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…
The SoA fully supports its sister organisation the Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) in its new #WhyWritersMatter campaign and encourages everyone to get involved. The #WhyWritersMatter campaign is designed to remind us of the value and importance of writers, and the role they play in our lives. TWUC is asking all Canadians why they think…
31 May 2016 1-12 June is Volunteers’ Week. (Yes, slightly more than a week, which seems fittingly generous!) So we’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who make our work possible. The SoA is run by and for authors. The Management Committee and all the group committees are composed of members…
1 June 2016 We are delighted to announce the 2016 Betty Trask Prize shortlist. Subjects and settings are excitingly diverse, ranging from a window-cleaner to a watchmaker, a rain-soaked valley to the ancient kingdom of Benin. To find out more, download our press release. ALEX CHRISTOFI Glass (Serpent’s Tail) A passionate, rollicking and witty London…
24 May 2016 The deadline to sign up for UK and Irish Public Lending Right – the service which pays authors when public libraries lend their books – is Thursday 30 June. I’ve been getting a nice little earner from PLR UK for a few years now. Always very welcome! Colin Shelbourn PLR is the system by…
16 May 2016 This month our Chief Executive, Nicola Solomon, will be visiting the US to take part in a panel reflecting on the state of book publishing around the world. ‘The State of the Book Business in the U.S. and Abroad: A Trans-Atlantic View’ is organised by the Authors Guild of America. The panel will…
9 May 2016 Members of the Society of Authors have issued a statement warning about the detrimental effects of current trends in Government policy on the teaching of writing to school children. Members who write for children from both the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group and the Educational Writers Group have spoken out against increasingly…
5 May 2016 We are delighted to announce that the 2016 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography has been awarded to Andrew Gailey for The Lost Imperialist – Lord Dufferin, Memory and Mythmaking in an Age of Celebrity (John Murray). Judges Roy Foster, Antonia Fraser, Flora Fraser, David Gilmour and Munro Price chose Gailey’s book…
15 April 2016 The SoA is pleased at the news that the All Party Parliamentary Group on Publishing is launching an investigation into how best to reap the benefits of the UK’s strong publishing industry. However, it is essential that the role of authors is not overlooked. The announcement follows the publication of the Government’s White…
15 April 2015 The shortlist for the 2016 Man Booker International Prize, announced on Wednesday 13 April, is a great reminder of the wonderful breadth and variety of translated fiction available to readers today. The £50,000 prize is split equally between author and translator, a welcome recognition of the importance of translators’ work. Boyd Tonkin,…
