Catapult Union Says the Publisher Is Being Sold, Operations to Wind Down October 30

What is the Catapult Union saying? That the publisher is being sold, and that operations will wind down on October 30. Publishers Lunch, in an October 21, 2026 report by Erin Somers, says the union confirmed that account. The company had not responded to Publishers Lunch's request for comment. The report does not name a buyer.

Catapult is an independent literary publisher based in New York. Its site, catapult.co, lists Counterpoint and Soft Skull alongside Catapult. Publishers Lunch does not say what a sale of assets would mean for those names.

Assets only, and no job with the buyer

The union formed in June, Publishers Lunch reports. The union says the company "announced plans for a sale while the NLRB vote was ongoing." It says the sale includes the company's assets only, and that "continued employment with the prospective buyer is not an option."

Publishers Lunch quotes a union statement: "All employees of the company were directed to maintain confidentiality on this matter, while continuing to acquire and publish books for the…" The published report breaks off there. The rest of the sentence sits behind the site's login, and it is not in the text available for this story.

What the report does not say

The buyer is not named. Publishers Lunch does not give a price, and it does not say which contracts would move with the assets. It does not say whether books already acquired will be published after October 30, or by whom. The company had not answered the request for comment, so none of that is on the record from the house. PT has no earlier article on Catapult to add to the union's account.

Why it matters for authors and publishers

The date the union gives is October 30. That is the day it says operations wind down. The same statement says employees were told to keep the sale confidential and, at the same time, to keep acquiring and publishing books. The union also says a job with the prospective buyer is not an option, and that what is for sale is the assets only.

For an author with a book at Catapult, or at Counterpoint or Soft Skull, the open question is the one the report leaves open: who, if anyone, publishes the book once operations wind down. The company had not told Publishers Lunch. Until it does, the public account is the union's, and it should be read as the union's.

Sources

• Erin Somers, Publishers Lunch, October 21, 2026: Catapult is being sold; operations will wind down on October 30
• Catapult: catapult.co