Anna brings 19 years of experience at the Society of Authors to the role of Chief Executive. Responsible for overseeing the running of the organisation, Anna took over from Nicola Solomon in April 2024 to drive the SoA’s mission of empowering and supporting authors. 

Working closely with the SoA’s board of directors (Management Committee), Anna ensures that SoA’s activities and campaigns are aligned with the SoA’s core values of equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility. She is currently the staff contact for the Authors’ Living with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses Network, and part of Camden Council’s Inclusive Business Network.

Born in Sunderland, Anna grew up on the north-east coast. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Durham and her MA in Management from Durham Business School. She is married with two children and a very naughty dog. When not working, Anna enjoys swimming, walks in the countryside and the occasional blast on the trumpet. 

A book that has inspired: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (penguin.co.uk)

LinkedIn: Anna Ganley

Sarah Burton leads the advisory team and advises members on all business aspects of the writing profession, including vetting contracts. She also works across the SoA’s list of literary estates, licensing rights in titles by authors such as Brendan Behan, Rose Macaulay and John Masefield. As co-coordinator of the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group, she has a particular interest in industry issues affecting creators of children’s books.

Lisa manages our literary estates and advises members on a wide range of publishing contracts and issues.

She is joint coordinator of the Comics Creators Network.

Sophia curates and delivers the SoA events programme. She supports our team of community coordinators and is a coordinator herself, for the Scriptwriters Group. Sophia launched the #SoAatHome festival of online events in April 2020 which continues to be a success.

In 2021 Sophia was named a Rising Star by The Bookseller.

Peter Kennedy joined the SoA in December 2019 as our Head of Member Services. He is responsible for the Membership team and services. He is currently project-managing our CRM database replacement project.

Katharine joined the SoA in 2019. As Chief Financial Officer, Katharine is part of the senior management team and is responsible for managing the financial actions of the SoA. This includes financial planning, budgeting, and managing cashflows, as well as preparing and analysing the quarterly Management Accounts taking into account the external economic environment.

Katharine manages the finance and accounting for the SoA ensuring that all the SoA’s financial reports are accurate and completed in a timely manner.

Additionally, Katharine manages the finances of 14 charitable funds. She is also responsible for overseeing the annual audits, tax, payroll, compliance and dealing with all financial requests.

She is joint coordinator of the Comics Creators Network.

Robyn joined the SoA in 2018. Along with the prizes and grants team, she administers 21 prizes for fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and translation. She also oversees the contingency fund grants for authors in need, and the Authors’ Foundation and K Blundell Trust grants for works in progress. Overall, the SoA awards just over £900,000 in awards and grants annually, and Robyn is always looking for funding to expand these lists.

Robyn was named a Rising Star by The Bookseller in 2019.

Martin leads the Communications team. He oversees the SoA’s strategic communications and campaign-based activities, including PR, social media, events and partnerships.