Popverse's top stories

• More people tuned into the Stranger Things season 5 release date announcement than the Stranger Things season 4 debut on Netflix
• MEMBERS ONLY: What do Aggretsuko and Chainsaw Man have in common? They're both about how much capitalism sucks [Popverse Jump]
• I have a hunch why Mike Flanagan worked so much Back to the Future into The Life of Chuck

I remember in seventh grade, I had an assignment in English class where I had to write and send a formal letter to someone of my choosing. I chose Rick Riordan, the author of the Percy Jackson books. All these years later, I can still recall how awkward it felt to write that letter to Riordan, trying to convey my fanaticism for the world he created and how I dreamed of majoring in Classics in college and traveling to Greece within the bounds of the formal letter assignment. I mailed the letter, and a few months later, I got a letter back. For a middle schooler whose conception of his favorite author was limited to what was printed on the jacket of his books, getting a snail mail reply from Rick Riordan's office felt like getting a letter from god. 

Those days have long been over. 

Today, you don't have to look far to find your favorite contemporary authors on social media. Barring exceptions like Sally Rooney and Elena Ferrante, writers today are active on social media because they have to be. It's part of building and maintaining their audiences. And in becoming more accessible to their audiences, readers are more invested than ever in their faves. 

This accessibility is a double-edged sword. While it can give readers a glimpse into their favorite authors' writing processes (I loved seeing Alyssa Wong excitedly post about something they've been working on, for instance), it also provides an opportunity for authors to expose shady practices within the publishing industry. Now, readers are more informed than ever about the problems their favorite writers are facing. And with any luck, this will mean that the publishing industry can't get away with screwing over authors as easily as they have in the past. 

Case in point: Alex de Campi wrote a great historical romance novel called The Scottish Boy that made me cry. It's a book I have recommended to friends in the past. The Scottish Boy was published by Unbound, a company that has since collapsed, filed for bankruptcy, and has been sold to Boundless Publishing Group. Unbound/Boundless, however, is no longer paying royalties to de Campi - something the author shared in a thread on Bluesky on May 30th. In a skeet, de Campi wrote, "This is my queer medieval action/thriller/romance, The Scottish Boy. If you ever were like 'knights should kiss,' friend, this is the book for you. But please don’t buy it. I won’t get a cent. (I do get royalties from the audiobook, which is not with Unbound)." She shared later on in the thread that Boundless owes her "about $8,000." 

De Campi is not the only writer nor industry professional currently owed money by Boundless. Publisher's Weekly reports that Unbound is "leaving a trail of unpaid authors, suppliers, and industry partners," and that "its successor company, Boundless Publishing Group, will likely struggle to convince stakeholders it can survive where its predecessor failed." The site also reported that "in an email to authors last week, [Boundless CEO Archna] Sharma announced that Boundless would suspend 'goodwill payments' to cover Unbound's past debts, citing cash flow constraints. The decision affects 238 authors and agents owed £657,000, nearly 8,000 website customers who pre-ordered books owed £391,000, and other trade creditors owed £829,000." De Campi noted in her thread that those "goodwill payments" are actually royalties. In plain terms, it's astonishing how money owed to writers according to deals that they signed with Unbound is now being characterized as a "goodwill payment." 

So what is to come of this? In a screenshot of the email that was sent to Unbound writers, posted by Alex de Campi onto Bluesky, Boundless CEO Archna Sharma wrote, "I cannot emphasise enough that we can pay you the goodwill payments covering Unbound's historic liabilities only if Boundless Publishing Group survives and thrives." But in order for Boundless to do any of that, they need to sell books. And for that, they need to count on readers in this day and age not to be cued into the issues affecting the authors whose work they've invested their dollars, time, and emotional and psychic energy into. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather support writers like de Campi directly. 

Just like yourself, the Popverse staff spends a whole lot of time with our respective noses in respective books. It's why we've come up with stuff like:

• The hottest upcoming fiction
• Queer romance to add to your reading list
• A reading guide to Cassandar Clare's Shadowhunter Chronicles

...and a whole lot more. Join our metaphorical library, won't you? There are no late fees and you can be as loud as you want, so long as the people you live with are OK with it.