2025–28 Strategic Plan and Priorities Share on Twitter (opens in a new tab) on Facebook (opens in a new tab) on Linkedin (opens in a new tab) via email Joint Mission of the Authors Guild and Authors Guild FoundationTo serve as the champions and guardians of U.S. writers, the writing profession, and our literary culture. Who we are We are an association of thousands of writers and their supporters working together to ensure the future of our literary culture. The Authors Guild was founded more than a century ago on the belief that writers must stand together to defend our rights. What we do The Authors Guild and Authors Guild Foundation together protect writers’ legal rights to copyright, free speech, and fair contracts. We foster a robust and expansive literary culture across all genres, voices, and views. Why We believe that a thriving literary culture that represents all genres, voices, and views, free from the censorship of government and impoverishment, is essential to an robust society. How We lobby, litigate, and advocate to defend the rights of all authors and journalists to free expression, copyright protection, and fair payment. We empower writers with the information, resources, legal support, and community they need to succeed in today’s shifting publishing industry. As industry watchdogs, we ensure that authors are treated fairly so they can keep writing. Through our public programming, we celebrate writers and the transformative power of stories and narratives, and we illuminate the importance of writers as thinkers, truth-tellers, storytellers, and keepers of human memory. Plans for 2025-28 Today, the writing profession is facing several existential threats at once. Free speech is under attack from local, state, and federal governments. Overbroad book banning laws drive down book sales, while baseless defamation lawsuits, revocation of grants, and other retaliatory actions are meant to censor authors. At the same time, generative AI machines built on pirated works without compensation enable anyone to plagiarize professional writers with the click of a few buttons, threatening to flood the marketplace, steal sales from human authors, and devalue all books. Those same machines are already being used to replace journalists, copywriters, blog writers, copy editors, and other jobs on which writers depend for a living. All this on top of the explosion of piracy, scams, and other abuses against authors unleashed in the digital age. Over the next few years, the Authors Guild and the Foundation will focus on protecting the health and future of the writing profession from the myriad challenges, including unlicensed and unregulated generative AI systems, attacks on writers’ free speech, overbroad laws and regulations that force self-censorship, digital piracy, and the growing number of sketchy and criminal enterprises that take advantage of authors. We will also promote reading and buying books. Our planned initiatives and priorities are set forth below, knowing that we will have to remain flexible as new obstacles present themselves. Pictured (L–R): Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger, author David Baldacci, and Authors Guild President W. Ralph Eubanks following Baldacci’s AI testimony before Congress We fight for authors’ rights to free expression, copyright protection, and fair payment to empower writers to write what they choose, free from the censorship of governments, corporations, and impoverishment. In 2025–28, we will focus in particular on the following areas and initiatives: Fight government attacks on free speech and unconstitutional actions that harm writers through public advocacy, lobbying and strategic litigation. We will also keep authors and journalists informed of their rights and what they need to know to protect themselves from attacks on free speech and confidentiality of their sources and notes, threats to immigration status, and cuts to federally funded programs. Ensure the future of the writing profession in the age of AI. Through litigation, lobbying, government consultations, and advancement of new business models, the Authors Guild will continue to work to ensure that the profession of writing remains alive and vibrant in the age of AI. Fight book banning. Fight book banning in schools and libraries across the country by working with coalitions to bring strategic litigation and by mobilizing authors to fight bans in their communities. Protect authors against piracy and systematic copyright infringement. Work on legislation to assist in taking down pirate websites, bring litigation against infringers, and keep authors informed of current piracy channels and practices and how to protect their rights. Continue to hold industry accountable. One of the Guild’s most important functions is—and will continue to be—to serve as a watchdog and, wherever authors are not being treated fairly by industry players, take action to ensure equitable treatment so that they can keep writing. We will continue to strengthen and diversify our membership and grow awareness of the Guild so that we serve authors of all genres and all backgrounds. We aim to make authors throughout the country aware of our services and advocacy and to increase our overall membership numbers by at least 1,000 new members per year. In addition to ensuring ongoing, excellent service to our members, we will: Strengthen our web, social media, outreach, and general media presence so that authors are aware of our resources for all stages of their careers, and have the opportunity to learn of and support our advocacy initiatives. Strengthen member engagement through volunteer opportunities, in-person meetings, and regional chapter activities across the country. Actively listen to and engage with authors’ concerns through: An open-door policy that encourages members to reach out to us Our Council and Board’s ambassadorship to the author community Working with chapter chairs and other ambassadors to engage members throughout the country Social media More frequent member meetings, including in-person meetings Maintain and continue to improve excellent member services: The Authors Guild is the premier organization that writers turn to when they need professional advice, support, and community. We will continue to empower authors with the legal assistance, information, tools, and resources they need to thrive professionally. Specifically, we will: Augment our resource library with additional written, audio, and video content, including advice and answers to frequent author questions on business- related issues, and make sure all content is SEO friendly to attract visitors to our site. Produce unique, high-value educational content on the business and legal aspects of the writing profession, including at least 30 educational webinars annually, with the consistent goal of curating a wide range of speakers and reaching wide audiences to ensure we help all writers, including those with the least access to publishing. Provide superior, always-improving legal services, web services, insurance services, and other member benefits. Increase awareness of our mission and the importance of authors: We will continue to increase and improve our external communications, public outreach, and public literary programming in order to build greater awareness about our organization and impact. We will: Build a more visible online presence and improve our public communications and awareness campaigns so the public understands what is at stake and what we are doing to protect authors and the work they create. Present a bold, creative mix of programs, including interviews, conversations, readings, and online classes to celebrate writers, the transformative power of stories and narratives, and the greatest thinkers of our time.
