Celebrating 25 Years of Berrett-Koehler Publishers

This summer marks the 25th birthday of Berrett-Koehler, the extraordinary company that published my first book, Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker’s Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life, in 2009.

BK is unique, for many reasons. Publishers Weekly recently ran a feature story that captures some of the magic, while outlining some of BK’s new releases and initiatives. Steve Piersanti, the founder/President/Publisher, has posted an informative “Letter from the Publisher: On Berrett-Koehler’s 25th Anniversary.” On Steve’s BK site page, the company is described as a “leading independent publisher of progressive books on current affairs, personal growth, and business and management.” For an idea of just how progressive and unique BK is, read the new  Berrett-Koehler Constitution. The same goes for Steve’s post “The Insight at the Heart of Berrett-Koehler.”

There is also a dedicated and super-involved staff engaged in decision-making about what to publish, and how to make it successful, while staying true to BK’s progressive and inclusive values. This translates into a highly selective policy on what, and how much, gets accepted. It has resulted in best-sellers from such authors as Brian Tracy, Ken Blanchard, Margaret Wheatley, John Perkins, Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans, the Arbinger Institute, Richard Leider, Marilee Adams and many more.

Here is a quick look at some of the other factors that make BK one-of-a-kind:

Virtual Author Days: Once a book is signed, but before it is published, authors pitch the concept and plan to the entire staff at BK HQ in Oakland, California. Recently, author days have been made available to anyone on video.

Berrett-Koehler Authors, Inc.: A great community of authors open to anyone who has published at least one book with BK. I have written previously about the terrific author retreats, and while the retreats are only open to members, there is also an annual marketing workshop that is open to others. The next one is coming up soon, July 20-21, in Chicago.

BK Expert Directory: A great way to learn more about the company’s authors, including how to potentially work with them and tap into their expertise and insights.

BK Magazine: A free online source of information about books, writing, publishing and more. Especially check out the writing of Jeevan Sivasubramaniam, BK’s Managing Director, Editorial; such as his post “Five Examples of Disastrous Project Management.”

BK Community: Anyone can join; providing access to exclusive content, book discounts and more.

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, BK is in the middle of a huge sale: 40% of all titles, July 10th-16th. It’s a perfect opportunity to discover some of the hundreds of BK authors, well-known and otherwise, who are the backbone of making this a company that lives up to its Big Idea of “Creating a World That Works for All.”