On 30 November our Chief Executive, Nicola Solomon, spoke on a panel about ‘The State of the Author’ at The Bookseller’s Author Day. We’ve uploaded a transcript of her speech which addressed the pressing issues for professional authors and what the different parties in the industry can do about them.

Fair Contracts

Solomon spoke about the need to address falling author earnings by addressing contract terms. Repeating the C.R.E.A.T.O.R. campaign, she explained why this is also in the interests of publishers since authors now have a choice and the industry ‘may be killing the goose that lays the golden egg’ since falling revenues mean full-time authors are leaving the profession in droves.

Working together

Solomon also called for collective action from all in the industry on lobbying. As well as fighting on key business-critical issues such as VAT on ebooks and protection of copyright, she said it was our responsibility to ensure maintain and create a reading environment.

Read the full speech