The SoA has experienced an incredible transformation during the 12 years of Nicola’s leadership – growing not only in size and influence but in its inclusive approach to reach and empower more authors than ever.

While working with SoA staff and volunteers to extend our core services, Nicola’s work has included a strong emphasis on supporting author communities and connections – bringing thousands of members together in local groups, national events and professional forums – as well as expanding our public affairs capabilities to react swiftly and knowledgably to a changing world, most recently in the area of artificial intelligence. We have extended our work in the devolved nations, with employees in Scotland and Northern Ireland now working directly to support and lobby for authors in those areas.

Nicola’s focus on forging and maintaining strategic alliances across industry has enabled the SoA to achieve real change for authors – including driving payments for festival appearances, securing PLR on ebooks, setting up the AuthorShare scheme to pay royalties on used book sales, initiating the CREATOR campaign for fair contract terms, sitting at the heart of cross-industry sustainability and EDI forums, and much more.

Since Nicola joined the SoA as Chief Executive, membership numbers have grown by nearly 40% – from under 9,000 in 2011 to 12,400 today.

The SoA’s literary estates have continued to thrive, providing essential income to support the union’s wider work.

The activities of the charities managed by the SoA have also expanded greatly over the past 12 years. Nicola leaves an expanded stable of awards and grants, including the Authors’ Contingency Fund for which she led efforts to raise over £1 million during the pandemic and through which the charity continues to award over £300,000 in grants to authors facing financial difficulty each year.

Responding to the announcement, Management Committee Chair Joanne Harris said, ‘Nicola has been an incredible force for change since the day she joined the SoA. Her energy, passion and formidable knowledge of law and industry has led the modernisation of the SoA during a time when developments across the creative industries, falling author incomes and a cost of living crisis, as well as a panoply of existential threats to authors’ careers, have made trade union support more essential than ever. Nicola will be hugely missed, but she can rest assured that she leaves an SoA that is more ready and resilient than ever to serve our members.’

Nicola said, ‘I will miss my work at the SoA but I am keen to retire and have more time for family, friends and personal projects. As well as sitting back with a good book of course! 

I feel confident that I am leaving a strong, effective and influential trade union well-placed to continue its work to empower, inform and advocate for all types of writers, illustrators and literary translators’. 

The recruitment process for a new Chief Executive is underway. The role will be advertised this month to begin a process that will continue into spring 2024.