Simon & Schuster launches Simon Stream for indie authors

Simon & Schuster just told indie authors: we'll skip the advance, but we want in on your audience. That's the real story behind Simon Stream, the new digital-focused fiction imprint from S&S UK and International, launching its first titles globally this month under publishing director Victoria Pepe.

Here's the deal on the table: no advance, 50% net royalties on e-books, paid monthly. S&S hasn't published royalty rates for print or audio yet, so don't sign anything assuming those numbers match. What you do get is marketing and publicity support from a Big Five publisher, plus a push for world all-languages rights — Pepe says that's the real goal, not just world English.

This isn't a one-off experiment. It's part of a bigger pivot at S&S under new CEO Greg Greeley, who took over in March. In July the company relaunched Pocket Books as a home for indie authors, and weeks later announced Simon Stream. Pepe and Greeley both came from Amazon Publishing, and it shows in how they're talking about this: data-driven acquisitions, a Readers Club of social media influencers testing titles before wider release, and real investment in audio, including duet narration — two narrators on one book — which Pepe says has become central to conversations with romance authors.

The imprint is commercial by design: psychological thrillers, cozy mysteries, and romance across subcategories "from mafia romance to werewolves, cowboys, and space." First signings include Jack Gatland's The Moriarty Murders and Allie Moffatt's duology All Our Almosts and All Our Nevers. Simon Stream is U.K.-based for now but Pepe says it's heading stateside, following the audiobook imprint Simon Maverick, which launched in the U.S. last year and is rolling out in the U.K.

What this means for you: if you're a self-published author with a built readership, a traditional publisher is now willing to meet you where you are — digital-first, no advance, but real royalties and real marketing muscle behind you. That's a meaningfully different offer than the old model of "sign away your rights for an advance and hope." But no advance means no safety net if the book underperforms, and monthly royalty payments are only as good as the sales behind them.

Watch this one over the next two years — Pepe says S&S plans to scale "in quite a big way." If you're weighing whether to pitch Simon Stream, ask for the print and audio royalty splits before you sign anything, since those aren't public yet. And if you're already indie-published and happy with your margins, don't let the marketing-support pitch alone talk you into giving up 50% of your e-book revenue. Read the actual contract terms when they land in your inbox, not just the imprint's mission statement.