Interesting Stats over atclarkesworld  this morning. No surprise that woman only account for about a third of their submissions. Women have been hearing for years that the reason we don't get published as much as men is that we don't submit as much. 

However, at Clarkesworld and at PodCastle (as indicated by the comments to the post) the stats also indicate something very interesting. Women send in fewer subs, but those female authored subs are much more likely to get accepted. They are of a better, more professional quality than the men's submissions. At Clarkesworld, 52% of what gets passed on to editors from slush is written by women. At PodCastle, women account for 30% of the raw slush, but 50% of what they consider professional quality. 

Some other interesting little gems; at Clarkesworld, men are 10% more likely to get a rejection for not following the guidelines. Women are 2% more likely to submit another story after a rejection. 

At risk of getting blasted for pulling some conclusions out of my hat, I have some thoughts. I think it is no secret that men tend to be more confident than women in a society that encourages men to overestimate their abilities, and woman to downplay theirs. I think it is refreshing to inspect the quality of submissions, instead of the usual stats of quantity that get thrown around. 

As for the guidelines issue, traditionally, girls are raised to "follow the rules" or get in trouble (i.e. pregnant). A male is more likely to be humored for risk-taking behavior with sentiments such as "boys will be boys." No one ever seems to notice that often the risk is actually less severe for the male than the female.  Or It could simply be a gender difference associated with attention to detail. Women tend to be more meticulous than men. The overconfidence may come into play here as well. Men may think, "This story is so good, it won't matter that I didn't follow the guidelines to the letter."  

I have to say that I was very much surprised to see that women are more likely to resubmit. In other discussions on gender and writing, I have been told that women give up too easily, that they don't persevere like men do, which I assumed might stem back to the confidence issue. I know for myself personally, this is not true, but I had thought perhaps I was an anomaly. I am thrilled to have some actual numbers to dispute that. Women may not be as confident at the get go, but they do tend to persevere and improve their craft in that persistence. 

Now, of course these stats are for Clarkesworld only. The fact that they are even tracking, publishing, and inviting discussion of these stats makes me, as a female author, more likely to submit to them.

So, I better get writing. I think I have just the idea. See you at Clarkesworld.