Casover Author & Publishing Weekly: 7-14 August 2026
This week’s self-publishing news UK roundup has an unusually practical theme: control. A UK self-publishing business failure has left authors waiting for royalties, while proposed changes to tax collection have raised concerns about the effect on writers with unpredictable incomes.
Elsewhere, new routes to ebook readers are developing, library distribution is consolidating, autumn publishing competition is building and authors’ rights remain firmly on the agenda.
Here are the developments worth knowing about this week.
1. Self-publishing company collapse leaves authors waiting for royalties
The collapse of The Self-Publishing Partnership has left some independent authors facing uncertainty over unpaid royalties and book distribution. The business had supported self-published authors with royalty payments and distribution through Gardners, and the Society of Authors is now helping writers affected by the failure.
What this means for authors: Know who controls your ISBNs, retailer accounts, production files, sales records and royalty payments. Keep your own copies of contracts, files and statements, and understand what would happen to your books if a supplier suddenly stopped trading.
This is one reason Casover’s managed publishing approach deliberately leaves the author’s accounts, rights, files, reader relationships and royalties under the author’s control.
2. Society of Authors warns proposed tax changes could harm writers
The Society of Authors has responded to an HMRC consultation concerning possible changes to Income Tax Self Assessment. One proposal would move from twice-yearly Payments on Account towards more frequent payments based on previous earnings or forecasts.
The SoA argues that this could be particularly problematic for writers because income from advances, royalties, commissions, licensing and other rights is often irregular and difficult to predict.
What this means for authors: These are proposals rather than an immediate change, but authors who earn taxable income from their writing should watch their development. If implemented, cash-flow planning could become even more important for writers whose income varies significantly from year to year.
3. Libro.fm is moving beyond audiobooks into ebooks
Libro.fm has announced that it will add ebooks to its existing audiobook service in the coming months.
The company says readers will be able to use flexible credits for audiobooks or ebooks, while a new LibroSync feature will allow customers who own both versions to switch between reading and listening. Libro.fm’s model also allows customers to support a chosen independent bookshop.
What this means for authors: Amazon remains enormously important, but alternative routes between readers, authors and independent booksellers continue to develop. Availability for individual independent authors will need watching as the service develops towards its wider launch.
Our guide to choosing your publishing route explains why different platforms solve different problems, and why simply being available on more platforms does not automatically create demand.
Source: Libro.fm | Source: ALLi
4. OverDrive expands its European digital library presence
OverDrive, the company behind the Libby library reading app, has acquired divibib GmbH, which operates the German digital lending service Onleihe.
Onleihe has served libraries for almost 20 years. OverDrive says users will retain digital lending access during the transition, with Onleihe eventually moving towards the Libby platform. OverDrive already works with more than 600 library partners across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
What this means for authors: Library ebook and audiobook lending remains an important part of wider distribution. Independent authors using distributors that offer library channels should check whether those channels are enabled and whether their metadata, pricing and territorial rights are correct.
Distribution creates availability. It does not automatically create discovery, but a book cannot be discovered through a channel it never reaches.
Source: Publishing Perspectives
5. Publishing revenue grows, but sales figures tell a more complicated story
Final figures from the Association of American Publishers estimate US publishing industry sales at $33.4 billion in 2025, up 2.5 per cent on the previous year. The number of books sold increased by only 0.4 per cent to 3.15 billion units.
There are useful format signals too. Hardbacks and paperbacks together accounted for 73.1 per cent of trade revenue, while digital audiobook sales grew by 5.3 per cent and ebook sales by 3.2 per cent.
These are US figures and should not be treated as UK market data, but the broader direction remains worth watching.
What this means for authors: Print is very far from dead, while audio continues to strengthen its position. Authors planning publication should think about which formats their particular readers genuinely want rather than assuming every book must automatically appear in every available format.
6. The UK’s autumn publishing battle is starting earlier
The Bookseller has identified this year’s Super Thursday, the period when a particularly large concentration of major titles is published for the autumn and Christmas market, as the earliest yet.
High-profile authors involved in the autumn push include Julia Donaldson, Jamie Oliver and Richard Osman.
What this means for authors: Independent authors do not have to follow the traditional publishing industry’s launch calendar.
Publishing directly alongside heavily promoted books from major publishers can make media attention, advertising and reader discovery more competitive. Your publication date should therefore be a marketing decision as well as a production deadline.
Sometimes moving a launch by a week or two can give a book more room to breathe.
7. London Review Bookshop passes £1 million in annual book sales
The London Review Bookshop has reported annual book sales above £1 million for the first time, with its partnership with restaurant St JOHN cited as one contributor to the result.
It is another example of a physical bookshop becoming more than somewhere that simply puts books on shelves. Partnerships, events, hospitality and community can all become part of the reason readers visit and buy.
What this means for authors: Book marketing does not always have to mean another social media post or paid advert.
Independent bookshops, local businesses, clubs, organisations, talks, events and carefully chosen partnerships can place books in front of people in a much more memorable context.
Think about where your readers gather, not simply which social network they use.
8. UK petition on AI training data passes 10,000 signatures
A UK Parliament petition calling for AI developers to disclose which copyrighted works have been used to train generative AI systems passed 10,000 signatures on 12 August.
That threshold means the Government is required to respond. The petition remains open until 29 October 2026, with 100,000 signatures required before it can be considered for debate in Parliament.
What this means for authors: This is not primarily about whether an individual author chooses to use AI. It is about ownership and enforcement of intellectual property.
Authors need sufficient transparency to establish whether their copyrighted work has been used, assert their rights and potentially negotiate licensing or payment. The Government’s response will therefore be worth watching.
Source: UK Parliament | Source: The Bookseller
Worth Knowing: Use beta readers as readers, not unpaid editors
The Alliance of Independent Authors has published a useful discussion about what beta readers should actually do.
The central distinction is important. A beta reader is primarily there to describe their experience as a reader, rather than rewrite the manuscript or replace a developmental editor.
The discussion covers choosing suitable readers, setting expectations, dealing with conflicting feedback and recognising when someone’s gut response is more useful than their suggested solution.
For authors approaching the later stages of manuscript development, it is a useful reminder that good feedback depends as much on asking the right people the right questions as it does on collecting opinions.
Source: ALLi Self-Publishing Advice
Community Question
How much of your own publishing operation do you actually control?
If a publishing service, distributor, website provider or marketing company you rely on disappeared tomorrow, would you still have access to your books, ISBNs, production files, retailer accounts, customer information, mailing list and sales records?
It may not be the most exciting part of publishing, but this week’s news suggests it is one of the most important.