At its annual meeting, Authors Guild members elected Roxana Robinson as their president, succeeding Scott Turow. Judy Blume, Richard Russo, and James Shapiro will serve as v-p's.

During his four year term, Turow oversaw “orphan works” lawsuits against Google and HathiTrust. Courts ruled against the Guild in the cases in 2012 and 2013, and the Guild is appealing both decisions.

“American writing is alive and well," said Turow at the meeting. "There is no question about the vitality of our literary community or the vitality of the literary impulse in the United States. There will always be authors, there will always books. We need to continue the struggle in order to protect writing as a livelihood.” Robinson is the author of five novels, three collections of short stories, and a biography, Georgia O’Keeffe: A Life, which was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award.


After her election, Robinson commented that “As writers, we are living in very interesting times. The challenges are huge, and I am thrilled to be a part of it all.”

In addition, CJ Lyons, a former pediatric ER doctor and New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-one novels, joined the Guild's executive council, becoming the first self-published author on the Guild's board. Guild members re-elected Peter Petre as treasurer and Pat Cummings as secretary, and re-elected Council members Peter Gethers, Annette Gordon-Reed, Nicholas Lemann, Douglas Preston, Michelle Richmond, Cathleen Schine, and Monique Truong.