Terms and conditions

This guidance relates to commissioned articles and artwork, and previously unpublished contributions offered on spec that are accepted for publication by the Editor of The Author, excluding letters.

For more on how to pitch or to discuss the possibility of an article to the Editor, and in relation to letters, read our FAQS.

 

1. Rights

Previously published contributions: if your contribution has already been published elsewhere (including on your own website or blog), you must make that clear to the Editor at the outset.

We take the first right to publish your contribution in The Author in any medium. We retain the non-exclusive right for the full-term of copyright to publish or make available as part of The Author in any medium. We also reserve the non-exclusive right to make it available for non-commercial purposes via our website or otherwise, including sharing a PDF as part of our response to an SoA member query.

After we publish, we encourage contributors to republish, syndicate or blog; we ask only that you indicate that the contribution was ‘first published in The Author, the journal of the Society of Authors’. If we receive requests from publishers or others for re-use of your contribution, we will forward them to you.

Unless agreed otherwise, you will be credited as the author.

We reserve the right to edit all articles at our discretion, and we may ask for fact-checking, additional copy or other changes; we expect you to respond in a timely manner. Any significant changes (beyond matters of house style, etc) will be subject to your review and approval, and we will send a proof prior to publication. The Editor is not bound to publish any contribution.

If your contribution includes quotations or images from other sources, it is your responsibility to secure any necessary copyright permissions and pay any fees, and to send us all relevant details.

 

2. Payment

For commissioned articles and artwork, the fee will be paid on delivery, and in full, provided it meets the brief and deadline agreed with the Editor. For articles and artwork offered on spec, the fee will be paid when the Editor formally accepts the contribution for publication. In both cases, we need you to invoice for payment. We will pay VAT on presentation of a VAT invoice. We do not pay expenses. 

If you would like to donate your fee to charity, please tell the Editor. We prefer you to invoice us as usual so you can donate directly yourself; this allows the charity to claim gift aid.

 

3. Headshot and biography

We request a short biography (20-50 words) and a headshot of you to accompany your contribution. Contributors should clear rights with the photographer or artist and inform us of any photographer or artist credit/copyright line.

 

4. Legal

By submitting a contribution to The Author, you accept these terms and warrant that your contribution is not unlawful. You also indemnify us against any breach of the warranty. 

We undertake to treat your contact details in accordance with data protection regulations.