Authors working together to ensure fair pay, protect copyright, and defend free speech. Where Writers Become Authors Our mission is to support working writers. We advocate for the rights of writers by supporting free speech, fair contracts, and copyright. We create community and we fight for a living wage. The Authors Guild is the nation's oldest and largest professional organization for writers. Since its beginnings over a century ago, we have served as the collective voice of American authors. Our members include novelists, historians, journalists, and poets—traditionally and independently published—as well as literary agents and representatives of writers' estates. The Guild advocates for authors on issues of copyright, fair contracts, free speech and tax fairness, and has initiated lawsuits in defense of authors' rights, where necessary. We represent authors on the Hill, in state legislatures, and in government agencies.