Less than five months later, Boundless Publishing (the successor to crowdfunding publisher Unbound) collapsed. The British company filed for bankruptcy on August 1, and threatened legal action to return their rights to work, after a catastrophic period that infuriated the author and denied royalties.
Unbound, also known as United’s Author Publishing, was released in 2011 by authors John Michinson, Justin Pollard and Dunkiran during the crowdfunding boom (released in 2009). The premise was to serve the author directly and bridge the gap between self-publishing and traditional distribution. The author crowdfunds ongoing titles on the platform, providing exclusive updates and bonuses to supporters, and Unbound acts as a publishing partner to put work into Bookstores. Those who published graphic novels on the platform include Lucy Sullivan (bar-speech), Raymena Yi (a carpet merchant in Constantineya), Raymond Briggs (notes from the sofa) and Cole Henry (knitting Michael Rosen’s children’s book you think). Comic writer Alex De Canti used the platform to enter the realm of prose novels, incorporating Scottish boys and Heartbreaks.
Some of the graphic novels previously published by Unbound
Unresolved folds including months of unpaid royalties to authors who have experienced ongoing cash flow issues and have experienced £2.4 million (over $3 million) have not been folded. Among the biggest flaws in its business model was the use of crowdfund money. Instead of being held in escrow for project publication and performance, the contracts were all poured into the same company account and expressed for general business expenses. A new company called Boundless Publishing Group with a similar title quickly took over, picking up the old company’s portfolio for £50,000 ($66,000) in prepack management, but abandoned the crowdfunding side.
With an endless entitled consisting of unbound co-founder Mitchenson, then Newmarie set up an unbound CEO, Archna Sharma, and later joined by (easy) American Silicon Valley entrepreneur Ronjon Nag. As of Unbound’s March collapse, the company owes £657,000 (~$870,000) fees and royalties to 363 authors and agents, according to Publishers Weekly. And £391,000 (~$520,000) on pre-orders from unmet customers. And it doesn’t count other publishing industry partners, such as suppliers and advertisers. Many of these obligations remained responsible.
The new company wanted to do it right by an author waiting for an expired royalty, describing it as a “goodwill payment,” but CEO Sharma made an explosive decision in June to suspend them to serve on Unbound’s other debts. The final result was a massive social and traditional media outcry with authors considering legal action to obtain the rights to the book.
In a letter to the author, cited via Private Eye, Sharma said:
“The pre-pack process leaves a significant crack in the infinite revenue that takes six months to close. We are determined to clear your debts, but this requires very careful financial planning to maintain our stable business position.”
On Friday afternoon (August 1) during UK time, Boundless immediately announced its closure. The website now leaves many authors and agents to the point of being left on flat feet. It is unclear whether the author’s rights to the work will be restored by the company’s collapse, but it is almost certain that the vast sums of unpaid royalties will never be paid.
Lucy Sullivan was one of the early exiles from the unbounds. After crowdfunding her debut graphic novel Barking (released in 2020) in 2018, she exacerbated the experience and went through the process of trying to get a title and move to another publisher. It was re-released in 2024 by Avery Hill. Books by Reimena Yee, Raymond Briggs and Cole Henley were still on the platform at the time of closure.
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