Boundless. The New Publishing Company That's Already Upset Authors
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Boundless/Unbound is the latest scandal to rock the literary world. How has a brand new publishing company failed so many authors so fast?
What Is Unbound?
John Mitchinson and Justin Pollard were both working behind the scenes on one of the UK’s most popular panel shows, Q.I. British travel writer Dan Kieran and the Q.I. duo had the idea for Unbound after a discussion down the pub about the focus on bestsellers. It was meant to offer a route to market for novels that publishers considered economically unviable.
They received investment from the founders of Bebo and were up and running in 2011, less than a year after the conversation in the pub.
Unbound was different from a conventional publisher. Manuscripts and pitches were selected, but rather than coming from an agent and going to press, the potential books would be put out to the public on a crowdfunding platform. If an author reached their target, then chances are the book would sell. If it went to press, an author would receive 50% of the profits, which was an attractive figure, however, this came without an advance. Authors also had to continuously market their unpublished works, for up to ten months in some cases, to hit their crowdfunding targets.
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Image Source: The Literary Consultancy
The Fall Of Unbound
In September 2024, Unbound purchased Neem Tree Press (a traditional model) through a stock transaction. Archna Sharma, who would eventually become the new CEO, joined the team. She reportedly invested a large chunk of her own money. Unbound went into administration in March 2025.
The financials must have been looked at in-depth before the merger took place. There were author reports of missed payments and financial issues back in January 2024. So why did Sharma invest so heavily in a company that was on the brink of foreclosure?
Unbound became unreliable as a publisher, authors had reports of books not being delivered for book launches, editing issues, problems with plans/sales figures, and a general lack of communication. Payments to authors dwindled and then stopped.
When Unbound went into administration, with 8,000 website customers who pre-ordered books owed £391,000, and other trade creditors owed £829,000. But it’s the 238 authors and agents who were especially angry. Unbound currently owes them £657,000. The site recruited indie authors as part of its USP, and as a result, it was this vulnerable group who were struggling to pay rent when their royalties didn’t arrive. Many have questioned where the large sums that they crowdfunded have gone.
But in February 2025, as the administration process was underway, Unbound sent out a string of reassuring emails to their authors saying that they would honour their debts.
The Rise Of Boundless
Image Source: Unbound.com
Sharma and Mitchinson set up Boundless on the 3rd of March 2025 (with an investor with a background in mobile phone tech, Ronjon Nag), a full seven days before Unbound was officially declared bankrupt on 10th March. Immediately after the collapse, they bought the assets (the rights to over 350 books) for a mere £50,000.
The very next day, Boundless sent authors an email saying, “your contract will be honoured and transferred to the new company.” Authors assumed this meant their royalties as well.
The new publishing company planned to operate under a more traditional model, throwing out the old ethos that had been the reason the authors had signed on. 18 employees were transferred over from Unbound, but a large number, including founder John Mitchinson, quit less than two months after the sale. An anonymous staffer told Publishers Weekly, "The reason we stayed was to keep the company together and ensure everyone was paid but as soon as it was made clear to us that this was not happening, we handed in our notice."
In May, an article went out to the press, along with a mass email. The phrasing was clear.
“Boundless has no legal obligation to pay the debts of Unbound.”
In previous emails, Unbound/Boundless had talked about honouring debts. Sharma was now calling the royalties owed ‘good will' payments. "I cannot emphasize enough that we can pay you the goodwill payments covering Unbound's historic liabilities only if Boundless Publishing Group survives and thrives."
The authors crowdfunded their own books, raising thousands of pounds, and generated large numbers of their own sales, yet they will never receive a penny for the cash they earned. There is doubt about whether Sharma/Boundless will be any more reliable under a more traditional framework. Agents, illustrators, and editors also didn’t get paid, so Boundless might find they don’t have a tremendous amount of ‘goodwill’ from an industry that’s difficult at the best of times. Let’s hope the rest of their stable of authors don’t suffer as a result.
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