When people in the industry talk about particular markets for MG novels, there's usually the assumption that there's a split between what male MG-readers and what female MG-readers will read.
How seriously do you think we should take this as writers submitting our work to agents/publishers who take these kinds of divisions very seriously?
For example, do you think there's any credence to the idea that boys won't read rousing action-adventures with battles and blood if it's not starring another boy? Or they won't read something more sentimental? Could Harry Potter have been Hariette Potter and still be mega popular etc.? Honestly, how much should we take this into account when we write and how accurate do you think these assumptions about the middle-grade reading audience are?
How seriously do you think we should take this as writers submitting our work to agents/publishers who take these kinds of divisions very seriously?
For example, do you think there's any credence to the idea that boys won't read rousing action-adventures with battles and blood if it's not starring another boy? Or they won't read something more sentimental? Could Harry Potter have been Hariette Potter and still be mega popular etc.? Honestly, how much should we take this into account when we write and how accurate do you think these assumptions about the middle-grade reading audience are?