Unbound (publisher)

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Unbound
Unbound (publisher) logo 2021.png
Parent company United Authors Publishing Ltd.
StatusActive
Founded9 June 2010;14 years ago (2010-06-09)
Founder Justin Pollard, John Mitchinson, Dan Kieran
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Headquarters location London, N1
Publication types Books
Official website www.unbound.com

Unbound, the online trading name of United Authors Publishing Ltd, is a privately held international crowdfunded publishing company. [1] [2] It is based in London, UK. The company was founded by John Mitchinson, director of research for the British television panel game QI ; Justin Pollard, historian and QI researcher (who stepped back in 2014 to care for his terminally ill wife) [3] ; and author Dan Kieran who left in 2022. [4] [5] In 2025 the company went into Administration, leaving many of its authors owed thousands of pounds in royalties they'd earned. [6]

Contents

Projects

In 2016 [7] Unbound launched a podcast called Backlisted, involving a guest (typically a writer) share a book they love and why it deserves more coverage. Some bookshops now carry a Backlisted section due to the popularity of the podcast.

In autumn 2017 Unbound launched Boundless, an online literary magazine with a focus on long form writing and tackling the decline in traditional media. Arifa Akbar, former literary editor of The Independent , was brought in as the editor. [8]

In March 2021, the company announced a crowdfunder for 42: the wildly improbable ideas of Douglas Adams, a book based on Douglas Adams' papers, edited by Kevin Jon Davies. [9] The book was published on 28 August 2023 ( ISBN   9781800182684) and became a Sunday Times number one bestseller. [10]

Selected authors

The following authors were on the original launch list:

References

  1. ↑ Skidelsky, William (18 December 2011). "21st-century publishing builds on a healthy radical tradition". The Guardian . Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Williams, Charlotte (3 June 2011). "Unbound aims for 40 books in year one". The Bookseller . Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  3. ↑ Spanoudi, Melina (17 January 2025). "Unbound faces 'financial uncertainty' as authors wait for delayed payments". The Bookseller. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  4. 1 2 Barnett, Emma (20 May 2011). "Hay Festival 2011: New site Unbound gives readers the power of publishing". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Company Information". Unbound. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  6. ↑ "Unbound goes into administration as Archna Sharma and John Mitchinson launch new publisher". The Bookseller. Retrieved 13 March 2025.
  7. ↑ "About". Backlisted. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  8. ↑ Onwuemezi, Natasha (30 August 2017). "Akbar to edit online literary magazine for Unbound". The Bookseller (in Breton). Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  9. ↑ Brown, Mark (22 March 2021). "Douglas Adams' note to self reveals author found writing torture". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  10. ↑ Bayley, Sian (4 September 2023). "Unbound achieves first Sunday Times number one bestseller". The Bookseller. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  11. ↑ "Publishing: Terry Jones advocates online book publishing". BBC News. 4 November 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  12. ↑ Scott, Katie (5 August 2011). "Monty Python's Terry Jones crowdsources funding for book". Wired .


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