As someone who comments on book publishing, I think it would be extremely remiss of me not to comment on what has happened at Unbound. Full disclosure - I know John Mitchinson and previous owners well, (professional friends), a few years ago they paid me to support their authors with marketing .... - ThreadSky

samatlounge.bsky.social • 14 days ago

As someone who comments on book publishing, I think it would be extremely remiss of me not to comment on what has happened at Unbound. Full disclosure - I know John Mitchinson and previous owners well, (professional friends), a few years ago they paid me to support their authors with marketing ....

Reposted from Tom Cox

... I'm aware that I am supposed to stay silent about this. Authors are supposed to fear the publishing industry & its ability to kill their careers. But I will NOT stay silent about the five figure sum Unbound owes me, nor how it has betrayed the trust of my readers...

Comments

joermurphy.bsky.social•14 days ago

As a customer, they provided such a poor service I had to get the ICO involved. I didn't see much competence on show at any stage from Unbound.

samatlounge.bsky.social•14 days ago

Given all of that, I am still horrified by how this has played out. In particular owing huge sums to authors for over a year whilst stonewalling them, to then go into administration. Plus continuing to allow people to fund book projects on the site - money which will also be lost, I assume.

alanrew.bsky.social•13 days ago

If they were still soliciting donations from subscribers, I wonder if this means they were "trading while insolvent" which I thought was illegal (but I might be wrong: IANAL).

dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social•14 days ago

Thanks for speaking up about this, Sam. There's a bit more about it here (this was written when I'd been told by them that they'd refund my readers and been sent a draft email to that effect, just before the company went back on that promise): https://tomcox.substack.com/p/hurray-i-now-own-my-books-again

bobcalder.bsky.social•14 days ago

If you ask a bankruptcy mediator or judge, they'll tell you the pattern of behaviour is an immediate red flag that should prompt you to sue in order to be first in line when they admit they're crooks.

samatlounge.bsky.social•14 days ago

So, just about as bad as it can pan out for authors and their supporters. Then to announce that they'll restart as a trad publisher called Boundless promising to take most book projects with them and that funders will be able to log in to new website https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/18/authors-await-overdue-payments-as-publisher-unbound-goes-into-administration

samatlounge.bsky.social•14 days ago

Apparently this is at odds with what most authors are saying - who have been forced to join together to share horror stories and offer each other support. It's a huge shit sandwich and no messing. Most of which could have been avoided with some honest and frequent communication.

samatlounge.bsky.social•14 days ago

An ex-employee has DMed me with some info from them - at the end of 2024, they discovered that five months’ worth of pension payments were missing from their workplace pensions. Apparently this was true for all Unbound staff. Not just the company contributions but also contribs from pay packets.

dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social•11 days ago

@helenlewis.bsky.social

nataliwindsor.bsky.social•14 days ago

This is definitely criminal mismanagement of money. I hope police are on this.

Also, what does somebody do with all that money? 🤯 Because let's face it, this is probably just one of two people at the top of the company

samatlounge.bsky.social•14 days ago

Unbound staff were told that the money would be replaced but, certainly for the person who messaged me, this has not happened.

To clarify, Unbound not only didn't pay into staff pensions, they also kept/lost staff contributions to their pensions.

I'm sorry, but that is shameful.

ficooper.bsky.social•14 days ago

Holy crap, this Unbound thing just gets worse and worse!

rosamundi.bsky.social•14 days ago

Here is the website for the Pensions Regulator
https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/contact-us/scheme-members-who-to-contact/report-concerns-about-your-workplace-pension

bookishclaire.bsky.social•14 days ago

Is that legal?!?

barbararich.bsky.social•14 days ago

When Robert Maxwell did something not dissimilar with the pension schemes of employees of one of his companies, it led to a pensions revolution

trombonejo.bsky.social•13 days ago

I'm sure the Pensions Regulator would be interested in this.

realdavethomas.bsky.social•12 days ago

At what point do the directors of Unbound/Boundless get arrested? Their conduct to date is deplorable but pension fraud? That's properly illegal.

samatlounge.bsky.social•14 days ago

There is NO world in which the people responsible for this should be setting up a new publisher and saying, “This is the beginning of a bold new era, Boundless looks forward to forging exciting new connections between authors and readers.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/18/authors-await-overdue-payments-as-publisher-unbound-goes-into-administration

blogmywiki.bsky.social•14 days ago

I’m running out of words with which to be speechless. This seems like a whole new level of awfulness.

nicolaspurr.bsky.social•14 days ago

Isn’t this unlawful? Not sure how employees could get redress as all monies clearly gone but stealing from the pensions is really low. Robert Maxwell-esque.
You’d think directors would be proscribed from setting up again but corporate law is not fit for purpose.

acuity.design•14 days ago

Probably illegal too if directors were knowingly trading like this. The prepack insolvency on top of all this 😱

liamjhogan.bsky.social•14 days ago

It is a terrible but all to common way to do "business". To stick heads in sand, hoping for some miraculous turnaround, but waiting until there's not a penny left before folding, leaving employees and authors to carry YOUR can. That people then turn around and set up another company is shocking.

therealbenbruce.bsky.social•14 days ago

Let’s hope the new owners do something to make things right for those who have been left short. Solidarity with everyone affected by this. Shocking that it’s been allowed to go on so long.

therealbenbruce.bsky.social•14 days ago

Ah, just seen that it seems to be the same people in a new outfit. That’s really fucking shit.

arielanderssen.bsky.social•14 days ago

As one of the Unbound authors, thank you so much for this thread.

brethertonwords.bsky.social•14 days ago

It’s awful and terribly sad as I believe they started with the right intentions, and I might not have been published without them. My book did well tho not obviously commercial. But I saw the writing on the wall, got my book out and started an ethical publishing collective to treat authors fairly.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply