Austin Macauley Publishers is an equal opportunity publication company which has published many great male and female authors. However, in accordance with March being the Women’s History Month, it is a perfect opportunity to celebrate the talented female authors from history.

There were times when British women did not have the legal capacity to sign a contract and thus had to be represented by a male family member to sign the contract on their behalf. It was an early eighteenth century, women who wished to write full-time were seen as demeaning their own femininity and female authors of the time used to publish anonymously. Jane Austen, the author of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, published all her work (except pride and prejudice) ‘on commission’ as no trade publisher was willing to ‘risk’ with her. Austen sold the copyrights of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ to her publisher for £110. According to Wikipedia, she could have made more than four times that amount if she had opted to publish the novel ‘on-commission’.

Historically, the writing was a predominantly male profession, and female authors even with great writing skills with spell bounding work were required to opt for male pseudonym for better reception in the market. The famous classic novel Wuthering Heights by Ellis Bell was indeed written by a female author Emily Brontë. In fact, two sisters of Emily, Anne Brontë and Charlotte Brontë also published their work under the respective male pseudonyms Acton Bell and Currer Bell. These three were daughters of Patrick Brontë, an Irish priest and author who lived most of his life in Britain. Indeed, it’s a shame that very talented Brontë family had to publish their work under pseudonyms before they were acknowledged as masterpieces of literature.

Alice Bradley Sheldon opted for a male pseudonym James Tiptree Jr. as a ‘good camouflage’ as she grew weary of being the first female in too many men run occupations. She has formerly worked as a graphic artist, painter and art critic. Interestingly, Robert Silverberg in his introduction to ‘The Girl Who Was Plugged In’ insisted that pseudonym James Tiptree Jr. must belong to a man as syntax and lexicon in the book is very masculine and the text was "simple, direct, and straightforward".

Another such example from history is Mary Ann Evans, a very talented female novelist who published under male pseudonym George Eliot. One of her great novels ‘Middlemarch’ is described as the greatest novel in English literature. Her work was known for its realism and elaborate psychological insight. Interestingly she was from a time when women were not offered education but her father made arrangements for her as a compensation for the lack of her physical beauty which left her less likely to find a husband.

Following that era came the modernist period which offered a better opportunity for women writers like Virginia Woolf. Virginia Wolf was considered as one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century and from ‘The Voyage Out’ to ‘Between the Acts’ she left a definitive mark on the history of literature.

In 1909, Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlöf was the first female author to be awarded Nobel Prize in Literature.  No woman was awarded the title for the next fifteen years. Selma was also the first female member of The Swedish Academy, where she gained her acceptance in 1914. She was also the first women to be depicted on Swedish Banknote.

In regards to Women’s History it is worth noticing that in 114 years long history of Nobel Prize Award, women were awarded only 51 awards. Nobel Prize in Literature was predominantly awarded to male writers for 100 years and only 14 laureates were female writers.

Second Wave of feminism highlighted the fact that women have relentlessly contributed to the literature throughout the history but women writers are under-represented in literature, credited to the male-pseudonyms employed and the work of female authors needs to be rediscovered and reclaimed.

You will not have to walk too far back in history but in many recent times, in 1997, Joanne Rowling was encouraged by her publisher to opt for a more ambiguous pseudonym as a female author name might be off-putting for the targeted audience of young male children. Later her debut novel Harry Potter published under author name J. K. Rowling became the biggest success that publishing company had ever experience. Later when Rowling decided to write for a mature audience she picked male pseudonym Robert Galbraith, to publish her crime mystery The Cuckoo’s Calling. Interestingly the crime mystery although did moderately well initially but received much more attention once it was discovered that it was actually written by J. K. Rowling.

As reported by Wikipedia, recently the focus of Trade publishers has shifted towards women writers. In recent times communities and presses dedicated exclusively to women writers have surfaced. Conversely, feminist critics argue that it is counterproductive to refer to ‘Women’s Writing’ as a separate discipline taking in account the diverse contribution of women writers across the time, place and genre of literature. Moreover, it is discriminating to regard the work of female writers to be any different from the work of their male counterpart and overall literary tradition.

Austin Macauley Publishers is proud of all the women authors who have joined the platform with the publishing house. We as a publishing company have found no difference in male and female authors and treat them likewise. Some of our female authors are featured below:

Seline Shenoy

Seline is a writer, a life coach and a podcast host. She is a passionate advocate of personal growth and progress. She is the founder of The Dream Catcher blog community. Her book ‘Beauty Redefined’ is aimed at challenging the culture obsessed with set standards of feminine beauty. She frequently contributes towards the publications such as Forbes, Elite Daily, MindBodyGreen, Project Happiness, Global Love Project and many others.

Mandy Shires

She is the author of her Autobiography Beauty Queens, Frogs and Princes. Mandy was born in the UK but has resided throughout her life in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), South Africa and Australia as well as many parts of the UK. She took part in Miss UK and Miss World in 1985, winning the title of Miss UK and gaining second place in the Miss World pageant. She modelled for 15 years of her life before retiring when her daughter was born. Mandy’s life has been far from the life expected of a beauty queen with many a roller coaster ride and extreme experiences along the way.

April Jean Leite

April has written her Autobiography ‘Memories of A Dog Walker’, reflecting on her midlife crisis leading her to a career discouraged by her friends and family. Nevertheless, the business picked up, expanded and offered her a world of opportunities including rediscovering love in her life. She now lives in Manhattan with her husband and two dogs.

Montanna Evelyn

Montanna is an Aussie mum of three boys. She is a professional dreamer. As a child, Montanna’s mother spent a good portion of her time telling her daughter to get her head out of the clouds. But Montanna liked leaving her head there because up in the clouds, it’s easier to do what she does best… Dream! She has published her work of fiction with Austin Macauley Publishers under the title ‘The Forest of Tukino’.

Mina Drever

Mina has published her memoir ‘Thank You Lady’ presenting the perspective that dementia is not a disease but a disability. Mina was born in Southern Italy and migrated to England as a teenager. She attended university and became an educator of foreign languages. She is a wife, a mother and a grandmother. 

Carol Duncombe

Carol started her nursing career when she was 18. For 45 years, she worked as a midwife and delivered over 2000 babies. After retiring, she started to volunteer at a local school, but she missed the joy and fulfilment of helping mothers to be and bringing new life into the world. This motivated her to write the heartwarming memoir of her years of helping and guiding new parents. She published ‘A Midwife’s Memoir’ to share happy and amusing but sometimes heart-breaking stories from her long career.

Tanya Kharina

Tanya Kharina was born in Russia in 1987 and moved to Manchester, England aged 15. She gained a Bachelor of Arts degree at Manchester Metropolitan University, creating many works surrounding fairy tales that sought to spark children’s imagination. She published Alfie's Way with Austin Macauley Publishers.

Laura Bannerman

Laura is an author, holistic counsellor, and personal development enthusiast who works to empower women through the development of a self-connection and life-design. She is committed to designing accessible personal growth tools for young women. Her book Book ‘Girl Seeks Life’ is such a tool to assist personal development and connect readers with honest identities.

Annabelle Knight

Annabelle Knight is one of the UK’s most relevant sex, relationship, dating, and body language experts, a bestselling author, sex toy expert and celebrity relationship coach. She has qualifications in life coaching, couples counselling, and psychosexual therapy.
She regularly appears on television, in the press, and on-air to offer her expertise and guidance on a range of topics.
Annabelle covers everything from lust to love, and anything that’s in between.