Some self-published authors have been waiting the better part of a year for payments from Barnes & Noble Press. We are now asking affected authors to help us establish the extend of the problem and get it fixed.
What happened?
Early in 2026, Barnes & Noble changed its bank from Chase to Wells Fargo. The change was acknowledged in a quiet help-centre note, alongside two related adjustments:
- since 2 March, international authors are paid in US dollars only, their own bank handling conversion,
- a Bank Beneficiary Address is now required in every Vendor Account before royalties can be issued.
What B&N has not said publicly is that the new arrangement broke royalty payments to certain kinds of financial institution altogether — digital banks, intermediary banks that route international transfers, and others.
That admission exists only in the company’s correspondence with individual authors. One B&N representative, writing to an affected author, admitted that the company is unable to process payments to some institutions, is awaiting guidance from its banking partners.
B&N’s public help centre assures authors that no action is needed on their end while individual B&N agents informally suggest that authors should move to a different type of bank account if they want to be paid.
There has been no clarifying statement from the company.
Poor Communications
ALLi has written to Barnes & Noble Press, asking for written confirmation that all royalties continue to accrue in full, a timeline, refund of fees charged on failed payments, an interim payment method for authors whose accounts are affected, and publication of the list of unsupported banks. We did not receive a reply.
There is, we understand, an internal list of banks B&N can no longer pay; it has never been published, and at least one author whose bank does not appear on it remains affected regardless.
In September we gathered evidence from the remaining members affected and compiled a dossier of cases. In most cases we are dealing with sums that are individually modest but collectively the dossier is telling and some authors are awaiting significant sums now.
The authors affected are disproportionately outside the US — many banking with Starling, Wise, and similar institutions.
Some have received no money since March 2026. Some were told, repeatedly and wrongly, that their own banking details were at fault, and asked to re-enter information that had not changed in years.
Some had payment but on checking with each affected author whether they were paid in full, whether fees were deducted, and whether payment came only after they changed banks, we found that some had return fees deducted from royalties that failed to be paid through no fault of theirs, some were not paid in full and in some cases, despite a change of banking.
It’s a shambles that has been going on for months now and there is little sign that B&N is taking steps to put it right.
If you publish with B&N Press
If B&N Press owes you royalties, or paid you late this year, please email [email protected] with “B&N Press payments” in the subject line, telling us:
- the name of your bank,
- the amount owing or delayed,
- the date of your last successful payment,
- whether B&N attributed the failure to your own details,
- and — if you have since been paid — whether the money simply arrived or you had to change your banking arrangements first.
A few lines is plenty, and we will treat every report in confidence.
Three practical checks while you wait.
- Make sure the name on your B&N vendor account, your tax form, and your bank account match exactly, including any “Ltd” — the rejection code we have seen is a name-matching failure.
- Complete the Bank Beneficiary Address field in your Vendor Account; a PO Box will not be accepted.
- And if you are owed money, ask B&N in writing for payment by an alternative method.
The debt is theirs, and the burden of finding a way to pay it should be too.
What happens next
Royalties owed are a contractual debt under B&N’s own Royalty and Payment Terms. A change of banking partner does not discharge it.
We have written again to B&N today and will update non-members on any further developments here.
Are you owed royalties by B&N Press?
Tell us your bank, the amount owing or delayed, and the date of your last successful payment. A few lines is plenty, and we will treat every report in confidence.
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