| Parent company | United Authors Publishing Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 9th June 2010 |
| Founder | Justin Pollard, John Mitchinson and Dan Kieran |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Headquarters location | London |
| Publication types | books |
| Official website | www.unbound.co.uk |
Unbound, the online trading name of United Authors Publishing Ltd, is a privately held international publishing company. It is based in London, UK. The company was founded by John Mitchinson, director of research for the British panel game QI; Justin Pollard, historian and QI researcher; and author Dan Kieran.[1]
It is notable for being the first crowd funding company to be solely dedicated to publishing books.
On 4 November 2011 it launched the world's first book to be published with crowd funding, "Evil Machines" by former member of Monty Python, Terry Jones.
Contents |
Online viewers are offered the chance to provide financial support for a potential book from an author who has signed up to Unbound. Taster materials for the book are presented, along with a range of funding options. Once a funding threshold is reached, the book is published, with supporters being given recognition dependent upon their level of support. Support levels range from £10 for an e-book copy and the supporters name in the back, £20 for a similar package for the 1st Edition hardback, with further options up to £250 for two tickets to the launch party.
Authors receive a significantly higher royalty than found in most conventional publishing deals, stated as 50%.
The following authors were on the original launch list:
The following authors and books have now been fully funded:
The idea for Unbound was discussed between the founding directors on a number of occasions, but until a conversation with Terry Jones, an artistic contact of Justin Pollard, the idea remained unrealised. According to Pollard:
"Terry was the first person I mentioned the idea to outside of us three. We were in a pub having a drink and he said he thought it was a great idea and had a project we could use. Once we had a Python saying he'd not only support the idea but provide our first book we really had to stop whinging about publishers and make it happen. Terry has previous form for re-inventing businesses - when all the pubs were turning over to mass-produced nitro-keg beers in the late 1970's he set up one of the first micro-breweries with his proceeds from Holy Grail." (Justin Pollard, Private Communication)
Jones offered to support the firm with a publication of the original material on which his opera "Evil Machines" was based and has continued to support the team with encouragement and publicity.