Collective Ink
| File:John Hunt Publishing logo.svg | |
| Founded | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Publication types | Books |
| Nonfiction topics | critical theory, philosophy, political theory, music criticism, contemporary cinema |
| Official website | www |
John Hunt Publishing is a left-wing[1] publishing company founded in the United Kingdom in 2001, initially named O Books. The publisher has 24 active autonomous imprints, with the largest of these being the Zero Books imprint (styled Zer0 Books) founded in 2009.[2] The Zero Books imprint was founded with the objective being to combat what they viewed as a trend of anti-intellectualism in contemporary culture.[3]
History
John Hunt Publishing was founded in the United Kingdom in 2001,[2][4][5] originally named O Books,[2] a name which it continues to use as one of its imprints, in the "mind, body, and spirit" market.[6] Its Zero Books imprint was founded by Tariq Goddard and Mark Fisher in 2009. John Hunt Publishing then underwent a major reorganization in 2010.[2] In 2014, Goddard and Fisher left Zero Books to found another publishing house, Repeater Books.[7][8] Since 2014 the imprint has been run by Douglas Lain along with Ashley Frawley and C Derick Varn and has published critically acclaimed books such as Kill All Normies and Zen City.[9][10] The imprint began publishing a series called Neglected or Misunderstood in 2017 with the aim of covering "neglected or misunderstood" left-wing theorists such as Shulamith Firestone and Theodor Adorno.[11] Zero Books states that their goal is to utilize critical theory to "publish books that make our readers uncomfortable" in order to "reinvent the left".[12]
John Hunt Publishing "deals directly with authors" and does not require they have an agent. However, in the mid-2010s it was stated that "because they are a small publisher, they are unable to pay advances, so [authors] have to wait for the royalties to roll in".[13] Imprints of John Hunt Publishing offer four “levels” of publishing based on the likely popularity of the book,[13] with both “traditional publishing deals and what it describes as co-operative publishing for authors,” with about a quarter of books, most prevalently those in fiction, being published “under co-operative terms,”[2] though this will vary by imprint. The company also says that "every title gets treated the same. No bookshop or reviewer is going to know if one title or another has had a subsidy."[2] As with other imprints operations are controlled by authors themselves, who "have gravitated to being involved in publishing, whether coming up through editing, design or marketing."[2] This multiple-imprint author-centric style has been described as, "It can’t work. It shouldn’t work. Yet, somehow, John Hunt Publishing is making it work."[2] A central corporate office continues to manage sales, accounts, and royalties for all imprints.[2] As of 2014, the company was publishing "approximately 300 titles per year with global sales and a focus on physical stores."[2]
On October 23, 2021, Repeater Books announced that they had bought the Zero Books imprint from John Hunt Publishing.[14] Then, two days later on October 25, 2021, it was announced that Watkins Books owner Etan Ilfeld had purchased John Hunt Publishing from John Hunt.[15]
Imprints
As of 2018, the active imprints of John Hunt Publishing are described as:[2][16]
- 6th Books -- ALL THINGS PARANORMAL[17]
- Axis Mundi Books -- EXPLORING THE WORLD OF HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE[17]
- AYNI BOOKS -- ALTERNATIVE HEALTH & HEALING[6]
- Business Books -- FRESH THINKING FOR THE BUSINESS WORLD
- Changemakers Books -- TRANSFORMATION
- Compass Books -- PRACTICAL BOOKS FOR AUTHORS
- Chronos Books -- HISTORY
- Christian Alternative -- THE NEW OPEN SPACES
- Circle Books -- CHRISTIAN FAITH
- Cosmic Egg Books -- FANTASY, SCIENCE FICTION & HORROR
- Dodona Books -- ASTROLOGY, NUMEROLOGY AND GENERAL DIVINATION[17]
- Earth Books -- ENVIRONMENT
- Iff Books -- ACADEMIC AND SPECIALIST
- Liberalis -- LIBERAL ARTS EDUCATION & STORYTELLING
- Lodestone Books -- YOUNG ADULT FICTION
- MANTRA BOOKS -- EASTERN RELIGION & PHILOSOPHY
- Moon Books -- PAGANISM & SHAMANISM[17]
- O-BOOKS -- SPIRITUALITY[6]
- Our Street Books -- JUVENILE FICTION, NON-FICTION, PARENTING
- PSYCHE BOOKS -- PSYCHOLOGY
- Roundfire -- FICTION
- Soul Rocks -- NEW GENERATION
- Top Hat Books -- HISTORICAL FICTION
- Zero Books -- CULTURE, SOCIETY & POLITICS
Former or inactive imprints are:
- Perfect Edge -- "Fiction for those who know fiction matters" (noted on the website as "no longer receiving submissions")
- Bedroom Books -- ROMANCE AND SEXY-TIME
- Gaming Books -- CARD AND BOARD GAMES
- Sassy Books -- BADASS BOOKS FOR GO-FOR-IT GIRLS
Authors
Some notable authors published through John Hunt Publishing include: Andrez Bergen, Frithjof Bergmann, Danielle Collobert, David Fontana, Nicholas Hagger, Leslie Scalapino, David W. Berner and Steve Taylor. Authors published through the Zero Books imprint include: Angela Nagle, Mark Fisher, Tariq Goddard, David Stubbs, Guy Mankowski, Adam Kotsko, Owen Hatherley, Cliff Slaughter, Anselm Jappe, Laurie Penny, Nina Power, Eugene Thacker, Gilad Atzmon, David Cromwell.
See also
- Zero Books
- Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? (2009), by Mark Fisher
- Meat Market: Female Flesh Under Capitalism (2011), by Laurie Penny
- Continuity and Rupture: Philosophy in the Maoist Terrain (2016), by J. Moufawad-Paul
- Kill All Normies (2017), by Angela Nagle
- Marx Returns (2018), by Jason Barker
References
- ^ Citarella, Joshua (2020-09-12). "Marxist memes for TikTok teens: can the internet radicalize teenagers for the left?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k John Hunt Publishing – Reviewed, The Independent Publishing Magazine, February 26, 2014.
- ^ Former Zero Books Staff Start Repeater by Laurie Tuffrey, The Quietus, 29 November 2014
- ^ Continuum, Directory of Publishing 2001: Continuum and the Publishers Association (2000), p. 83.
- ^ International Literary Market Place (2001), p. 675
- ^ a b c Suzanne Ruthven, Compass Points - The Pagan Writers' Guide: Writing for the Pagan and MB&S Markets (2013), p. 25, ISBN 1782791078
- ^ Fisher, Mark (January 12, 2014). "Zero books publisher leaves to start new imprint Repeater". The Wire.
- ^ "The Quietus - News - Former Zero Books Staff Start Repeater".
- ^ MacDougald, Park (July 13, 2017). "Where Did the Alt-Right Come From? This Book Finds Some Uncomfortable Answers". New York. New York City: New York Media.
- ^ A Review of Zen City by Publishers Weekly, June 2016
- ^ Neglected or Misunderstood: The Radical Feminism of Shulamith Firestone.
- ^ About Zero Books.
- ^ a b Susie Kearley, Freelance Writing On Health, Food and Gardens (2014), p. 121
- ^ @RepeaterBooks (October 23, 2021). "Repeater Books, the team that started and ran Zer0 for its first seven years, have bought Zer0 Books.The imprint…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Wood, Heloise (25 October 2021). "Watkins… Media owner Ifield buys John Hunt Publishing". thebookseller.
- ^ "Our Imprints -- John Hunt Publishing". johnhuntpublishing.com.
- ^ a b c d Suzanne Ruthven, Compass Points - The Pagan Writers' Guide: Writing for the Pagan and MB&S Markets (2013), p. 44, ISBN 1782791078
