Industry Insider – Why you should stand for the board

The 2025 Management Committee nominations are now open. This is your chance to influence the strategic direction of your union.

With four seats available, this is your opportunity to increase the diversity of perspectives and influence the strategic direction of the Society of Authors over the next few years.

Election to the Management Committee is not based on literary merit. We welcome members from all career stages, backgrounds and from all four UK nations to consider standing. We aspire to a range of perspectives and experience among our board of directors that reflects the diversity of our broad membership, so if you do not see yourself or your views already represented, please consider standing.

We actively encourage nominations from under-represented groups, including people of colour, those from diverse communities, people who identify as working-class, disabled or LGBTQ+. We invite you to stand, whatever your literary background or specialism, but this year we are particularly looking for nominations from members with skills currently under-represented on the board: these include fundraising, finance, governance or public relations. 

If you want to find out more about standing for the board or how you can encourage fellow members to stand, do join us for this panel discussion event.

This event is presented by the SoA’s Management Committee.

#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 Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin (2 mins)
• Panel discussion chaired by Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin with Charles Harris, Helen Epega and Harriet Evans (30 mins)
• Q&A with audience (10 mins)
• Summary and closing comments (3 mins)
• This event will be moderated by Elsa Robert – Executive Administrator, SoA

Who is this session for?

This session is aimed at all members of the Society of Authors.

What will this session cover?

• Why should full members stand for the SoA’s board?
• Why should full members vote in the annual elections?
• How can I stand?
• How do I meet other members?

About the Society of Authors’ Management Committee

The Management Committee is responsible for the direction of the SoA and makes all major policy and strategy decisions.

The Management Committee is made up of democratically-elected members who are unpaid volunteers. Voting members are directly elected by the Membership and each serve a term of three years. Read more about Management Committee elections.

Chairs of SoA groups whose membership makes up more than 5% of the total membership also sit on the Management Committee but do not have a vote.

Send us your questions

If you would like to send questions in advance, email Elsa Robert at erobert@societyofauthors.orgwith ‘Why you should stand for the board’ in the subject header. We will prioritise questions sent in advance and 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.

The Line-up

Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin

Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin is the founder of the multi-award-winning writing resources website Writing.ie, The Inkwell Group publishing consultancy and the Murder One International Crime Writing Festival. She is Ireland’s leading literary scout.

Vanessa conceived and developed the National Emerging Writer Programme for Dublin City of Literature, and was the lead consultant and presenter for WritersWebTV. Vanessa is the Chair of Irish PEN and writes crime as bestselling author Sam Blake. She is represented by Simon Trewin.

Instagram: @samblakebooks | X: @samblakebooks | Website: https://www.samblakebooks.com

Charles Harris

Charles Harris is an author and award-winning writer-director for television and cinema, having traditionally published two novels (twice award-nominated) and three non-fiction books, as well as self-publishing a collection of short stories and a further non-fiction book.

Charles previously worked in the Film and TV industry in various roles, ranging from screenwriting and film editing to directing and producing.

He co-founded the London Screenwriters Workshop, the first screenwriters’ workshop in the world (now Euroscript), and was a co-chair of the New Producers’ Alliance for 3 years.

Website: https://charles-harris.co.uk/

Helen Epega

Helen Epega is a writer, librettist and composer, best known for creating Song Queen: A Pidgin Opera, the world’s first opera in Pidgin English. Creating works as The Venus Bushfires, she blends lyrical storytelling with African percussion and classical forms to explore identity, cultural memory and accessibility. This year, she wrote Of Earth and Quill, a one-woman opera debuting at Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival. Her work has toured internationally and been featured by BBC, CNN, The Guardian and VICE Magazine. Helen is Chair of the Risk Committee and is committed to expanding the reach of inclusive, cross-cultural storytelling.

Instagram: @ thevenusbushfires | X: @venusbushfires | Website: https://thevenusbushfires.com/

Harriet Evans

Harriet Evans is the author of thirteen novels, several Top Ten bestsellers, two Richard and Judy selections, and has sold over a million copies worldwide.

Before this, she was a publisher, first at Penguin, then Headline where she served on the board. In a varied and rewarding publishing career she has edited authors from Sue Townsend to Penny Vincenzi, set up a romance list, overruled Nick Hornby during a literary quiz on a music question and had coffee with Dave Prowse aka Darth Vadar to discuss his memoirs.

Instagram: @harrietevansauthor | X: @HarrietEvans | Website: https://www.harriet-evans.com/

Need to know

Accessibility

• Attendees will have the option to turn on the live transcript, to watch with subtitles.
• If you require BSL interpretation for this event, please email events@societyofauthors.org

Before the event

• 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 visible on screen but will be able ask questions via the Q&A function or interact via the chat box
• 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.