Society of Authors

The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyone who creates work for publication, broadcast or performance" and the society both gives individual advice and 'voices concerns' about 'authors’ rights, the publishing and creative industries and wider cultural matters.' In 2024 membership stood at 12,500.The SoA is a company on the special register body and an affiliated trade union.

Members of SoA have included Tennyson (first president), George Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy, Alasdair Gray, John Edward Masefield, Thomas Hardy, H. G. Wells, J. M. Barrie and E. M. Forster. Contemporary members include Malorie Blackman, Philip Gross, and Lemn Sissay.