国产乱伦

Author: Susan McDermott

Discovering and commissioning women authors and reviewers in software development and internet technology (IT).  

When Apress first began signing books on technical computing topics more than two decades ago, there were not a lot of women working in technology fields. In fact, early on, it wasn鈥檛 uncommon to attend a technical session or panel at a conference given by prospective authors and be the only woman in a room of 150 programmer attendees. 

As 鈥榳omen in technology鈥� and 鈥榞irls who code鈥� initiatives became more mainstream, we began to see more women attending trade events and presenting sessions. But still, the number of technical books authored by women was extremely low. Acquiring titles by women authors was a challenge. Given the small number of women attendees, connecting with them at events was also challenging.  

To actively bring more prospective women authors into the Apress imprint, it was clear that we would need a multi-pronged approach of 鈥済rassroots鈥� networking, increasing awareness and recruiting early and mid-career researchers, and evangelizing for women authors.   

The following practical tactics greatly helped Apress increase its representation of women authors and technical reviewers: 

• Join specific women-focused LinkedIn groups or communities: Joining these groups creates an opportunity to meet women who are technically skilled and have credibility within the community. 
• Attend 鈥榳omen-focused鈥� networking events at conferences and trade events: These events are a great opportunity to meet potential authors and have one-on-one conversations with a growing women-based technical audience to understand their needs better.
• Demystify authoring of technical books at conferences and networking events: Presenting on authoring technical books at conferences and networking events (including those focused on women) is a great way to increase awareness of the process, and to find qualified women technical authors who might not be aware of the opportunity.
• Recognize the importance of conversations about schedules: In technology book publishing, we are often driven by tight software release cycles that require us to publish books to short and often immovable deadlines. Women can often have more caregiving and service responsibilities, and clear conversations about schedules help keep projects on track. 
• Consider early- and mid-career women authors: the gender gap widens with seniority across many disciplines, and this is especially true for fields where gender balance is heavily skewed toward men. Considering early- and mid-career researchers for authorship and reviewing opportunities is critical to widening the pool of prospective authors.
• Evangelize and promote women authors: Promote women authors and evangelize for increasing women鈥檚 representation whenever you get a chance. It is an opportunity to showcase what is possible with women authors and to inspire women and all authors.

What was the outcome?

In actively seeking women authors and reviewers, we are taking steps to having a more gender-balanced author and technical reviewer base and a portfolio of books that represents all our readers. Increasing women鈥檚 representation has also been important for the portfolio鈥檚 success; several of our women authors have sold more than 4k print copies of their books and are great partners in promoting their books and encouraging other women to author!

Although the pool of women technical authors is still relatively small, the needle is moving and we are pleased to have published many more women technical authors at Apress over the past seven years than in Apress鈥� entire history!