A new chapter for publishing? Book subscription services launch their own titles

The Guardian

16-04-2025

Book subscription services are magic. A few clicks of a form and a bunch of new books , selected by talented curators, turn up at your door – often with collectible perks such as special cover designs and art. In a world saturated by choice and trends, not only is the choosing done for you, but you'll often have a less conventional, better rounded and precious bookshelf collection to show for it.
This is presumably why there's a strong appetite for such services: UK fantasy subscription box FairyLoot has 569,000 followers on Instagram alone, and many bookshops have started sending out their own boxes.
Now, some of these businesses have decided not just to sell books, but to publish their own: In January, FairyLoot announced a collaboration with Transworld, a division of Penguin Random House, while last week Canada-based subscription service OwlCrate launched OwlCrate Press.
Jordan Fleming, head of publishing at OwlCrate, has described publishing as a 'broken industry', telling industry magazine the Bookseller that the publishing wing had been set up to 'eventually address a lot of the issues the industry is facing'.
Which issues they're seeking to address is unclear. It's fair to see where they could influence things – they have an understanding of their subscribers and can cater to that market well as a result. But curating is not the same as publishing; quality and influence are two different things. Could this mark a potentially monumental shift in the industry?
'Book boxes and book subscription services are hugely valuable to publishers,' says Jon Petre, an editor at Profile Books. 'Books can get a significant guaranteed sale on publication day through them … A big order of instant sales can land an author straight on the bestseller list. Even if it's just for a week, the author will be Sunday Times-bestselling for the rest of their career.' Petre says.
Hariny Vanniarajan, who is signed up to subscription service Illumincrate, feels that the books she receives in the box are 'representative of marginalised voices that we don't often find in mainstream publishing.'
'As a south Indian, I truly enjoy the great variety of authors and cultures I'm being introduced to,' she says. 'These are books I normally might not have picked up because I wouldn't have known about them.'
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Sisters Elizabeth and Helen, who have co-written fantasy novels including the Sunday Times bestseller Bonded by Thorns using the pen name Elizabeth Helen, say that working with FairyLoot has been an 'incredible boost' for their career. The US-based authors say they have 'cultivated a huge fanbase' in the UK specifically through editions sold by FairyLoot.
It makes sense, then, that subscription services want to push their curation skills further, by commissioning, editing, and publishing titles that aren't already in the world. They have a guaranteed customer base, a strong sense of the titles that work for them and the ability to create exclusive editions. It's a pretty powerful sales pitch to any bidding writer.
'In a market where customers are spending more money on fewer books, a guaranteed sale can be the difference between making a loss or breaking even for a debut author.' Petre says. Given that book ownership is also in decline, there are plenty of reasons to see such businesses as a stable alternative in a choppy industry. Those who do spend on books often 'crave a gorgeous physical edition to hold in their hands and display on their shelves,' Elizabeth and Helen say.
While you can argue that putting a book you've commissioned and published into the hands of a dedicated audience isn't any more of a bestseller manipulation than choosing a book that already exists, there's a point to make about the magic and purity of a subscription service being lost by such a move.
You can consider this pivot an equivalent of Netflix or Mubi launching original works instead of merely curating them. Has that been a success? Not entirely. While they present new opportunities for individuals, they also present monopolies at large. As with all things art, it's subjective: Vanniarajan says she wouldn't necessarily be put off if Illumincrate started putting books it had published itself in her box. 'They have built a huge following and seem to understand their audience well, so I assume they'd continue this integrity when choosing authors to work with,' she says.
But if you're after an expert's recommendations to bolster and surprise your library, as opposed to a powerhouse choosing titles for you, consider supporting a local bookshop's services instead.