Anna Ganley
Chief Executive
As Chief Executive, Anna is responsible for overseeing the running of the Society of Authors and driving the SoA’s mission of empowering and supporting authors in the UK. Working closely with the SoA’s board of directors (Management Committee), Anna ensures that SoA’s activities and campaigns remain aligned with the SoA’s core mission.
Anna sits on the board of the International Authors Forum and is a member of the London Book Fair Advisory Board.
Born in Sunderland, Anna grew up on the north-east coast. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Durham and her MA in Management from Durham Business School.
A book that has inspired Anna: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (penguin.co.uk)
LinkedIn: Anna Ganley
Sarah Burton
Deputy Chief Executive
Head of the Advisory Team and Senior Publishing Contracts Advisor
Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group Coordinator
Sarah Burton is the Deputy Chief Executive at SoA. Sarah also leads the advisory team and advises members on all business aspects of the writing profession, including vetting contracts. She also works across the SoA’s list of literary estates, licensing rights in titles by authors such as Brendan Behan, Rose Macaulay and John Masefield. As co-coordinator of the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group, she has a particular interest in industry issues affecting creators of children’s books.
Lisa Dowdeswell
Head of Literary Estates and Senior Publishing Contracts Advisor
Comics Creators Network coordinator
Lisa manages our literary estates and advises members on a wide range of publishing contracts and issues.
She is joint coordinator of the Comics Creators Network.
Sophia A Jackson
Head of Events and Groups Support
Scriptwriters Group coordinator
Sophia curates and delivers the SoA events programme. She supports our team of community coordinators and is a coordinator herself, for the Scriptwriters Group. Sophia launched the #SoAatHome festival of online events in April 2020 which continues to be a success.
In 2021 Sophia was named a Rising Star by The Bookseller.
Katharine King
Chief Operating Officer
Comics Creators Network coordinator
Sustainability Network
Katharine joined the SoA in 2019. As Chief Operating Officer, Katharine is part of the senior management team and is responsible for managing the operational and financial actions of the SoA. This includes overseeing operational functions, financial planning, budgeting, and managing cashflows, as well as preparing and analysing the quarterly Management Accounts taking into account the external economic environment.
Katharine manages the finance and accounting for the SoA ensuring that all the SoA’s financial reports are accurate and completed in a timely manner.
Additionally, Katharine manages the finances of 14 charitable funds. She is also responsible for overseeing the annual audits, tax, payroll, compliance and dealing with all financial requests.
She is joint coordinator of the Comics Creators Network and included in the Sustainability Network
Robyn Law
Head of Fundraising, Grants and Prizes
Robyn joined the SoA in 2018. Along with the prizes and grants team, she administers 21 prizes for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and translation. She also oversees the contingency fund grants for authors in need, and the Authors’ Foundation and K Blundell Trust grants for works in progress. Overall, the SoA awards just over £900,000 in awards and grants annually, and Robyn is always looking for funding to expand these lists.
Robyn was named a Rising Star by The Bookseller in 2019.
Jasmine Scott
Head of Communications
Jasmine joined the SoA in January 2023. She leads the Communications team and sets communications strategy for the whole organisation. Jasmine also manages the production of the SoA’s journal, The Author.
Keith Ashby
Legal Counsel
Keith joined SoA in 2024 as our Legal Counsel.
Emma Boniwell
Head of Membership and Author Communities
Society of Authors in Wales Coordinator
Emma rejoined the Society of Authors in 2024 as Head of Membership and Author Communities. She leads the Member Services team and works on the strategic development of membership recruitment, volunteer management, development of all author communities and membership benefits.
She is the coordinator of the Society of Authors in Wales.