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…
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…
