Industry & Advocacy News
April 28, 2010
April 28, 2010. At the annual meeting of the Authors Guild in New York yesterday, members elected Scott Turow as their president and Judy Blume as their vice president. Meg Cabot, Michelle Richmond and T.J. Stiles joined the Guild’s executive Council. Roy Blount Jr. concluded his presidency of the Authors Guild, the largest organization of published book authors in the U.S., after serving four years.
During his term, Mr. Blount oversaw the negotiation of a landmark settlement with Google, which, if approved, would open up new markets for authors of out-of-print books. He also guided Authors Guild positions and initiatives on many issues involving e-book rights and electronic royalties, including the Guild’s backing of the so-called agency model for the sale of e-books and the Guild’s launch — during the showdown between Macmillan and Amazon — of the Who Moved My Buy Button? website to allow authors to keep track of their “buy buttons” at Amazon.
“See this Google thing through, make sure Amazon doesn’t take over the book industry, find out why e-book royalty rates are so shamefully low, and keep the digital pirates at bay,” Mr. Blount advised Mr. Turow. “The rest should take care of itself.”
“Roy’s done a tremendous job, and has kept the Authors Guild in the thick of things during a time of rapid change in book publishing,” said Mr. Turow. “It’s the Guild’s job to do what it can to make sure authors are fairly paid for their work. Roy certainly has kept the Guild focused on that. For authors, as the book industry continues its digital transformation, the challenges are only going to build. Authors are going to need every source of income they can get.”
Guild members re-elected Peter Petre as treasurer and Pat Cummings as secretary, and re-elected Council members Barbara Taylor Bradford, Susan Cheever, James Gleick, John R. (Rick) MacArthur and Jean Strouse. On Monday, the Guild’s Council appointed Michelle Richmond to fill a vacancy on the board.
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Scott Turow is a writer and attorney. He is the author of eight best-selling works of fiction, including his first novel, Presumed Innocent (1987) and the forthcoming sequel, Innocent, to be published by Grand Central Publishing in May, 2010. He has also written two non-fiction books about his experiences in the law. More…
Judy Blume’s twenty-eight titles range from picture books to bestselling novels, including Wifey, Smart Women, and Summer Sisters. She is perhaps best known for her books for young people, among them Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Tiger Eyes, Forever, and the Fudge books. More…
Meg Cabot is the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty-five series and books for both adults and tweens/teens, selling over fifteen million copies worldwide. Meg is currently writing a middle grade series called Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls,as well the Heather Wells mystery series for adult readers. More…
Michelle Richmond is the author of the New York Times and international bestseller The Year of Fog, No One You Know, Dream of the Blue Room, and the award-winning story collection The Girl in the Fall-Away Dress. More…
T.J. Stiles is the author of The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2009 National Book Award for Nonfiction, and Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War. More…
Photos and biographies are available here.