Authors Left Waiting for Royalties After Self-Publishing Partnership Collapses

Authors have been left facing delays and uncertainty over unpaid royalties following the collapse of the Self-Publishing Partnership, with the Society of Authors stepping in to help affected writers.
on Aug 14, 2026

Many authors who relied on SPP (Self-Publishing Partnership) for their work ended up owing them unpaid royalties and unsure of what will happen now that the company is bankrupt, leading to support from the Society of Authors.

SPP offered self-publishing services like printing, distributing, and selling the books through an arrangement with Gardners Distribution, which supplied the books to the retailers, and royalties were paid by the company to the authors depending on sales.

After the bankruptcy of the firm, the affected authors have apparently found themselves confused about their books, payment owed, and how they can get their royalties.

The Society of Authors is supporting the affected authors in the case, providing information regarding their current situation and the choices available for collecting their royalty payments.

It shows how vulnerable an author is financially when he or she uses third-party companies in order to publish their work. At the same time, it is clear that self-published authors should know about their publishing deals, ways of getting paid, copyrights and what will happen with their books and income in case the service stops working.

SPP has been functioning as a self-publishing company independently since 2014 and provides authors with a range of services including editing, production, distribution, and fulfillment services.

In this case, the most pressing concern for the impacted authors is that of settling their royalty payment disputes.