Douglas Lain Joins Erich Prince: Running a Boutique Publishing Label

“Around that time, there was the 2008 financial crisis. A lot of people in New York publishing were let go, and my contract with Macmillan seemed to be in jeopardy.”

Prior to running the publishing label Zero Books, an imprint of John Hunt Publishing, Douglas Lain wrote science fiction. Following the 2008 economic crisis and concerns about the economic feasibility of the publishing industry, Mr. Lain immersed himself in Zero Books, which publishes political commentary on the Left. Promising “to reinvent the left,” Zero Books publishes academic and general takes on contemporary issues from a liberal perspective. Mr. Lain joins Merion West’s Erich Prince to discuss the challenges of running a publishing label, declining rates of readership among Americans, and the role of Zero Books in the broader political movement on the Left.

Mr. Lain, thank you for speaking with us today. I think it might be helpful to start by talking about your personal journey and what led you to running Zero Books.

The first thing to understand about me is that I am primarily a science fiction writer, which is not obvious to people because my science fiction career—while not a complete failure—has not been as successful at reaching people as my political work. I have written short stories and had my first collection published in 2006. I had a novel contracted with [Macmillan Publishers Ltd] that came out much later than I would have hoped in 2013. It was in between the short story collection and the first novel that I started podcasting. Around that time, there was the 2008 financial crisis. A lot of people in New York publishing were let go, and my contract with Macmillan seemed to be in jeopardy. At first, I was reaching out to other writers to see if this crisis was going to be the end of publishing and the ability to have a career as a writer.