That said, there will likely be multiple publishing ventures that emerge from the fallout caused by the handling of the takeover. It has put writers from different imprints against one another, and split a portion of the theoretical left needlessly. It amounted to mud-slinging around Zero's previous incarnation being “the wrong kind of leftists.” I think it has damaged the publishing left. Repeater Books put out lots of messaging to the effect that they had taken over Zero, and that they were going to improve things.

The initial handling of the takeover was negative. I now have those rights and am considering publishing a new edition late this year or early next year.ĭoes the change of team at Zero make things better or worse for writers in left academic and critical circles? For a number of reasons, I asked for the rights to my book back. In addition to this, the new team at Zero (run by Emma Goddard, the wife of Tariq, who runs Repeater) began to criticise the entire back catalogue published by Zero under Doug Lain's tenure, saying it was populist and right wing, despite this largely not being true. This is significant, as Repeater was formed by people who had originally formed Zero under John Hunt, then left and formed Repeater. This was in essence the takeover of one publishing venture dedicated primarily to mind, body and spirit books by another publishing venture dedicated primarily to mind, body and spirit books - but they both own minor politics and culture imprints, meaning Zero and Repeater are now under one roof. I understand the rights to your book have changed hands, and a new edition is in the works - what happened?īasically Watkins Media, who own Repeater books bought John Hunt Publishing, who own Zero Books.

Beyond Zero: Follow-up interview with Mike Watson As he tells us, both Repeater and Zer0 are bound up with the legacy of Mark Fisher, and the authors who continue to engage with his work. Repeater Books’ Tariq Goddard made a statemen t about the changes at Zer0 which led to some disagreement and fallout, with other Zer0 authors and some readers also expressing frustration and disappointment.īefore we dive into the recommendations from Episode 11, let’s catch up with Mike and find out what’s been going on. Mike’s left his publisher, Zer0 Book s, following a change of leadership at the imprint which caused some waves in left literary circles, and exposed some fault lines which had been present for some time. In the weeks following the book’s publication and the airing of Episode 11, it’s fair to say a lot has happened. If you haven’t had a chance for a listen yet, the episode attempted to map the territory beyond Capitalist Realism, as Mike shared his thoughts on Keir Starmer, Acid Communism, memes and mental health. It’s been over a month since we spoke to Mike Watson, the cultural critic and left-wing thinker behind the now widely-discussed book The Memeing of Mark Fisher.

The memeing of mark fisher