Industry & Advocacy News
March 27, 2026
Update, March 27, 2026: We updated the projected recovery amount below based on a revised Plan of Reorganization filed on February 13, 2026.
Children’s book publisher Albert Whitman & Company has published a Plan of Reorganization in its bankruptcy case.
This is a typical plan for a Chapter 11 Subchapter V bankruptcy that uses future projected disposable income to pay a portion of the unsecured debt to creditors (including the authors who are owed royalties) for the five-year period after the plan is confirmed, while also allowing current equity holders to retain their equity interest in the company.
The projected disposable income for the five-year period according to the plan is $1,320,751. Unsecured creditors will get their pro rata share of that amount paid quarterly through June 2031. The projected recovery for authors and other unsecured creditors is 52.1 percent of their claim. However, recovery depends on a number of factors including the actual disposable income amount compared to the projection and the ultimate amount of allowed unsecured claims—meaning that the actual recovery for authors could wind up being more or less than 52.1 percent.
All authors owed money and other creditors can vote for or against the plan. If you are a creditor, you should have received your ballots at this time. Ballots are due March 16. Keep in mind that even if most creditors vote against the plan, the court can still confirm it if certain factors are established such as whether creditors are slated to receive more as part of the plan than they would in a liquidation. As such, the chances are high that the plan will be confirmed regardless of how the creditors vote.
Checks will be sent to creditors at the address in 1) their proof of claim if they filed one, 2) any notice filed with the court changing their address, or 3) the Debtor’s Schedules if no proof of claim was filed. Any distribution check returned as being undeliverable will be held for 90 days; if a better address is not provided within those 90 days, the distribution check will be forfeited along with any right to future distributions. Therefore, creditors should keep the debtor informed of their current address through June 2031.
If you are an author who filed a proof of claim, your claim will automatically move forward, provided Albert Whitman agrees with the claim as filed and the amounts reflected on it. If Albert Whitman does not agree with your claim, it may file an objection, at which point both the company and the author will need to provide evidence to the court regarding the claim. If the dispute cannot be resolved between the parties, the court will rule on the dispute.
If you are an author who did not receive the legally required notice from Albert Whitman to file a proof of claim, we urge you to contact Albert Whitman attorney William Factor at wfactor@wfactorlaw.com and Bankruptcy Trustee Robert Handler at rhandler@com-rec.com with a request to file a late claim. You may also intervene in the case with your own counsel (we can provide referrals if you need representation).
If you have any questions or need any further assistance, please contact us by submitting a legal help request form or emailing staff@authorsguild.org. Please note that the Guild can only provide legal assistance to member authors and illustrators.
