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Collective Ink (formerly John Hunt Publishing) is a
publishing company Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
founded in the United Kingdom in 2001 under the name O Books.John Hunt Publishing – Reviewed
The Independent Publishing Magazine, February 26, 2014

The publisher has 15 active
imprints Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...
, the largest of which are Moon Books, O-Books and Zero Books (styled Zer0 Books). After changing ownership in 2021, in June 2023, John Hunt Publishing was renamed to Collective Ink.


History

Collective Ink was founded in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
in 2001, originally named O Books, a name which it continues to use as one of its imprints, in the "mind, body, and spirit" market.Suzanne Ruthven, ''Compass Points - The Pagan Writers' Guide: Writing for the Pagan and MB&S Markets'' (2013), p. 25, The name was later changed to John Hunt Publishing, under which it then underwent a major reorganization in 2010. In 2014, it was stated that John Hunt Publishing "deals directly with authors" and does not require they have an
agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...
. However, in the mid-2010s it was stated that "because they are a small publisher, they are unable to pay advances, so uthorshave to wait for the
royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...
to roll in".Susie Kearley, ''Freelance Writing On Health, Food and Gardens'' (2014), p. 121 Imprints of John Hunt Publishing offered four levels of publishing based on the likely popularity of the book, 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," though this would vary by imprint. The company also said that "every title gets treated the same. No
bookshop Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The foundi ...
or reviewer is going to know if one title or another has had a
subsidy A subsidy, subvention or government incentive is a type of government expenditure for individuals and households, as well as businesses with the aim of stabilizing the economy. It ensures that individuals and households are viable by having acc ...
." 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." This multiple-imprint author-centric style was described as, "It can't work. It shouldn't work. Yet, somehow, John Hunt Publishing is making it work." A central corporate office continues to manage sales, accounts, and royalties for all imprints. As of 2014, the company was publishing "approximately 300 titles per year with global sales and a focus on physical stores." On October 25, 2021, it was announced that
Watkins Books Watkins Books is London's oldest esoteric bookshop. It specialises in Western esotericism, esotericism, mysticism, occultism, oriental religion and contemporary spirituality. The bookshop was saved by entrepreneur Etan Ilfeld who bought it out ...
owner Etan Ilfeld had purchased John Hunt Publishing from John Hunt. In June 2023, John Hunt Publishing was renamed to Collective Ink. Like its predecessor, Collective Ink does not require authors to have an agent, and "welcomes unsolicited
manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
submissions". The publisher also routinely publishes lists of contacts for its published authors and data regarding books in production, the number of advertisements run for books, and average royalty payments.


Zero Books

The Zero Books imprint was founded to combat what they viewed as a trend of
anti-intellectualism Anti-intellectualism is hostility to and mistrust of intellect, intellectuals, and intellectualism, commonly expressed as deprecation of education and philosophy and the dismissal of art, literature, history, and science as impractical, politica ...
in contemporary culture. Zero Books predominantly publishes works of critical thinking and philosophy, such as Mark Fisher's ''Capitalist Realism'' and
Eugene Thacker Eugene Thacker is an American author. He is a professor of media studies at The New School in New York City. His writing is associated with the philosophy of nihilism and pessimism. Thacker's books include ''In the Dust of This Planet'' (part ...
's ''In The Dust of this Planet''. Zero Books imprint was founded by Tariq Goddard and
Mark Fisher Mark Fisher (11 July 1968 – 13 January 2017), also known under his blogging alias k-punk, was an English writer, music critic, political and cultural theorist, philosopher, and teacher based in the Department of Visual Cultures at Golds ...
in 2009, as an imprint of John Hunt Publishing. In 2014, Goddard and Fisher left Zero Books and launched
Repeater Books Repeater Books is a publishing imprint based in London, founded in 2014 by Tariq Goddard and Mark Fisher, formerly the founders of radical publishers Zero Books, along with Etan Ilfeld, Tamar Shlaim, Alex Niven and Matteo Mandarini. It was lau ...
as a part of Watkins Media. From 2014 the imprint was run directly through John Hunt with associated authors and freelancers, and has published critically acclaimed books such as '' Kill All Normies'' and ''Zen City''. The imprint began publishing a series called ''Neglected or Misunderstood'' in 2017 with the aim of covering "neglected or misunderstood"
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
theorists such as
Shulamith Firestone Shulamith Bath Shmuel Ben Ari Firestone (born Feuerstein; January 7, 1945 – August 28, 2012) was a Canadian-American radical feminist writer and activist. She was a prominent figure in the early development of radical feminism and second-wave ...
and
Theodor Adorno Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Blue ...
. Zero Books states that their goal is to utilize
critical theory Critical theory is a social, historical, and political school of thought and philosophical perspective which centers on analyzing and challenging systemic power relations in society, arguing that knowledge, truth, and social structures are ...
to "publish books that make our readers uncomfortable" in order to "reinvent the left". Collective Ink was brought by Watkins Media in October 2021, bringing Zero Books and Repeater Books under the same ownership. This allowed some Zero Book assets to be transferred to their originators at Repeater Books. On October 23, 2021, Repeater Books announced that they had regained the Zero Books imprint under the control of publisher Tariq Goddard via the purchasing of John Hunt Publishing by Repeater parent company Watkins Media, which owns both Collective Ink as a publishing company in its own right and Repeater as a Watkins imprint respectively.


Zero Books

* '' Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?'' (2009), by Mark Fisher * '' Meat Market: Female Flesh Under Capitalism'' (2011), by Laurie Penny * '' Kill All Normies'' (2017), by Angela Nagle * ''
Marx Returns ''Marx Returns'' is the debut novel by the British writer and filmmaker Jason Barker. It tells the story of the German philosopher Karl Marx and his struggle to complete his magnum opus ''Capital''. Reception Reviewing ''Marx Returns'' in the ...
'' (2018), by Jason Barker


Authors

Some authors published through John Hunt Publishing include:
Andrez Bergen Andrez Simon Bergen is an Australian musician and writer. , Bergen lived in Tokyo, Japan with his wife, Yoko Umehara, and their daughter Cocoa. He has performed and released electronic music as Little Nobody. Biography Andrez Simon Bergen, ...
, Frithjof Bergmann, Danielle Collobert, David Fontana, Nicholas Hagger, Leslie Scalapino, David W. Berner Jonathan Dapra and
Steve Taylor Roland Stephen Taylor (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, music executive, film maker, assistant professor, and actor. A figure in what has come to be known as Christian alternative rock, Taylor enjoyed ...
. Authors published through the Zero Books imprint include: Angela Nagle,
Mark Fisher Mark Fisher (11 July 1968 – 13 January 2017), also known under his blogging alias k-punk, was an English writer, music critic, political and cultural theorist, philosopher, and teacher based in the Department of Visual Cultures at Golds ...
, James Heartfield, Tariq Goddard, David Stubbs,
Guy Mankowski Guy Mankowski (born 6 January 1983) is an English writer. He is the great grandson of the author and broadcaster Harry Mortimer Batten. He was educated at St John's College, Portsmouth and Ampleforth College. On The Neo Historian podcast Manko ...
, Hatty Nestor, Adam Kotsko,
Owen Hatherley Owen Hatherley (born 24 July 1981) is a British writer and journalist based in London who writes primarily on architecture, politics and culture. Early life Hatherley was born on 24 July 1981, in Southampton, growing up in a 1930s suburban esta ...
, Cliff Slaughter, Anselm Jappe, Aaron J. Leonard, Laurie Penny, Grafton Tanner,
Eugene Thacker Eugene Thacker is an American author. He is a professor of media studies at The New School in New York City. His writing is associated with the philosophy of nihilism and pessimism. Thacker's books include ''In the Dust of This Planet'' (part ...
,
Gilad Atzmon Gilad Atzmon (, ; born 9 June 1963) is an Israeli-born British saxophonist, novelist, political activist, and writer. As a musician, he is best known as a saxophonist and bandleader. His instruments include the saxophone, accordion, clarinet ...
, and David Cromwell.


Imprints


Current

As of 2023, the active imprints of John Hunt Publishing are described as: * 6th BooksAll things
paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...
Suzanne Ruthven, ''Compass Points - The Pagan Writers' Guide: Writing for the Pagan and MB&S Markets'' (2013), p. 44, * Business Books"Fresh thinking for the business world" * Changemakers BooksTransformation * Chronos Books
History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
* Christian Alternative"The new open spaces" * Circle Books
Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
* Iff BooksAcademic and specialist * Liberalis
Liberal arts education Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refer to s ...
and storytelling * Lodestone Books
Young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...
* Mantra Books
Eastern religion The Eastern religions are the religions which originated in East Asia, East, South Asia, South and Southeast Asia and thus have dissimilarities with Western religions, Western and Traditional African religions, African religions. Eastern religions i ...
and
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
* Moon Books
Paganism Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
and
shamanism Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...
* O-Books
Spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
* Our Street BooksJuvenile fiction,
non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...
, and
parenting Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and educational development from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a biologica ...
* Psyche Books
Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
* RoundfireFiction * Zero BooksCulture, society and politics


Former

* Cosmic Egg Books
Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
,
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
, and horror * Dodona Books
Astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...
,
numerology Numerology (known before the 20th century as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, ...
and general
divination Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, ...
* Earth Books Environment * Compass BooksPractical books for authors * 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 Card or The Card may refer to: Common uses * Plastic cards of various types: **Bank card **Credit card **Debit card **Payment card * Playing card, used in games * Printed circuit board, or card * Greeting card, given on special occasions Arts an ...
and
board games A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
* Soul RocksNew generation * Top Hat Books
Historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...
* Sassy Books"Badass books for go-for-it girls"


References


External links

* {{Authority control Political book publishing companies British companies established in 2001