Angry Robot author Madeline Ashby made a blog post about WorldCon’s “Greying of Fandom Problem.” It’s very smart, and you should go over and read it if you haven’t.
An excerpt:
Let me put it another way. The demographic shifts faced by WorldCon’s largest customer segment are the same ones faced by the Republican Party. Let that sink in for a minute. Really let it marinate. These are the same people who cheered me when I talked about Canada’s healthcare plan, and applauded Mark Van Name when he blamed rape culture for America’s ills. They want to be progressive, but they’re being blindsided by the very same demographic shifts afflicting the most conservative elements of contemporary society, for exactly the same reason: they haven’t taken the issue seriously. This is why there isn’t a Hugo for Young Adult novels. Because God forbid we reward the writers who transform young genre readers into lifelong customers at a time when even Bruce Sterling says the future will be about old people staring at the sky in puzzlement and horror.
For folks who went to WorldCon – what do you think about this demographic situation? Is this something WorldCon should address? How? It’s easy for writers to say ‘Hey, this con needs to bring in younger people so my writing has a future!’ but what can we as writers do about it? What can bloggers, reviewers, editors, and other industry professionals do?