Age Guidance on Children's Books

Members may already be aware of the well-publicised opposition from many children's authors and illustrators to the initiative of publishers who plan to introduce age guidance on the back of some children's books during 2008.

The History Press - Feedback from members

For much of last year authors and agents had great difficulty with the various imprints owned by NPI, including Sutton and Tempus. Royalties were long overdue, a good many members of staff left and communications were very poor. We pressed NPI very publicly to honour its commitments and improve its performance.

In late 2007 NPI went into administration, as did Sutton and Tempus. The History Press was, formed on 18th December and purchased some assets of the companies. Tony Morris is in charge of the Press; Alan Sutton is no longer involved.

In early June we invited members to report briefly on their recent experiences with the History Press. The range of comments received has been remarkably wide...

Free Tax Helpline and Guide for Members

The Society is always pleased to give members routine advice on tax queries - particularly over the tax treatment of professional writers.

In addition, HW Fisher, a firm of chartered accountants specialising in the tax affairs of writers, is now providing a Tax Helpline, free of charge to Society members.

To accompany the helpline, HW Fisher have also produced The Authors' and Freelance Journalists' Guide to Tax 2008, which is available to download (together with our full series of Quick Guides) in the members area of this site.

For further information or to download your copy, please log-in to the members area and click on the 'Quick Guides' link.

Alternately, if you prefer a free printed copy, please contact the Marketing Department at HW Fisher & Co Ltd, Acre House, 11-15 William Road, London, NW1 3ER, tel: 020 7388 7848, email: info@hwfisher.co.uk

Writer in Residence at Genomics Forum, Edinburgh

The Genomics Forum, part of the Economic and Social Research Council, are looking for a creative writer to continue the established residency based at The University of Edinburgh.

Hachette v Amazon

Authors published by the Hachette Group were recently sent a letter by Tim Hely Hutchinson, the Group Chief Executive, briefing them about a dispute with Amazon over terms.  Amazon has been pressing, once again, to increase the discount that it receives; Hachette is determined to resist making further concessions. 

Pearson Royalties

Following the concerns expressed by the Society recently, we had a meeting with Philip Rowe (Pearson’s Royalty Manager). 

School Librarians of the Year 2008

The six  SLA Honour List School Librarians of the Year 2008 enjoyed tea at the House of Commons after the award ceremony at One Birdcage Walk on 7th May.

Between them the six librarians honoured demonstrated a range of the very best practice to be seen in our school libraries. Teaching staff, in all six schools,  said that they often ran to the library for help and advice – over a friendly cup of tea or coffee – so it seemed appropriate that Anne Snelgrove MP presented each of the librarians with a House of Commons mug!

Take part in the Digital Lives Research Project

Digital Lives: Helping People to Capture and Secure their Individual Memories, their Personal Creativity, their Shared Historic Moments

Increasingly, our family memories, our personal achievements, our experiences of historical events, are being facilitated and recorded digitally.

Digital Lives is a pathfinding research project that is setting out to understand how individuals retain and manage their personal collections of computerised information - everything from digital photographs and videos to favourite podcasts and sentimental email messages - and how these digital collections can best be captured in the first place and preserved in the long term, perhaps for family history, biographical or other purposes.

HarperCollins secures assets from The Friday Project

It has been reported in The Bookseller that HarperCollins has finally acquired certain assets from The Friday Project, two months after it went into administration.

For the latest information from The Bookseller click here

JK Rowling's Litigation in America

There has been a good deal of press coverage of the litigation in New York, in which JK Rowling is attempting to prevent publication of a book, the Harry Potter Lexicon. A few commentators have expressed surprise that she should wish to stop the publication of a book developed from an internet fan site, suggesting that she has been unwise to react so firmly.

The 'Save Kids' TV' viral film hits the BBC

Wombles with American accents feature in the latest part of the campaign to Save British Kids' TV.

As part of its campaign to save British-made children's programmes, PACT (the UK trade association representing independent film, TV, children's, animation and interactive media companies) has released a viral film starring much-loved characters The Wombles.

The hilarious sketch, featuring the Bad Ass Wombles is set in Central Park, New York and aims to highlight the effects of US imports on children’s programming in the UK.

PFD update

The press had a field day reporting on the many defections of agents from PFD, which had been one of Britain's biggest and most successful literary agencies. The steady stream of news has made entertaining copy for readers, but the civil war which has been tearing the agency apart has been - and remains - profoundly unsettling for its clients.

New award for educational writing - £2,000

The Society of Authors is instigating a new award for educational writing, to be sponsored by the ALCS.  

Discovered Authors

We have been informed that some authors have experienced difficulties with Discovered Authors, which recently moved and can now be contacted on 0844 800 5215 (Author Management) or 0844 800 5216 (Graham Miller). If you require further advice, please contact the Society.

Save PLR funding - sign the petition

In the autumn, the Society's Chair, Tracy Chevalier, wrote to the Secretary of the State, James Purnell, urging him to ensure that Public Lending Right was given priority in the Spending Review.  She received a reply after Christmas from the Minister, Margaret Hodge, saying: 'I am pleased to tell you that we have secured what I believe is a positive outcome for PLR in a tough spending round'.  Those optimistic sentiments were not matched by the facts.

The Children's Writers and Illustrators Group Conference

Robinson College, Cambridge

Friday 29th August - Sunday 31st August 2008

Places at the conference are filling up fast, book now to avoid missing the CWIG event of the year!

The London Magazine continues to thrive...

...but they need your support to keep it going.

As you may be aware, the Arts Council has refused The London Magazine's grant application. As a consequence of this Sebastian Barker felt that he had been forced to resign from his editorial position at The London Magazine.

Copyright registration services

A number of new websites have been drawn to our attention recently, offering to 'register authors' copyrights' in return for a modest (or in some cases not so modest) fee.

The Authors' Awards 2008

The 2008 prize winners were announced on Wednesday 18th June at the annual Literary Awards Reception.

More than £70,000 in prize money was presented to twenty-three writers at a reception held in the Great Hall at Bart’s in West Smithfield.

The awards were introduced by the Chair of the Society of Authors, Tracy Chevalier, and presented by Terry Pratchett.