Latest news

Authors' Issues Debated in Parliament

The Earl of Clancarty has asked the Government ‘what steps they plan to take to improve the rights and income of professional authors and writers.’ The SoA welcomes the interest of the...

SoA Calls for Action on Author Contracts

Nicola Solomon, Chief Executive of the Society of Authors, launched the C.R.E.A.T.O.R. Campaign for Fair Contracts at the All Party Writers Group Summer Reception.

Authors' Awards 2015

On 25 June £85,500 was distributed to writers at the Society of Authors’ annual Authors’ Awards. Novelist Sarah Waters (a previous recipient of a Betty Trask Prize and a Somerset...

2015 Betty Trask Shortlist

This year’s shortlist offers a diverse range of first novels, transporting us from the heated environment of a professional kitchen to the desolation of post-war Berlin and exploring the...

Rhodes Ruling: A Victory for Freedom of Expression

On 20 May the Supreme Court overturned an injunction preventing the publication of a memoir by classical pianist James Rhodes. The SoA welcomes this as a victory for freedom of expression and a...

Ben Macintyre Wins Elizabeth Longford Prize 2015

We are delighted to announce that the 2015 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography will be awarded to Ben Macintyre for A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal (Bloomsbury)...

SoA Visits Shelter from the Storm

27 April 2015Last Thursday (23 April), SoA members and staff visited Shelter from the Storm - London's free homeless shelter - to share stories and to hand out books for World Book...

Payout Victory for Illustrators and Photographers

After a tireless campaign by the Society of Authors, PLR UK, the Association of Illustrators, the Association of Photographers and SoA member Nicola Smee, artists and estates in the UK...

Eminent Authors Join Council

Malorie Blackman, Neil Gaiman, Joanne Harris, Roger McGough, Ian Rankin, Anne Sebba and Sarah Waters have all joined the Council of the Society of Authors.

VAT on Sale of Ebooks

If you are a self-publisher and are selling ebooks or other digitised materials, beware the new VAT implications.

A Textbook Case: Open Letter

Chris Barker, Chair of our Educational Writer’s Group, has responded to criticisms of the state of UK textbook publishing with an open letter. 

#AnyBookAnyBody: Gender and Reading

Let Toys Be Toys (LTBT) launched the Let Books Be Books campaign last World Book Day asking publishers to take the ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ labels off books and allow children to...

Sudanese Writers Union Dissolved

On 29 January the Sudanese Writers Union was dissolved by the Registrar of the Cultural Groups of Ministry of Culture, Sudan.