authors (63%)
• 31 books by male authors (30%)
• 7 books by authors of unknown gender (7%)

Reviewer: Faren Miller
47 long reviews:

• 21.5 books by female authors (46%)
• 24.5 books by male authors (52%)
• 1 books by authors of unknown gender (2%)
• 3 short reviews:
• 1 book by a female author (33%)
• 2 books by male authors (67%)

Reviewer: Ed Bryant
35 long reviews:

• 6 books by female authors (17%)
• 27 books by male authors (77%)
• 2 books by authors of unknown gender (6%)
• 17 short reviews:
• 1 book by female authors (6%)
• 15.5 books by male authors (91%)
• 0.5 books by authors of unknown gender (3%)

Reviewer: Russell Letson
29 long reviews:

• 6 books by female authors (21%)
• 23 books by male authors (79%)

Reviewer: Jonathan Strahan
40 short reviews:

• 4 books by female authors (10%)
• 35 books by male authors (88%)
• 1 book by athors of unknown gender (2%)

Reviewer: Gary Wolfe
40 long reviews:

• 10 books by female authors (25%)
• 30 books by male authors (75%)
• 1 short review:
• 0 books by female authors
• 1 books by a male author (100%)

Reviews by Diverse Hands

12 short reviews:

• 7 books by female authors (58%)
• 4 books by male authors (33%)
• 1 book by authors of unknown gender (9%)

Locus, September - December 2007

Author Interviews:
8 total

• 4 women (50%)
• 4 men (50%)

Long Reviews
(more than two paragraphs long, including book cover photo. Half points denote co-authorship.)

• 74.99 total
• 12.16 female authors (16.2%)
• 62.83 male authors (83.8%)

Short Reviews
42 total

• 29 female authors (69%)
• 11 male authors (26.2%)
• 2 unknown (4.8%)

Reviewers:

Reviewer: Gary K. Wolfe
19.99 long reviews

• 1.66 books by female authors
• 18.33 books by male authors

3 short reviews

• 1 book by female author
• 2 books by male authors

Reviewer: Faren Miller
20 long reviews

• 7 books by female authors
• 13 books by male authors

3 short reviews

• 0 books by female authors
• 3 books by male authors

Reviewer: Russell Letson
8 long reviews

• 1 books by female authors
• 7 books by male authors

Reviewer: Graham Sleight
13 long reviews

• 0 books by female authors
• 13 books by male authors

Reviewer: Rich Horton
5 long reviews

• 1 book by female author
• 3 books by male authors
• 1 book co-edited by male and female editor

Reviewer: Richard A. Lupoff
3 long reviews

• 0 books by female authors
• 3 books by male authors

Reviewer: Nick Gevers
6 long reviews

• 1 book by female author
• 5 books by male authors

Reviewer: Carolyn Cushman
36 short reviews

• 28 books by female authors
• 6 books by male authors
• 2 books by unknown

Locus Recommended Reading List for 2000 (Feb 2001)

SF Novels - 26 total

• 8 female authors (31%)
• 18 male authors (69%)

Fantasy Novels - 32 total

• 20 female authors (62.5%)
• 12 male authors (37.5%)

First Novels - 14 total

• 5 female authors (36%)
• 9 male authors (64%)

Collections - 29 total

• 2 female authors (7%)
• 27 male authors (93%)

Novellas - 24 total

• 4 female authors (17%)
• 20 male authors (83%)

Novelettes - 47 total

• 7 female authors (15%)
• 40 male authors (85%)

Short Stories - 61 total

• 13 female authors (21%)
• 48 male authors (79%)

Books Received Selected as "New and Notable"

From Locus, September-December 2007
(Books received from U.S. Publishers in July-October 2007)

• 23.16 female authors (36.2%)
• 40.83 male authors (63.8%)

Total: 63.99

New York Review of Science Fiction, Jan-Dec 2000
For reviews of specific books with headlines saying, for example: "THROUGH A BRAZEN MIRROR by Delia Sherman, reviewed by Suzy McKee Charnas." This does not include books or authors mentioned in essays.)

115 books reviewed, total

• 23 books were authored by women (20%)
• 92 books were authored by men (80%)

115 reviewers, total

• 12 reviewers were women (10%)
• 103 reviewers were men (90%)

New York Times Review of Books
Gerald Jonas, SF reviewer; reviews from Jan 1997 to Feb 2001
(From www.nytimes.com/books/specials/sci-fi.html)

109 books total

• 34 authored by women (31%)
• 75 authored by men (69%)

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REPRESENTATION IN YEAR'S BEST ANTHOLOGIES

Year's Best Science Fiction, edited by Gardner Dozois
(Half points denote co-authorship.)
1983-89: 44 stories by women (24%), 138 stories by men (75%), 1 by author of unknown gender (1%)
1990-99: 55.5 stories by women (22%), 202.5 stories by men (78%)
2000-2005: 32 stories by women (20%), 129 stories by men (80%)
#1 (stories published in 1983): 6 stories by women, 19 stories by men
#2 (1984): 9 stories by women, 17 stories by men
#3 (1985): 4 stories by women, 19 stories by men, 1 by author of unknown gender
#4 (1986): 5 stories by women, 22 stories by men
#5 (1987): 7 stories by women, 21 stories by men
#6 (1988): 7 stories by women, 21 stories by men
#7 (1989): 6 stories by women, 19 stories by men
#8 (1990): 6 stories by women, 20 stories by men
#9 (1991): 8 stories by women, 21 stories by men
#10 (1992): 6 stories by women, 19 stories by men
#11 (1993): 5 stories by women, 19 stories by men
#12 (1994): 8 stories by women, 15 stories by men
#13 (1995): 6 stories by women, 18 stories by men
#14 (1996): 4 stories by women, 24 stories by men
#15 (1997): 3.5 stories by women, 24.5 stories by men
#16 (1998): 5 stories by women, 19 stories by men
#17 (1999): 4 stories by women, 23 stories by men
#18 (2000): 5 stories by women, 18 stories by men
#19 (2001): 5.5 stories by women, 20.5 stories by men
#20 (2002): 5 stories by women, 20 stories by men
#21 (2003): 4 stories by women, 25 stories by men
#22 (2004): 7 stories by women, 21 stories by men
#23 (2005): 5.5 stories by women, 24.5 stories by men
#25 (2007): 6 stories by women, 18 stories by men

Year's Best Fantasy And Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (#1-#16) or by Ellen Datlow and Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant (#17 and later)
(Half points denote co-authorship.)
1987-89: 41 stories by women (31%), 89 stories by men (68%), 1 by author of unknown gender (1%)
1990-99: 204 stories by women (42%), 277 stories by men (57%), 8 by authors of unknown gender (1%)
2000-04: 93.5 stories by women (40%), 142.5 stories by men (60%)
#1 (stories published in 1987): 14 stories by women, 24 stories by men
#2 (1988): 14 stories by women, 32 stories by men
#3 (1989): 13 stories by women, 33 stories by men, 1 by author of unknown gender
#4 (1990): 20 stories by women, 31 stories by men, 1 by author of unknown gender
#5 (1991): 27.5 stories by women, 22.5 stories by men
#6 (1992): 18 stories by women, 31 stories by men, 3 by authors of unknown gender
#7 (1993): 21 stories by women, 32 stories by men, 1 by author of unknown gender
#8 (1994): 19 stories by women, 33 stories by men, 1 by author of unknown gender
#9 (1995): 25 stories by women, 20 stories by men
#10 (1996): 17.5 stories by women, 25.5 stories by men
#11 (1997): 16 stories by women, 29 stories by men, 1 by author of unknown gender
#12 (1998): 21 stories by women, 25 stories by men
#13 (1999): 19 stories by women, 28 stories by men, 1 by author of unknown gender
#14 (2000): 25 stories by women, 27 stories by men
#15 (2001): 19.5 stories by women, 28.5 stories by men
#16 (2002): 16 pieces (including poems and one essay) by women, 33 pieces (including poems) by men
#17 (2003): 14 pieces by women, 29 pieces by men
#18 (2004): 19 pieces by women, 25 pieces by men
#21 (2007): 7 pieces by women, 12 pieces by men

Year's Best SF, edited by David Hartwell (#1-#6) or David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer (#7 and up, though Cramer didn't receive cover credit until #9)
(Half points denote co-authorship.)
1995-99: 20 stories by women (20%), 80 stories by men (79%), 1 by author of unknown gender (1%)
2000-04: 21 stories by women (19%), 91 stories by men (81%)
#1 (stories published in 1995): 4 stories by women, 10 stories by men
#2 (1996): 6 stories by women, 14 stories by men
#3 (1997): 3 stories by women, 19 stories by men
#4 (1998): 3 stories by women, 17 stories by men
#5 (1999): 4 stories by women, 20 stories by men, 1 unknown
#6 (2000): 4 stories by women, 23 stories by men
#7 (2001): 3 stories by women, 16 stories by men
#8 (2002): 5 stories by women, 18 stories by men
#9 (2003): 5 stories by women, 15 stories by men
#10 (2004): 4 stories by women, 19 stories by men

Year's Best Fantasy, edited by David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
(Half points denote co-authorship.)
2000-04: 42.5 stories by women (36%), 76.5 stories by men (64%)
#1 (stories published in 2000): 7.5 stories by women, 15.5 stories by men
#2 (2001): 7 stories by women, 15 stories by men
#3 (2002): 10 stories by women, 19 stories by men
#4 (2003): 9 stories by women, 12 stories by men
#5 (2004): 9 stories by women, 15 stories by men
#8 (2007): 8 stories by women, 15 stories by men

The Best Science Fiction of the Year, edited by Terry Carr
(Half points denote co-authorship.)
1971-79: 20 stories by women (19%), 86 stories by men (81%)
1980-85: 20 stories by women (26.5%), 57 stories by men (74.5%)
Total: 40 stories by women (22%), 143 stories by men (78%)
#1 (1971): 1 story by a woman, 10 stories by men
#2 (1972): 3.5 stories by women, 12.5 stories by men
#3 (1973): 3 stories by women, 8 stories by men
#4 (1974): 1 stories by women, 9 stories by men
#5 (1975): 2 stories by women, 10 stories by men
#6 (1976): 1 story by a woman, 10 stories by men
#7 (1977): 4.5 stories by women, 4.5 stories by men
#8 (1978): 1 story by a woman, 11 stories by men
#9 (1979): 3 stories by women, 11 stories by men
#10 (1980): 3 stories by women, 9 stories by men
#11 (1981): 2 stories by women, 15 stories by men
#12 (1982): 4 stories by women, 9 stories by men
#13 (1983): 2 stories by women, 8 stories by men
#14 (1984): 6 stories by women, 7 stories by men
#15 (1985): 3 stories by women, 9 stories by men

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, edited by Jonathan Strahan
#2 (2007): 8 stories by women; 16 stories by men

Science Fiction: The Best Of 2001, edited by Robert Silverberg and Karen Haber
1 story by a woman (9%), 10 stories by men (91%)

Science Fiction 101, edited by Robert Silverberg, 1987
1 story by a woman (8%), 12 stories by men (92%)

Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, edited by Rich Horton
(2006) 3 stories by women, 12 stories by men
(2007) 3 stories by women, 9 stories by men

Best Of The Rest, edited by Brian Youmans
A year's best anthology for small-press, online, and other relatively obscure publications.
#1 (stories published in 1990): 2 stories by women (18%), 9 stories by men (82%)
#2 (1998): 7 stories by women (37%), 12 stories by men (63%)
#3 (2001): 5 stories by women (31%) , 11 stories by men (69%)

The Hard SF Renaissance, edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, 2002
41 stories by 34 contributors
3 women authors (9%)
29 male authors (81%)

Writers of the Future, edited by Algys Budrys

XXIII (2007) : Writers: 3 stories by women, 8 stories by men, 1 story by unknown
Illustrators: 3 pieces by women, 8 pieces by men

Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the 20th Century, edited by Orson Scott Card, 2004
4 stories by women, 22 stories by men

The Best Time Travel Stories of the 20th Century, edited by Harry Turtledove and Martin H. Greenberg, 2004
3 stories by women; 16 stories by men

The New Space Opera, edited by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan, 2007
4 stories by women, 14 stories by men

Best American Fantasy, edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer
(2007) 13 stories by women; 16 stories by men

Eclipse: New Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Jonathan Strahan
One (2007) 7 stories by women; 9 stories by men
Two (2008) 2 stories by women; 13 stories by men
Three (2009) 10.5 stories by women; 4.5 stories by men

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MAGAZINES

Strange Horizons, www.strangehorizons.com, fiction edited by Jed Hartman, Susan Marie Groppi, and Chris Heinemann (2000-2003) or by Susan Marie Groppi, Jed Hartman, and Karen Meisner (2003- )

Original Stories Published (not counting reprints)
2000 [partial year]: 5 by women (29%), 12 by men (71%)
2001: 22 by women (46%), 26 by men (54%)
2002: 19 by women (42%), 26 by men (58%)
2003: 25 by women (52%), 23 by men (48%)
2004: 23 by women (52%), 21 by men (48%)
2005: 26 by women (59%), 18 by men (41%)
2006: 30 by women (67%), 15 by men (33%)

All original stories published [9/2000-12/2006]:
147 by women (52%)
138 by men (48%)

Breakdown by genre for 2001:
Fantasy: 16 by women (53%), 14 by men (47%)
Science fiction: 7 by women (33%), 14 by men (67%)
(A couple of stories were counted as both fantasy and science fiction.)

Story Submissions
2000 (Jul-Dec only): 31% by women, 59% by men, 9% unknown
2001: 30% by women, 61% by men, 10% unknown
2002: 32% by women, 60% by men: 8% unknown
2003: 35% by women, 60% by men, 5% unknown
2004: 34% by women, 62% by men, 4% unknown
2005: 33% by women, 59% by men, 8% unknown
2006 (Jan-Jul only): 32% by women, 58% by men, 10% unknown

There were a few stories submitted by authors whose gender didn't fit comfortably into the boxes of "male" or "female", and a few others submitted by one male co-author and one female co-author, but not enough of either of those to influence the stats.

Readership
Survey, 12/2001: 40% women, 60% men

Number of short stories published by women in Analog, Asimovs, F&SF and Realms of Fantasy from 1980 to 2001, www.sff.net/people/susan-linville/market_news.htm

Data collected by Susan Urbanek Linville for her article, "SF & Fantasy in the New Millennium: Women Publishing Short Fiction," SFWA Bulletin, Winter 2002. reprint in Strange Horizons, 20 August 2007
"SF and Fantasy in the New Millennium: An Update," Strange Horizons 20 August 2007. (figures from this article not listed yet)

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CONVENTION GUESTS

September 2011