“The advice and help that the Society's staff dispense, and the weight of experience that they can bring to bear, are immensely valuable. A subscription to the Society is the greatest investment any writer can make.”
- Philip Pullman
The Society of Authors is a non-profit making organisation, founded in 1884,
“to protect the rights and further the interests of authors”
Text size:
- 
- 
Publications
The Society has a number of Quick Guides and Occasional Papers that answer common queries.
Members of the Society can download the full text of all Quick Guides and Occasional Papers by logging into the members-only section of the website.
Our Permissions Quick Guide, Occasional Paper on Vanity Publishing/Subsidy Publishing and Print on Demand (POD) guide are available on this website. Basic copyright queries are covered in our New Writer FAQs.
The following Guides are available free to members, £10 post free to non-members:
- Publishing Contracts
- Electronic Publishing Contracts
- Translation Contracts
The following Guides are available free to members, £7.50 post free to non-members:
- Self Publishing and Print-on-Demand
- Author Appearances at Schools, Colleges, Festivals and Libraries
The following Guides are available free to members, £5 post free to non-members:
- Ghost Writing/Collaboration Contracts
- Indexing Your Book
- Bringing a Small Claim in the County Court
The following Guides are free to members, £2 post free to non-members
- Copyright and Moral Rights
- The Protection of Titles
- Your Copyrights After Your Death
- Permissions
- Copyright in Artistic Works including Photographs
- Value Added Tax
- Income Tax
- Libel
- Authors' Agents
- Literary Translation
- Marketing Your Book
- Dealing with Newspapers and Magazines
The following Occasional Papers are free to members, £1 post free to non-members
- Film Options on Literary Properties
- Vanity/Subsidy Publishing and Self-Publishing
- Packaged Books and Co-Editions
To request any of the above, please email us. If you are not a member, please send your order to Publications, The Society of Authors, 84 Drayton Gardens, London SW10 9SB, enclosing a cheque made payable to The Society of Authors.