Society of Authors election results!

Juliet November 4, 2021 1 Comment

Today’s big news is that I have been elected to the Society of Authors Management Committee for a three year term. I joined the Society in 1997, when I was offered my first publishing contract and benefited immediately from expert advice. I have found membership invaluable ever since in dealing with the vagaries of this business through decades of constant change.

Experience has shown me the importance of writers staying informed about changes in publishing and bookselling. It’s vital to keep up-to-date with new technologies which offer us new options when publishers’ and retailers’ decisions serve their own interests but adversely affect authors. The VATMOSS/VATMESS saga also showed me it is essential for authors to advocate for themselves at the very highest levels, and taught me effective ways to do that.

I look forward to working with everyone else on the committee and in the Society in the interests of writers of all genres in these intensely challenging times. If you voted for me, thank you! You may rest assured that I’m mindful of the trust that those SFFH authors who gave me their vote have placed in me. Something I’m particularly keen to explore is the Society’s relationship with the writers who work primarily with small and genre presses.

And overall, what’s good for writers should benefit readers as well. That’s certainly my aim. It’s going to be an interesting next few years

Author: Juliet

Juliet E McKenna is a British fantasy author living in the Cotswolds, UK. Loving history, myth and other worlds since she first learned to read, she has written fifteen epic fantasy novels so far. Her debut, The Thief’s Gamble, began The Tales of Einarinn in 1999, followed by The Aldabreshin Compass sequence, The Chronicles of the Lescari Revolution, and The Hadrumal Crisis trilogy. The Green Man’s Heir was her first modern fantasy inspired by British folklore in 2018. The Green Man’s Quarry in 2023, the sixth title to follow, won the BSFA Award for Best Novel. The Green Man’s War continues this ongoing series. Her 2023 novel The Cleaving is a female-centred retelling of the story of King Arthur, while her shorter stories include forays into dark fantasy, steampunk and science fiction. She promotes SF&Fantasy by reviewing, by blogging on book trade issues, attending conventions and teaching creative writing. She has served as a judge for the James White Award, the Aeon Award, the Arthur C Clarke Award and the World Fantasy Awards. In 2015 she received the British Fantasy Society’s Karl Edward Wagner Award. As J M Alvey, she has written historical murder mysteries set in ancient Greece.