Our view: European Court ruling on Netherlands case removes the final barrier to applying Public Lending Right (PLR) to the remote public lending of ebooks and audiobooks. The Society of Authors welcomes yesterday’s judgment from the European Court of Justice on the case of Vereniging Openbare Bibliotheken v Stichting Leenrecht, which concludes that ‘the public…
As the Government assesses the likely impact of Brexit, a consultation run by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee has invited evidence of how Brexit could affect the creative industries, tourism and the digital single market. Download our full submission on Brexit here. Our own submission to the consultation was an opportunity to reiterate many…
A new EC study on authors’ remuneration, in which many members of The Society of Authors participated, surveyed authors, journalists translators and illustrators across Europe, and makes important recommendations to improve the contractual position for writers. Download our full briefing on the study here. Findings and recommendations The study found that: Average annual incomes for…
The 2017 judging panel will comprise novelist and Booker Prize winning author and short story writer Anne Enright, broadcast journalist and author Mark Lawson, Man Booker shortlisted author Neel Mukherjee, and Orange Prize winning novelist and short story writer Rose Tremain. Andrew Holgate, Literary Editor of The Sunday Times completes the line-up. The award is…
We are delighted to announce the judges for the 2016 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s only award for educational writing. This year the award will focus on books for 11-18 year olds, published in 2014 and 2015. Each year the award is judged by a teacher, a school librarian and an author and this…
The election ballot for seats on the SoA’s Management Committee is now open until noon on 26 October and we urge all Members to exercise their democratic right. Members* of the SoA should shortly receive ballot papers and candidates’ statements for the 2016 Management Committee elections with their copy of the Autumn issue of The Author,…
I welcome this draft directive, especially for its emphasis on transparency and the bestseller clause. Authors badly need the sort of natural justice that these clauses embody, not least because our work contributes substantially to the wealth of the nation. I hope that our government will see the rightness of these proposals and embody them…
The SoA will be administering the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction from 2017. We are delighted to announce this fantastic addition to our portfolio of prizes. Paula Johnson, Awards Secretary, said: “We are proud and excited to be the new administrators of this exceptional award, celebrating excellence, originality and accessibility in writing by women and we greatly…
Update: June 2017 The Prizes consultation is complete and we are delighted to announce that the changes proposed to the eligibility criteria for three of our annual Authors’ Awards have now been approved. Read more Our Authors’ Awards celebrate writers of fiction, non-fiction and poetry at all stages of their careers. We want to recognise…
A new public consultation seeks views on the Commission’s commitment to address the inconsistency between VAT on printed and electronic publications. This is something we should all contribute to. The debate on whether books should be subject to Value Added Tax is older than VAT itself. We have always argued that a tax on books amounts to…
Entries are open until October and November 2016 for the fiction, non-fiction and poetry prizes that make up our annual Authors’ Awards. Deadlines for entry Eric Gregory Awards for poets under 30 – 31 OCTOBER 2016 Tom-Gallon Trust Award for a short story – 31 OCTOBER 2016 McKitterick Award open to writers over 40 for a first novel,…
Authors are making their voices heard in European policy discussions. The SoA is working with partners to raise key issues including fair contracts. At the 2016 Creators Conference, which brought together over 200 creators, consumers and EU policy makers, the message was clear; authors are essential and their interests must be at the heart of policy…
