7 June 2017 We were deeply saddened to hear of the death, earlier this week, of writer, poet and children’s author Helen Dunmore. Helen joined the Society in 1993. She won a McKitterick prize in 2004 for Zennor in Darkness. Helen always showed a great interest in and support for our causes. She went on…
6 June 2017 With the election just days away we measured the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat manifesto pledges against our campaign asks. At the beginning of May, we published More than Just Words, a set of pre-election asks calling on the next Government to “support Britain’s cultural heart: with funding and legislation, with transparency…
EU member states can now reduce the rate to zero, in line with print. After years of lobbying by authors and publishers, the European Parliament voted today to allow individual EU countries the right to reduce the VAT rate on ebooks. Ebooks currently attract a 20% VAT charge because they are classified as an ‘electronic…
16 May 2016 The Society of Authors has announced the 2017 shortlist for the Betty Trask Prize and Awards. This year’s shortlist of six debut literary novels by authors under the age of 35 includes a self-published novel for the first time. The winner, to be announced at the SoA Authors’ Awards on 20 June,…
The award-winning novelist and political commentator Elif Shafak and the acclaimed cultural historian and biographer Lucy Hughes-Hallett will join Andrew Holgate on the judging panel of The Sunday Times / Peter Frasers + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year Award. Now run in association with the University of Warwick, the prize rewards the best work…
Amazon has said that the main ‘buy’ button on any book listing could, in future, be ‘won’ by a second-hand seller so that it links to their copy rather than one sold by the publisher. Authors do not receive royalties on books bought in this way. When challenged in the US, Amazon said ‘our bookstore…
The Society of Authors joins Index on Censorship, the Peter Tatchell Foundation, the Publishers Association and Reporters Sans Frontières in sponsoring the next English PEN-organised vigil, calling on the Saudi Arabian government for the immediate release of writer, blogger and activist Raif Badawi, and to mark the fifth anniversary of his arrest. Badawi was arrested…
2 May 2017 We call on the next Government to support Britain’s cultural heart: with funding and legislation, with transparency and ambition – always with more than just words. Photograph: Ben Terrett / Flickr As Britain gears up to go to the polls on 8th June, we have published More than Just Words, a set…
With the passing of the Digital Economy Bill this week, legislation to extend PLR to include remote loans of ebooks finally became law.
Bret Anthony Johnston has been announced as the winner of the award at the prize dinner at Stationers’ Hall today, Thursday 27 April. Johnston receives the award for his story, entitled Half of What Atlee Rouse Knows About Horses. The story follows Atlee Rouse’s life-long passion for horses, and the way in which he recalls…
The Society of Authors is delighted to announce that the 2017 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography has been awarded to John Bew for Citizen Clem: A Biography of Attlee (riverrun/Quercus). Judges Richard Davenport-Hines, Roy Foster (Chair), Antonia Fraser, Flora Fraser and Munro Price chose Bew’s book, which profiles the reticence of Attlee, public servant and patriotic…
21 April 2017 We are delighted to welcome four distinguished authors, who have all generously agreed to join the Society of Authors Council. The Council is an honorary body made up of authors of high standing who have been exceptional in their support of the SoA. They join our president Philip Pullman and, among others, Malorie Blackman,…
