Industry Insider – Understanding Access Forms and Riders – Tools for Disabled, Chronically Ill and Neurodivergent Authors

To celebrate the launch of the SoA’s Access Form template, ADCI is hosting a panel discussion on what an Access Form is and how it can help authors, agents, publishers, event organisers, and anyone else in the sector to work together more effectively. We’ll hear from publishing director Hannah Knowles, literary agent Caro Clarke, author Polly Atkin and Ama Badu about their experiences and hopes for how the form can be implemented. This event will be chaired by ADCI founder Claire Wade.

As a disabled, chronically ill or neurodivergent person, it can be difficult to ask for what you need in relation to reasonable adjustments and many authors don’t know what they are legally entitled to, what’s possible to adapt, or how to ask.

ADCI and the SoA worked together to create the Access Form (known in some cases as an Access Rider) and designed it to provide a simple, easy to complete form to share with your publishing team to communicate your needs. You can download the form to fill in here.

This event is in conjunction with our Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses Network (ADCI)

This event will have BSL Interpretation from Tracey Tyer and Anne-Marie Marray.

#SoAatHome Industry Insider events – free for all + donation

As of Feb 2025, our #SoAatHome industry insider events will be free for all but with a donation option when registering for the event.

All donations made go towards the Society of Authors’ Access Fund. The fund is to help provide authors support for travel, subsistence, childcare or access needs for events, residencies, and retreats. If you would like to make a donation with your booking, please do so when registering for the event below.

Programme

• Welcome, introductions and housekeeping from Claire Wade (3 mins)
• Panel discussion with Caro Clarke, Polly Atkin, Hannah Knowles and Ama Badu (40 mins)
• Q&A with audience (15 mins)
• Summary and closing comments (2 mins)
• This event will be moderated by Elsa Woodmeade – Local Groups Manager, SoA
• This event will have BSL Interpretation provided by Tracey Tyer and Anne-Marie Marray

What will this session cover?

• What is an Access Form? Who is it for? Why do I need it? How do I use it?
• An agent/author/publisher’s perspective
• How to fill in the form
• Implications for the sector

Who is this session for? 

• Disabled, chronically ill and neurodivergent authors and industry professionals
• Agents, editors, publishers
• Event organisers
• Anyone who works with them or wants to advocate for greater inclusivity in publishing and the creative industries

About Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses Network

This member-led peer support network aims to break feelings of isolation by connecting authors facing common experiences, in an online community that offers continuing professional and personal support.

The network’s primary aim is to offer a friendly and supportive space where you can feel safe to ask questions, share experiences, offer advice, and make new connections.

To join or to take part in the specific activities, please email us.

The Line up

Claire Wade

Claire Wade is a disabled author, speaker and activist. She founded Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (ADCI) in conjunction with the Society of Authors. The group connects and supports disabled authors and works towards better access and inclusivity within the publishing industry.

Claire has twice guest edited The Bookseller, the business magazine for the UK publishing industry. She used the opportunity to speak directly to editors, agents and publishers about the obstacles facing disabled authors and how they can be overcome.

Claire’s first novel The Choice (Orion, 2019) won the Good Housekeeping First Novel Competition and the East Anglian Book Award for Fiction.

In 2023, she won the Romantic Novelists’ Association Inclusion Award.

Website: www.clairewade.com | Bluesky: clairerwade.bsky.social | Instagram: @clairerwade

Hannah Knowles

Hannah Knowles is Publishing Director for Arts and Culture at Faber. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Hannah is responsible for overseeing the Film & TV, Classical Music, and Pop Music & Pop Culture lists, as well as acquiring selectively across them. She has previously worked at Canongate, Octopus, Hodder, and Ebury.

Caro Clarke

Caro Clarke is the founder and literary agent at Portobello Literary. They founded the agency in 2022 after twelve years working in publishing houses – Transworld (PRH) and Canongate Books as a Senior Rights Manager. They were named Rights Professional of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2021 and a Bookseller Rising Star in 2024. In 2019, they co-founded the Nan Shepherd Prize for underrepresented nature writers. They’ve also recently started a Substack for the agency to demystify the industry and give craft advice.

Instagram: @portyliterary

Polly Atkin

Polly Atkin (FRSL) is a poet and nonfiction writer whose work focuses on nature, place and disability. Her poetry collections are Basic Nest Architecture (Seren: 2017), Much With Body (Seren: 2021), and Emergency Dream (Seren: 2026). Her nonfiction books include Recovering Dorothy: The Hidden Life of Dorothy Wordsworth (Saraband: 2021), Some Of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better (Sceptre: 2023 and Unnamed: 2024) (Lakeland Book of the Year 2024) and The Company of Owls (Elliott and Thompson: 2024 and Milkweed: 2026). She works as a freelancer from her home in the English Lake District, where she co-owns historic Grasmere independent bookshop Sam Read Bookseller.

Ama Badu

Ama Badu is a Commissioning Editor at Faber. She champions bold, brave books, collaborates with exceptional creatives and focuses on stories that are underrepresented in the industry. Ama is also the voice of Shudu, the world’s first virtual super model. She brings narrative and storytelling to this project while exploring the intersections between technology, fashion and beauty.

Send us your questions

If you would like to send questions in advance, email EWoodmeade@societyofauthors.org with ‘Understanding Access Forms and Riders’ in the subject header. We will prioritise questions sent in advance but will endeavour to answer as many as we can from the audience on the day.

#SoAatHome Fundraising Bookshop

Browse our virtual Bookshop.org store featuring books by authors and speakers taking part in the #SoAatHome. When you make a purchase using our affiliate links, a percentage will go to the Society of Authors’ Access Fund, giving authors support for travel, subsistence, childcare or access needs for events, residencies, and retreats.

Need to know

Accessibility

• Attendees will have the option to turn on the live transcript, to watch with subtitles.
• This event will have BSL Interpretation provided by Tracey Tyer and Anne-Marie Marray.

Before the eventi

• Once registered, you will be sent a confirmation email with the Zoom link
• If the confirmation email doesn’t arrive in your inbox, please check your junk/spam email folder
• Please add events@societyofauthors.org to your Safe Senders list so you receive our confirmation and reminder emails

During the event

• This online event will take place on Zoom Webinar. You will not be on screen.
• This event is 60 minutes

After the event

• Hashtag for this event: #SoAatHome
• Attendees will be able to catch the recording on our Vimeo channel

Booking

Please either use the form titled ‘Register – no donation’ or the option of the different ticket options with a donation amount depending on how much you would like to donate towards the Society of Authors Access Fund.