We end with an update on a story I reported on a week or so back, the collapse of the Self-Publishing Partnership (SPP). You will recall that authors had received emails seemingly out of the blue notifying them that the company would cease trading. This left authors with unpaid royalties and print books left in the system, with Gardners trying to find ways to help authors whose books they still had in their distribution network. Much of the groundwork in following things up was done by The Bookseller, and they have just issued an update (update to the update: there’s a second update!).
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
Questions Over SPP’s Status
First, some clarification about what that cessation of trading actually means, with a few more details. You will recall that it was at least a little unclear whether the company had been struck off at Companies House or not. This matters because a company that still owes monies is not able to strike itself off. First, an administrator will come in and seek to do everything possible to gather monies owed and pay out monies owing (the latter in a particular order related to the kind of debt).
The first piece of clarity provided by The Bookseller is that the move to strike the company off was suspended on August 22. This seems to relate to concerns raised by freelancers who claim that SPP still owes them money for work undertaken on projects, in some cases going back a significant way.
Around 100 Authors Affected
Second, it has emerged that around 100 authors and 164 books are affected. Many of the authors affected have been taken on by Softwood Books, which will be continuing to work with Gardners to make those authors’ books available.
The Risks of a Single Publishing Intermediary
This is clearly a terrible situation for authors to find themselves in. It is sadly not unique. And both of those things also make things very difficult for other paid-service publishers in a landscape where indie authors will be increasingly nervous about committing themselves to what, as the headline in the most recent piece in The Bookseller puts it (quoting ALLi’s own Orna Ross), amounts to a single point of failure for their endeavor. The inherent risk of placing so many aspects of the publishing service in the hands of a single intermediary is always something to be weighed against the convenience of doing so. Although it is impossible to have information on every such provider out there, ALLi’s Watchdog exists to help make those choices as informed as possible.
Thoughts or further questions on this post or any self-publishing issue?
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