Why I appreciate the Society of Authors

 

Gatekeepers

I joined the Society of Authors in 2001. I’d been writing semi-seriously since 1988 and very seriously since 1998. The very week I graduated from my MA in Writing for Children (Winchester) I sent ten ideas to a new educational publisher, thinking they might ask me to develop a couple of them.  They actually accepted all ten and that was my ticket to becoming a member of the Society of Authors. I had my first publishing contract. It was a milestone. The Society was a strong gatekeeper and I had a pass in.

How I’ve benefited

My first trade book was published in 2003.  And that was also the first time I used the Society’s contract vetting service. My contract had looked fine to me but they pointed out such things as it didn’t say my name would be on the spine of the book and it didn’t indicate how long they were taking the rights for. I was able to get back to the publisher and they happily agreed to a few changes.

 In addition:

·         I’ve been able to join some very informative specialist groups – educational writers, children’s writers and academic writers.

·         I’ve attended some excellent sessions in London, Manchester an in other places in the north where I now live.

·         I’ve joined regional and town groups - Society of Authors North and Society of Authors Manchester.  I was formerly part of a central south group.

·         There is a fantastic amount of information on the web site.

·         I’m able to list all of my works on the web site and advertise myself as a creative practitioner.

·         There are some good deals on public liability insurance, indemnity insurance and now health insurance. I get my public liability insurance through another organisation and I’m too rickety to benefit from health insurance - too many pre-existing conditions but I do use the public indemnity insurance.  

·         Lots of discounts in bookshops and magazine subscriptions, accommodation, at the moment Specsavers

·         Most importantly the society acts as our trade union and the work they do in looking after our rights and livelihoods is tremendous.

·         We receive a print publication and frequent emails (from the main group and the sub-groups) that keeps us informed about the world of publishing and writing.   

A special relationship ALCS / Society of Authors

The ALCS collects some foreign Public Lending Right fees and fees from broadcasting and photo copying our work. Each year what I earn from that more than covers my SoA membership fee. The ALCS is also a very informative organisation. Your SoA fee covers ALCS membership. You should register all of your books with both ALCS and the Society of Authors – and of course with PublicLending Right UK and Ireland.

Special work during the pandemic

The Society of Authors has put on several on-line sessions, most of them free of charge though we are invited to donate to the Authors’ Contingency Fund. Also books associated with every talk hare available from the on-line shop and a percentage here also goes to the Authors’ Contingency Fund.

Last night was the AGM. It was hit by a technical issue for the first ten minutes or so but that was soon sorted out and it all worked very well indeed.  We even went into break out rooms at the end and I was involved in a lively discussion about whether we should include the pandemic in our writing.    

If you’re a writer you should join. There are now also student and emerging writer memberships for those who are not yet published.                  

Libraries

I visited my local library yesterday. It felt good. I’ve joined, and I took out my twelve books. Now, I’m white and middle class. I have a vested interest in literature because of my writing and because of teaching at a university. I probably actually need my local library a lot less than some other people. I tend to buy books – I have 60 unread on shelves in my bedroom at the moment. I’m going to get a Kindle soon, so that will be another format. I get plenty of reading anyway from my students and the work I edit for Bridge House and The Red Telephone. And now I have an extra twelve books to read. I shall read them, alternating with my bought books.
My point is, that whoever said that libraries were the preserve of the white middle class has it slightly wrong. Radcliffe library was buzzing yesterday: pensioners, children doing homework, people looking up local information, using the computers and one or two reading newspapers while I suspect the other half was shopping. And despite this being Radcliffe, those people were not all white.
Going to the library brought back memories. First of all of being a child and later a sixth-former and using West Bromwich library to bits. Radcliffe library is in a rather grand building. West Bromwich is in an even grander one.
I was reminded too of visits to the library with my children who owned plenty of books but needed even more and relished our fortnightly Saturday morning visits. That particular library was housed in a converted chapel that added to the charm.
I love visiting bookshops, but libraries are somehow even better. The book carries with it the history of all the people who have borrowed it and of the care with which the librarians have chosen it and shelved it. And I smile as I think of the writer who might get some PLR because I have borrowed their book and hope that somebody is borrowing mine.
I always work in Bolton library while my car is being serviced. There is a great study area there, a good selection of books and a busy but studious atmosphere. Oh, and by the way, I’m usually the only white, middle class, working-age person there.
I had a vision yesterday of being retired – if they ever allow my husband and me to do that – and making a monthly trip – or even going more frequently – to the Radcliffe library. It would be unthinkable for it not to be there. It is well-stocked, though the non-fiction would not meet all of my needs. Maybe Bury would be better.
Yes, there is certainly still a need for libraries. The way they are used may change slightly: these days you can renew online and they will soon be lending out e-books. The shelves of books, however, must remain

Academic Writing

There was an interesting article in the ACLS magazine recently about academic writing. Academic writers anyway seem to be paid a salary for having ideas so don’t so much need to be paid for their writing. In fact their writing is a way of spreading their ideas.
I’m a rather unusual creature, in that I research and teach in “creative writing” so much of my work has a commercial presence as well. My work is not too commercial, however, as it includes a good degree of experiment. And so it should if it’s part of the learning offered at university.
I do get a ALCS payment and a PLR payment each year. Both are mainly to do with two books and yet I have over 30 in print. We were surveyed by ALCS here at the university last year. A fascinating process. Every time we photocopied something we had to copy the title page and say how many of which pages we’d used.
A friend of mine has published her novel an e-book and is giving it away for a few weeks. It’s gong well.
I expect once the e-book-reader technology settles down it will become popular with academics. I’m personally looking forward to that.
All food for thought.