In an extraordinary and unprecedented display of concerted action, authors' organisations have joined together to present a simultaneous major challenge to publishers. Read more
In an extraordinary change of approach, Nicola Solomon, the Secretary of the UK Society of Authors, has attacked publishers, saying that ‘Traditional publishing is 'no longer fair or sustainable'. Read more
After eight years of litigation over Google's scanning of more than 20 million books in libraries, Judge Denny Chin has come down in their favour: Read more
The Authors Guild of America, with four authors, has taken the extraordinary step of filing a class action suit against Google over its unauthorised scanning and copying of books through its Google Library programme. Read more
The used book debate is hotting up. After Jeff Bezos of Amazon sent an email to thousands who had sold second-hand books through the online retailer, over 4,000 of them emailed the Writers Guild of AmericaAssociation of writers in motion picture, broadcast, cable and new media. http://www.wga.org. As expressed by Nick Turner, the President of the Guild, its view was that: Read more
A survey by the Authors Guild of its members earlier this month found a majority of authors had already lost significant income due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The Guild received 940 responses to its survey and asked if income from any source declined in recent weeks due to the crisis, 54% responded "yes," compared to 45% who responded "no."
The outcry from publisher and author groups has been swift and furious after the Internet Archive announced last week the launch of it's National Emergency Library, which has removed access restrictions for some 1.4 million scans of mostly 20th century books in the IA's Open Library initiative, making the scans available for unlimited borrowing during the Covid-19 Outbreak.
In a ringing endorsement, the United States' leading author-advocacy trade organization, the Authors Guild, today (April 29) has issued a statement in support of author Nora Roberts' lawsuit against an alleged Brazilian plagiarist. Read more
In an effort to gather as much information as possible about how much authors earned in 2017, the Authors Guild conducted its largest income survey ever last summer, reaching beyond the guild's own members to include 14 other writing and publishing organizations. Read more
Amazon has called the conclusions of a recent report into US author earnings flawed, after the Authors Guild suggested that the retail giant's dominance could be partly responsible for the "a crisis of epic proportions" affecting writers in the US. Read more
In one of those quirky coincidences of news coverage, a familiar number has arisen in the top-line reporting from the United States' Authors Guild about author incomes.
Since 2009, their newly released report says, median incomes for authors from writing have fallen by 42 percent. Read more
An Authors Guild statement frames a week that includes both Simon & Schuster's release of a controversial Trump tell-all and a coordinated exercise of resistance in the news media to Donald Trump's attacks.
After polling 1,674 Guild members, Mary Rasenberger, executive editor at the Authors Guild, created a splash a few weeks ago by claiming that most of its members' annual earnings were below the federal poverty level of $11,670. She spread the blame around: bookstore closures, the rise of Amazon, publisher consolidations, and the low royalties authors receive from publishers. Read more
In the fourth installment of its Fair Contract Initiative, first introduced at BookExpo AmericaBookExpo America, commonly referred to within the book publishing industry as BEA. The largest annual book trade fair in the United States, the Authors Guild took a deep dive into contract time limits, subrights, and out of print clauses. The latest entry, called "A Publishing Contract Should Not Be Forever," was posted on Guild's website Tuesday morning. Read more
The Authors Guild and its allies have recently appealed to the Department of Justice to investigate Amazon's possible monopoly control of the book business. It is hard to quarrel with the fact that Amazon delivers more of the publishing output to consumers than any single account ever has and that they are, inevitably, changing the economics of the business as a result. Read more
The Authors Guild has outlined some of the "egregious terms" of current contract boilerplates it plans to address in its Fair Contract Initiative, first announced May 28 during BookExpo AmericaBookExpo America, commonly referred to within the book publishing industry as BEA. The largest annual book trade fair in the United States.
In its launch statement, the guild said that while "times have changed in the world of publishing...the "standard" book contract has not kept up". Read more