Anyone who's been following the meltdowns at the SoA will know there's a big gap left where SoA used to stand. The FSU have now stepped in.
From yesterday's newsletter:
It has become increasingly clear to us that freedom of expression is under severe pressure within the literary world, with publishers and literary agents often failing to defend their authors when their speech rights come under attack.
Some of the threats our writer members have flagged up include:
- Publishers including morality clauses in contracts.
- Sensitivity readers vetting manuscripts.
- Editors removing content to avoid giving offense (e.g., ‘cultural appropriation’).
- Bookshops refusing to stock books or, if they do, their employees refusing to display them properly.
- Authors being no-platformed from speaking events, such as literary festivals, at the behest of other authors, sponsors or venue staff.
[...]
To better support our writer members, the FSU will:
- Ensure that a member of our case team specialises in protecting them from the kinds of censorship listed above and is always available at the end of the phone.
- Cultivate good working relationships with third party providers of specialist advice to authors on issues such as contracts, tax and insurance.
All of these services will be provided either pro bono or at a below market rate to our writer members. In addition, any writers who join the FSU will have access to all the usual [FSU membership] benefits.