{"id":55012,"date":"2025-08-09T08:55:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T08:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/55012\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T08:55:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T08:55:13","slug":"how-the-unbound-revolution-b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/55012\/","title":{"rendered":"how the Unbound revolution b…"},"content":{"rendered":"

The revolution started in a small writer\u2019s shed in 2011, amid the deck chairs, tents and bunting of the Hay festival, the highlight of the literary calendar. The talk was of shooting a rocket through the world of publishing.<\/p>\n

Three friends \u2013 John Mitchinson, Justin Pollard and Dan Kieran \u2013 were launching a new company, one that they hoped would \u201cdemocratise the book commissioning process\u201d, with authors pitching their ideas directly to readers, who would choose whether or not to invest. Writers would crowdfund and profits would be split 50:50 between publisher and author \u2013 far more generous terms than the 10% royalties usually offered by others.<\/p>\n

It would be author-led, author-first, the founders said. It would be a way for books that would otherwise be passed over by the old-school editors in traditional publishing houses to find their audience, and fly.<\/p>\n

Over 14 years, that company, Unbound, published titles including Nikesh Shukla\u2019s The Good Immigrant, Kit De Waal\u2019s Common People and the Booker-longlisted novel The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth. Film rights for The Wake were optioned by actor Mark Rylance, one of the book\u2019s original supporter-investors. The Good Immigrant was supported by the likes of David Nicholls, JK Rowling and Jonathan Coe. All three were seen as titles that would have been overlooked by the publishing establishment.<\/p>\n

When Cain\u2019s Jawbone, a 90-year-old murder mystery created by former Observer crossword setter Edward Powys Mathers, was re-published by Unbound in 2019, thanks in part to viral TikTok videos, it became a breakout hit and, according to the company\u2019s directors, propelled Unbound into profit for the first time.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Good Immigrant, published by Unbound, was supported by David Nicholls, JK Rowling and Jonathan Coe<\/p>\n

While the company had the shine of a tech startup, it also cultivated the prestige of a traditional publisher, with London offices at various times in Soho and St James\u2019s. Mitchinson would go on to be the longest-serving member of the team, with Pollard stepping back from the company in 2014, and Kieran, who served as CEO from the start until March 2022. Mitchinson commanded great respect in the literary community, with a long career in publishing and entertainment, including as marketing director at Waterstones and head researcher on the brainy BBC gameshow QI. Many of Unbound\u2019s authors and staff members named him as a key factor in their desire to work with the firm.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s model felt risk-free, many authors said. If the crowdfunding campaign gained enough supporters, they would write the book. If it didn\u2019t, they had lost some time spent drumming up support, but not much else.<\/p>\n

But in March this year, Unbound went into administration, owing nearly \u00a32.5m to creditors. Hundreds of authors claim they are collectively owed more than \u00a3600,000. Some individuals say they are owed tens of thousands of pounds each. They have been told by Unbound\u2019s administrators they are unlikely to ever see that money. Last week, the company\u2019s trading successor, Boundless Publishing Group Limited, also ceased trading. It is understood staff were told on Friday they were being made redundant.<\/p>\n

The Observer spoke to 15 authors and seven former members of staff, as well as other people in the publishing industry, about what went wrong at Unbound. According to documents seen by The Observer, there was some financial disorganisation at the company dating back to at least 2018, indicators of cash flow problems, concerns about alleged discrepancies in sales figures, and evidence of the company seemingly selling books to which it no longer held the rights. Records seen by The Observer also appear to show missing pension contributions.<\/p>\n

In statements provided to administrators, the company\u2019s directors highlighted \u201chistorical poor management of printing costs and associated cash flow, ultimately leading to the company\u2019s inability to sustain its operations\u201d.<\/p>\n

Some authors are now urging the administrators to investigate concerns of possible \u201cdirector misfeasance and breach of creditor duty\u201d, a phrase they used in a letter, questioning whether their royalties were used to cover other business costs, and citing concerns that book sales \u2013 and therefore the money owed to them \u2013 may have been understated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had this reputation as this ethical, groundbreaking, interesting publisher,\u201d says one former staff member. \u201cBut it wasn\u2019t long before I thought: this isn\u2019t quite what it seems on the surface.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Author <\/p>\n

Author Tom Cox, one of Unbound\u2019s success stories, had to chase the publisher for payments<\/p>\n

Tom Cox first published a book with Unbound in 2017. An experimental blend of memoir, nature writing and folklore, 21st-Century Yokel earned glowing reviews.<\/p>\n

He had been working with traditional publishers, but the sort of cross-genre works he wanted to branch out into were deemed too risky. Unbound welcomed them.<\/p>\n

Cox became one of Unbound\u2019s big success stories, publishing multiple books, often meeting his targets within hours of launching a crowdfunding campaign. He enjoyed working with the \u201cgreat editors\u201d assigned to his projects and felt \u201clucky\u201d to be part of the endeavour. \u201cI was not just one of their authors \u2013 I was an evangelist for what they were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

But about three years ago, Cox and his agent started having to chase the company for payments, with royalty statements arriving later than promised.<\/p>\n

Cox was not alone. Canadian author Aaron Reynolds had been approached by Unbound to turn his comic book series, Effin Birds, into a book in 2017. In April 2018, he was promised an imminent \u201cauthor bonus\u201d because his project had been funded so quickly \u2013 but in October 2019, he was still chasing it. In 2019, Reynolds also had to chase his first royalty statement and payment from the company \u2013 due in September. He finally received an email response from a staff member at Unbound in mid-October that read: \u201cI\u2019ve a terrible feeling this fell through the cracks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reynolds says he experienced statement and payment delays over six years and two books, and particular trouble securing statements and payments from the North American sales of his works. In November 2020, he was finally told by Unbound\u2019s finance manager that the company had figured out that his royalty statements from his US\/Canadian publisher Penguin Random House \u201cwere being sent to an old residential address of our CEO\u201d. It is unclear exactly whose house it was sent to. Problems continued into 2023.<\/p>\n

Former staff members say they raised concerns about authors not being paid as early as 2021. \u201cI asked repeatedly whether certain authors had been paid and felt management were fobbing me off,\u201d says one former employee. One senior finance staff member who left in early 2024 said that, to their knowledge, \u201call author payments were up to date\u201d at this point.<\/p>\n

\"Aaron <\/p>\n

Aaron Reynolds believes sales of his second book may have been understated to him by more than 10,000 copies<\/p>\n

Success brought other issues. Multiple authors told The Observer they had problems securing new print runs after their books sold out. A member of Unbound staff told Cox in February 2023 that the \u201cbig hit\u201d Cain\u2019s Jawbone was \u201cstretching\u201d the company and had \u201cslowed up reprints across our other titles\u201d.<\/p>\n

One staff member says there were times, from as early as 2019, when senior colleagues would instruct them to postpone ending unsuccessful crowdfunding campaigns for financial reasons. They claim \u201cstaff would be told, \u2018Can you persuade them to wait a month or two or three?\u2019 Because there wasn\u2019t the money to refund the pledges.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cost of reprints came out of authors\u2019 profits, a detail that some authors and agents allege was not always stated in their contracts. Other expenses, such as marketing, also came out of authors\u2019 profits \u2013 some say they are still unsure how that money was spent. At least eight authors describe receiving their royalty statements and being surprised by deductions or that they had made little profit, despite raising more funding than required or achieving strong sales.<\/p>\n

Some of the most serious accusations levelled against Unbound by authors relate to alleged sales discrepancies. Most authors who spoke to The Observer say they felt that sales and royalty statements were opaque, often changing as the company\u2019s software changed, making it hard to keep track from year to year. Post-insolvency, when some authors requested the remaining copies of their books from warehouses, they say that the numbers available did not square with the sales they believed had been made. Some authors provided statements alongside numbers from North American sales tracking platform Ingram that appear to show differences in sales numbers. Reynolds believes it appears sales of his second book were understated to him by more than 10,000 copies.<\/p>\n

The American author Alex de Campi, who also accessed sales figures via Ingram, believes that the US physical book sales of her novel The Scottish Boy may have been under-reported by nearly 4,000 copies, which she said equates to about \u00a312,450 in royalty payments. Another author who did not want to be named was allegedly told by Unbound that their book did not break even in the US market, yet figures appear to show that it has sold nearly 7,000 copies, making $80,000 in revenue.<\/p>\n

In April 2024, authors began to realise that all was not well. They had been expecting their biannual profit statement and payment that month, but nothing appeared. In some emails, staff pinned the delay on \u201ca new accounting system\u201d. In July 2024, Mitchinson explained to multiple authors that a fundraising round for \u201cdigital initiatives\u201d had hit its \u00a3750,000 target in April, but the funds had not yet materialised. \u201cThis has put our cash flow under intense pressure,\u201d he wrote. Authors should not expect payment until August. In an email sent the same month, he told another author that while some small payments had been made up until May, Unbound had \u201ccertainly not been able to make any payments at all at present\u201d.<\/p>\n

As the year went on, there were some signs of optimism. In September 2024, Unbound announced the relaunch of its online literary magazine, Boundless, and acquired independent publisher Neem Tree Press.<\/p>\n

But for some authors, the promised August money had not materialised. The year\u2019s second royalty statements were now late too. Emails sent to authors in December informed them: \u201cA substantial investment in the business due in October didn\u2019t materialise, putting our cash flow under intense pressure.\u201d Rumours swirled in the industry that the end was nigh. Some authors began reclaiming the rights to their works. Others trusted promises from the company\u2019s leadership that the money was on its way.<\/p>\n

\u2018I realised if a friend wanted to publish a book with Unbound, I would have to say to them: just don\u2019t.\u2019<\/p>\n

Former Unbound employee<\/p>\n

Staff members working at the company in 2024 claim they sometimes couldn\u2019t access internal funds needed to execute planned work. External contractors were saying they hadn\u2019t been paid. \u201cI\u2019d constantly be chasing to try to get them paid,\u201d says one former employee. \u201cI would go to our finance team, sometimes I\u2019d copy in the CEO, but would rarely get an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

In late summer, some staff members started to notice that they were owed money too. Pension contributions had been taken from their monthly pay, but neither this nor the company\u2019s contribution appeared to have been added to their pension pots. Records show that pension payments were not made to some staff members by Unbound in July, August, September, November and December 2024. In an internal message to employees, the company\u2019s finance manager said this had been caused by an expired direct debit and problems reinstating payments originally set up by a former employee. But staff wondered: if this was the case, why had October\u2019s payment seemingly been made without issue?<\/p>\n

When multiple employees flagged the issue, catch-up payments began in 2025. But by the time the company went into administration, two months remained unpaid.<\/p>\n

In a statement to The Observer, Mitchinson said: \u201cI strongly refute any suggestion that Unbound\u2019s senior management or board behaved inappropriately at any point. Unbound went into administration because it ran out of cash when promised investments weren\u2019t made.\u201d Mitchinson has not disclosed the name of the investors who pulled out.<\/p>\n

In December 2024, CEO Will Harris \u2013 in the job since June 2022 \u2013 stepped down, with Archna Sharma, the head of Unbound\u2019s new imprint Neem Tree Press and a former investment banker, stepping into the role. One email from Mitchinson to author De Campi on 23 December said: \u201cWe\u2019re in survival mode at present \u2013 we need \u00a3125k in before the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January this year, some authors received messages saying: \u201cWe remain absolutely committed to paying all of our outstanding debts.\u201d<\/p>\n

But by 10 March, it was over. The company was declared insolvent, and sold for \u00a350,000 through a pre-pack administration process to the newly established Boundless Publishing Group, led by Sharma and Mitchinson.<\/p>\n

Authors were told this would be \u201ca fresh start\u201d \u2013 \u201cyour contract will be honoured and transferred to the new company\u2026 All outstanding monies will be paid.\u201d Many kept faith, believing that this company, whose ethos had always been authors first, would come through.<\/p>\n

In the early hours of 30 May, another email arrived. Addressed from Sharma, it said Boundless had no obligation to pay outstanding royalties \u2013 a legal truth. Days later, Mitchinson and multiple other senior staff members resigned.<\/p>\n

Both authors and ex-staff spoke highly of colleagues and the company\u2019s mission, describing an environment where everyone was passionate about publishing and supporting authors. But many felt disillusioned by the time they exited. \u201cWhen I started, everyone was proud to work there,\u201d said one former worker. \u201cWhen I left, I realised if a friend wanted to publish a book with Unbound, I would have to say to them: just don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Unbound <\/p>\n

Unbound was unveiled at the Hay Festival in 2011<\/p>\n

Crowdfunding had seemed like a panacea for two of the publishing industry\u2019s biggest problems: profitability and the treatment of authors. But it seems there was a tension at the heart of Unbound. Was it a tech company that could be exponentially scaled up and sold off? Or was it a traditional publishing company tapping into new authors and revenue streams? More than a decade in, Unbound didn\u2019t appear to have been able to answer that question. While it tried, external investment plugged the gap.<\/p>\n

If it was a scalable tech company, Unbound needed unlimited authors to crowd fund projects to take a cut of, and enough staff to service every title. If it was a more traditional publishing company, it needed bestsellers to subsidise smaller titles.<\/p>\n

The crowdfunding model thrived when an author had an existing online audience, and commissioning editors were tasked with finding those people. One staff member said editors had \u201cuntenable\u201d targets, another said they\u2019d quickly exhaust their contacts, resorting to trawling the internet for \u201cpeople who\u2019d gone viral or built a following, but had no idea how to make money out of it\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, there weren\u2019t unlimited potential authors. And not all who had initial crowdfunding success had wide enough appeal to then be sold in shops. \u201cWe were telling authors that they\u2019d have a traditional publishing journey, but that wasn\u2019t always possible,\u201d said one staff member. Not everyone with a big audience had the skills to write a good book; not everyone with a good book had the audience needed to crowd fund it.<\/p>\n

Crowdfunding required a lot of unpaid work by authors too, raising the initial funds then fielding queries from supporters, which many felt took them away from writing. \u201cWe all realise that writers these days do have to do more marketing and PR, but it\u2019s just to an insane extent, it\u2019s never been like that with another publisher,\u201d said Cox.<\/p>\n

Then, as Unbound took on more authors, it didn\u2019t always have more staff to service them. Multiple rounds of redundancies meant staff were exiting with regularity. \u201cI was there for less than three years and they had three rounds of redundancies,\u201d said one ex-employee.<\/p>\n

When the company hit on a bestseller, other titles felt neglected. Multiple authors feared they missed out on sales. Authors bought into the promise that they\u2019d get a better deal \u2013 a more respectable, supported route to the wider market than self-publishing and a decent share of profits \u2013 plus a real connection with their readers. In reality, they say, Unbound was rarely able to deliver on that promise and many fear their relationship with readers has been irreparably damaged.<\/p>\n

In Mitchinson\u2019s resignation statement, he wrote: \u201cThere is, in particular, a great deal to be said about businesses that over-rely on external investors \u2013 a vulnerability that proved near-fatal in Unbound\u2019s case.\u201d<\/p>\n

In statements to The Observer, co-founders Kieran and Mitchinson rejected the idea that Unbound\u2019s business model was fundamentally flawed. \u201cLike many companies, reaching profitability was a long and difficult journey,\u201d Kieran said, adding that the company enjoyed a decade of success amid tough conditions for the wider industry. He said that the business had achieved profitability by the time he left and that he was \u201cshocked to discover the scale of the company\u2019s financial problems\u201d when the company was put into administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Unbound model worked well for many books for a long period of time,\u201d said Mitchinson. \u201cHad the business been as flawed as has been suggested, it would not have lasted for almost a decade and a half. The excellence of the team and the quality of the books we published are what make the events of recent months so painful and regrettable. I remain fiercely proud of what we achieved and devastated by how it has ended.\u201d<\/p>\n

When news of the insolvency came, not only were authors owed royalties, but those who had secured funding for books yet to be published had no idea if they would go ahead. Readers who had pledged money were left in limbo too.<\/p>\n

Most authors who spoke to The Observer said they have taken the rights to their works back from Unbound, or are in the process of doing so. Regardless, many of their books are still being sold under the Unbound\/Boundless name on Amazon and at other retailers. Reynolds shared receipts showing that a bookshop was able to purchase more than 100 copies of his books via North American distributor Ingram only last month. Authors wonder where this money is going. They aren\u2019t currently seeing any of it.<\/p>\n

\u2018I felt for a while like I was in some alternative to conventional publishing that was fighting the good fight.\u00a0I feel really silly for having thought that now\u2019<\/p>\n

Tom Cox, author<\/p>\n

Last week, authors of Boundless imprint Neem Tree Press received an email from CEO Sharma. \u201cPerhaps this will not come as a surprise to some of you and I am incredibly sad to be sending out this message. Some of you know that I have been trying hard to effect a rescue of Neem Tree Press but it\u2019s proved impossible and I\u2019m incredibly sorry, but unfortunately I have been unable to save the company from the ongoing issues with Unbound\/Boundless. [Both] will be shutting down. There will [be] no rescue entity.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Boundless authors who spoke to The Observer said they received no communication from the company directly.<\/p>\n

In a statement to The Observer, Sharma said: \u201cI poured my heart into rescuing Unbound through Boundless Publishing Group, and of course in building Neem Tree Press over a number of years, championing wonderful authors. I fought as hard as I could \u2013 through a challenging acquisition, a restructuring process, and an unforgiving economic climate \u2013 but ultimately, the financial and operational pressures proved too great to overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those still trying to pursue money owed from Unbound now feel even more hopeless. A \u201ccreditors\u2019 committee\u201d of five authors has been formed and will pass evidence to the administrators.<\/p>\n

The saga shows, one literary agent says, \u201cthe story of publishing \u2026 that the author, the unsalaried person, the freelancers, the unsecured people, are the ones who get paid last.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kieran told The Observer: \u201cI am deeply saddened and sorry that despite the successes the business achieved, so many people have been let down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox says he has only managed to stay afloat financially because of his loyal readership on Substack. \u201cIf I did not have Substack, I would\u2019ve been so screwed by this. I have a disabled partner who had to stop working around the same time this all kicked off.\u201d Other authors in a WhatsApp group of those affected have said they are struggling to pay their rent or mortgages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt for a while like I was in some alternative to conventional publishing that was fighting the good fight,\u201d Cox says. \u201cI feel really silly for having thought that now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bookseller has reported that Will Atkinson, former head of Atlantic Books, has set up a new publishing company, Wilton Square, to \u201cprovide a safe and secure home\u201d for Unbound\u2019s authors \u2013 some, like Cox, have already found other avenues towards publication, but many are left in limbo. This new venture offers, at least, the possibility of a happy ending.<\/p>\n

Photograph by Alan Davidson\/Shutterstock and\u00a0Annabel Ross<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The revolution started in a small writer\u2019s shed in 2011, amid the deck chairs, tents and bunting of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[64,63,457,134],"class_list":{"0":"post-55012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-books","11":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}