Fallout from the summer bankruptcy of United Independent Distributors (UID) and its subsidiary companies Marston Book Services, Orca Book Services, and Eurospan is continuing to ripple through various parts of the U.K. publishing business. On September 24, Verso Books, which publishes books in the U.K. and U.S., launched a Kickstarter campaign that seeks to raise $134,234 by October 24 help get its books into the U.K. trade market.
In a thread posted to X, Verso explained that Marston owed the publisher almost £1 million for book sales stretching back to January. Verso UK director Rowan Wilson told PW that the company doesn’t expect to recover much of what is owed and is very grateful for the quick show of support to the fundraising campaign from readers and authors. As of the morning of September 25, Verso has raised about $98,000 through the campaign. Given the rapid response, Wilson is encouraged that Verso will hit its fundraising target. “We are stunned how well things have gone so far,” he said.
Earlier this month, Verso signed a new distribution deal with Macmillan Distribution and part of the funds raised will be used to pay for the cost of transferring about 400,000 books from Marston’s two warehouses to Macmillan’s facility, which Wilson said is “an expensive process.”
Wilson explained that the chaos caused by the Marston bankruptcy may result in the loss of a few books, but that most of the 50 titles planned for fall should be shipped on time. The Marston bankruptcy is having no impact on sales in North America, he said, where Verso’s books are distributed by Penguin Random House.
UID and its subsidiaries were acquired by Independent Publishers Group in 2021, but despite efforts to turn around the company, the U.S.-based IPG was forced to put UID into administration this summer. In August, UID sold Eurospan to the U.K.-based publishing services provider Mare Nostrum Group.
