Authors call for boycott of festivals that do not pay

Joanne Harris and Linda Grant among signatories of letter saying authors have been giving services for free for too long

Joanne Harris, who signed Amanda Craig’s letter saying: ‘Writing is a vocation but it is also a profession.’ Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian

Nadia Khomami - The Guardian Friday 15 January 2016 

The fight to ensure literary festivals pay authors appearing at their events has gained momentum after a number of prominent writers, including Linda Grant, Denisa Mina, Joanne Harris and Francesca Simon, signed an open letter calling on publishers and writers to boycott festivals that do not pay them.
The letter, written by Amanda Craig and signed by 30 authors, came shortly after Philip Pullman resigned as patron of the Oxford literary festival over his view that authors appearing at the event “are expected to work for nothing”.

Bestselling writer says organisers ‘expecting authors to work for free’ conflicts with his role as president of society that campaigns for author wages.

Published on Friday in the Bookseller magazine, the letter states: “For too long, authors have been persuaded to give our services to the public for free – even though the public is paying in good faith to see us. We are the only people at festivals who are not paid, and yet without us the festivals could not exist.

More