Earlier this year the SoA wrote to a cross-section of the many literary festivals in the UK. We contacted 22 festivals and asked them to tell us what they pay authors and what rights they demand in return. 17 of those surveyed responded in detail – others invited us to speak to them. Although these initial…
3 December 2015 On 30 November our Chief Executive, Nicola Solomon, spoke on a panel about ‘The State of the Author’ at The Bookseller’s Author Day. We’ve uploaded a transcript of her speech which addressed the pressing issues for professional authors and what the different parties in the industry can do about them. Fair Contracts…
1 December 2015 Writer Rachel Williams and illustrator Lucy Letherland have won the 2015 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award with their book Atlas of Adventures. The £2,000 prize was presented by Ed Vaizey MP, Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy, at the House of Commons on 1 December. Vaizey said he was ‘delighted…
1 December 2015 The SoA welcomes and fully supports Get it Right from a Genuine Site – a new initiative which aims to ‘inspire people in the UK to support the things they love by sourcing them from genuine services.’ Get it Right has launched an advert campaign to raise appreciation for the UK creative industries…
Once again, our Chief Executive Nicola Solomon has been included in The Bookseller 100, an annual list of the most influential people in UK publishing. Solomon is categorised as a ‘driver’ of the industry, affecting change and ‘consistently moving the industry forward’: It is tough out there for authors: a 2015 report put a UK writer’s median income…
The SoA welcomes the commitment to prioritise and protect spending on the arts in the Chancellor’s Spending Review and Autumn Statement. Commitment to Culture George Osborne has described the arts as ‘one of the best investments we can make as a nation’ and recognised this through an increase of £10 million a year in cash…
20 November 2015 We were delighted that so many members were able to attend our Annual General Meeting last night (19 November). Resolutions The two resolutions, to approve the minutes of the 2014 AGM and to approve the SoA’s annual report and financial accounts for 2014, were passed unanimously. The Management Committee Daniel Hahn, Chair…
The SoA has written to Ed Vaizey along with other members of the Creators’ Rights Alliance to restate and amplify our demands for greater protection against onerous contracts for all creators. The letter notes the ‘inequality of bargaining power between individual creators and those who exploit their work’ and how this can lead to creators…
Q. What links: animal food chains; the intricacies of maths; the First World War; the wonders of our world; mindblowing facts about outer space? A. They’re all subjects of books on the 2015 ALCS Educational Writers Award shortlist. These five books have been chosen as outstanding examples of non-fiction for 5 to 11 year olds….
10 November 2015 The SoA has today written to express its concerns about Public Lending Right to Dominic Lake, Deputy Director of Arts, Libraries & Cultural Property, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. On 9 November it was proposed that the rate per loan for PLR be raised from 6.66 pence to 7.67 pence per…
9 November 2015 Two novels, a collection of poetry, and a volume of interlinked short stories make up the shortlist for the £5,000 Sunday Times/Peters Fraser and Dunlop Young Writer of the Year Award. Works by Sarah Howe, Ben Fergusson, Sunjeev Sahota and Sara Taylor were chosen by judges Peter Kemp and Andrew Holgate of…
9 November 2015 A petition to the Scottish Parliament regarding the threat to Scottish school libraries was officially lodged on 16 October with a final total of 2,651 signatures and 170 comments. Librarian Duncan Wright, who put forward the petition, has been called on to appear in front of the Scottish Parliament on 24 November…
