Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Berrett-Koehler Publishers is a book publishing company in San Francisco, California, that publishes books on progressive business practices, current events, and work/life issues.
History
Berrett-Koehler was founded in 1992 by Steven Piersanti, former CEO of Jossey-Bass Publishers (now a division of John Wiley & Sons), who envisioned a different kind of publishing company.
Among the first books published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers was Leadership and the New Science, by Margaret Wheatley, which has sold more than 350,000 copies. The company published several bestsellers, including Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins, which was listed on the New York Times bestseller list in 2004.
Business Philosophy
On the whole, Berrett-Koehler’s publications are intended to challenge conventional thinking, introduce new ideas, and foster positive change. They are aimed at changing the underlying beliefs, mindsets, institutions, and structures that continue to generate the same cycles of problems, no matter who leaders are or what improvement programs have been adopted.
According to Piersanti, Berrett-Koehler is founded on the belief that, to truly create a better world, action is needed at three important levels – individual, organizational, and societal. BK publishes books focused on each of these levels in their three agendas: BK Currents books on national and global change, BK Business books on organizational change, and BK Life books on individual change.
As a company, Berrett-Koehler strives to practice what they preach—to operate the publishing company in line with the ideas in the books it publishes. At the core of the approach is stewardship, defined as a deep sense of responsibility to administer the company for the benefit of all stakeholder groups: authors, customers, employees, investors, service providers, suppliers, sales partners, and the surrounding community and environment. Their author contract is unusual in two respects: (1) They do not pay advances against royalties to their authors, preferring instead to offer a shared-risk/shared-reward partnership in which the author makes bigger royalties on the back end; and (2) their contract includes an out-clause providing authors an opportunity to terminate their contract if they're unhappy with the way their book is being handled. Some authors like the higher royalties and are willing to forgo an advance; other authors don't want to work with no money up front. All authors like the out-clause because it functions as a "satisfaction guaranteed" promise.
Publishing Agendas
BK Currents
BK Currents titles explore social and economic justice as they arise at the intersection between business and society, seeking to promote positive change at the national and global levels.
Notable Authors & Works:
John Perkins (author) – Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
David C. Korten – When Corporations Rule the World; The Great Turning; Agenda for a New Economy John de Graaf - Affluenza
Jared Bernstein - Crunch (book)
Thom Hartmann – Screwed; Cracking the Code
BK Business
BK Business titles examine new and progressive leadership and management practices in all types of public, private, and nonprofit organizations. They seek to promote what the company believes are socially responsible approaches to business, innovative organizational change methods, and more humane and effective organizations.
Notable Authors & Works
Margaret J. Wheatley – Leadership and the New Science
Ken Blanchard – The Secret; Empowerment Takes More than a Minute; The 3 Keys to Empowerment; Know Can Do!; Full Steam Ahead
Peter Block – Stewardship; Community
Henry Mintzberg – Managers Not MBA’s; Managing
BK Life
BK Life titles are intended to help people create positive change in their lives and align their personal practices with their aspirations for a better world. They seek to show people how they can live the lives they want while also benefiting the families, organizations, communities, nations, and world in which they live and work.
Notable Authors & Works
Brian Tracy – Eat That Frog!
The Arbinger Institute – Leadership and Self-Deception; The Anatomy of Peace
Richard J. Leider – The Power of Purpose; Repacking Your Bags; Claiming Your Place at the Fire
Jack Foster – Ideaship; How to Get Ideas