From Unbound to unmoored: the painful death of a publishing dream

In 2011, three disrupters set out to challenge the literary establishment by signing authors others had spurned. Then the money ran out. Rachael Healy reports

- Rachael Healy reports

The revolution started in a writer's shed in 2011, amid the deckchairs, 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.

Three friends - John Mitchinson, Justin Pollard and Dan Kieran - were launching a company that they hoped would “democratise the book commissioning process”, 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 terms far more generous than the 10% royalties usually offered by others.

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

Over 14 years, that company, Unbound, published titles including Nikesh Shukla’s The Good Immigrant, Kit De Waal’s Common People and the Booker-longlisted novel The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth. When Cain’s Jawbone, a 90-year-old murder mystery created by former Observer crossword setter Edward Powys Mathers, was republished by Unbound in 2019, it became a breakout hit and, according to the company’s directors, propelled Unbound into profit for the first time.

While Unbound had the shine of a tech startup, it also cultivated the prestige of a traditional publisher. The company’s crowdfunding model felt risk-free. But in March this year, Unbound went into administration, owing nearly £2.5m to creditors. Hundreds of authors who claim they are collectively owed more than £600,000 have been told by Unbound’s administrators that they are unlikely to ever see that money. Last week, the company’s trading successor, Boundless Publishing Group Limited, also ceased trading.