Berrett-Koehler Publishers

What Berrett-Koehler Publishers does

Berrett-Koehler Publishers (BK) is an independent, privately held book publisher founded in 1992 and headquartered in San Francisco, operating under the tagline "Books for a Better World." The company publishes a curated catalog of 198+ in-stock print titles organized across six subject areas — Leadership, Professional Development, Workplace Culture, Diversity & Inclusion, Personal Growth, and Social Change — and bundled into Signature Collections including No Kings Library, The Ken Blanchard Library, The Hidden History Series, The Remote Work Collection, and Black History Collection. The catalog is anchored by long-tenured, internationally recognized authors whose books have sold in the tens of millions across dozens of languages, including Ken Blanchard (25M+ copies), Brian Tracy (Eat That Frog!), Margaret Wheatley, Henry Mintzberg, John Perkins, Marshall Goldsmith, Mary-Frances Winters, and Parker J. Palmer. BK serves a heterogeneous base spanning individual professional readers, higher education institutions, corporate L&D/training departments, DEI/HR practitioners, and authors.

The technology stack supporting BK's commercial operations is conventional publishing commerce infrastructure rather than a custom platform. The bkconnection.com storefront runs on Shopify, handling product catalog, cart, checkout, tiered bulk discounts, customer accounts, and shipping logic. All ebooks (EPUB/PDF) are delivered through VitalSource's third-party Bookshelf app under a DRM-protected, cross-device reading model. Each product page embeds Penguin Random House's Insight widget (insight.penguinrandomhouse.com / insight.randomhouse.com) to deliver standardized "Read Sample" previews via ISBN, positioning BK titles inside a larger cross-publisher sample-distribution network. Newsletter signup forms run on HubSpot and applicant tracking runs on Workable. Notable product extensions beyond the core catalog include signature format lines (Essential Workbooks, Companion Card Decks), the BK Community members dashboard (Author Talks, Book Boosters, BK Community News), and à la carte Author Services (developmental editing, proposal coaching, manuscript reviews, marketing services) sold to any author, not only contracted ones.

BK monetizes through five distinct revenue streams. One-time book sales (print and ebook) anchor the model, with individual SKUs priced from $16.95 to $34.95 and ancillary products such as the Eat That Frog! Video Training Program at $149.95. A tiered bulk/wholesale program automatically applies institutional discounts from 20% off (10–49 books) to 55% off (10,000+ books), supporting corporate training and university course adoption. The BK Community membership creates recurring subscription revenue with tiered benefits (25% off store purchases, free books, members-only programming). Author Services generate professional-services revenue independent of book sales. Gift cards, workbooks, card decks, and video training programs round out ancillary sales. Go-to-market is hybrid: direct-to-consumer via Shopify, a community-led membership flywheel, and field-led enterprise sales for bulk institutional orders, with the "Request an Exam Copy" funnel specifically targeting higher education faculty.

Name

Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Legal name

Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Website

https://bkconnection.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Berrett-Koehler Publishers is an independent San Francisco-based book publisher founded in 1992, publishing 198+ titles on leadership, workplace culture, DEI, and social change, sold through a direct-to-consumer storefront, bulk institutional channels, a subscription membership, and ancillary author services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Book Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130), Other Publishers (51319)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

General Trade Publishing (Adult Fiction & Nonfiction) (MPAJAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Health, Wellness & Fitness Trade Publishing (MPAJAAAL), Self-Publishing Platforms (KDP-style Marketplaces & Portals) (MPAJAJAA), Author Service Marketplaces & Aggregators (Vetting, Bundled Services) (MPAJAJAB), Self-Publishing Distribution Aggregators (Wide E-book/Audiobook/Print) (MPAJAJAC)

Keywords

• Independent book publishing
• Leadership and management books
• Professional development titles
• Workplace culture publishing
• Diversity and inclusion books

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Book sales (print and digital): Primary revenue stream from one-time sales of physical books (trade paperback and hardcover) priced between $16.95 and $34.95, plus ebooks (EPUB/PDF) delivered through the Bookshelf app, and higher-priced ancillary products such as the Eat That Frog! Video Training Program at $149.95. Bestsellers span leadership, personal growth, workplace culture, and social change categories with deep catalog depth across 198+ in-stock print titles.
2. Bulk/wholesale institutional sales: Tiered bulk discount program for corporate, educational, and training buyers: 20% off for 10–49 books, scaling up to 55% off for 10,000+ books, applied automatically at checkout. This institutional channel drives large-volume repeat orders tied to leadership training programs, university courses, and corporate L&D initiatives.
3. Author services (editorial and marketing): À la carte professional services sold to any author (not only contracted BK authors), including developmental editing, proposal coaching, manuscript reviews, and marketing services (giveaways, awards submissions, visibility campaigns), generating professional services revenue independent of book sales.
4. BK Community membership subscriptions: Recurring membership program with tiered benefits (25% off all store purchases, free books, access to Author Talks, Book Boosters, and members-only news), creating a subscription-style revenue stream and recurring reader relationship.
5. Gift cards and ancillary products: BK Gift Cards redeemable across the storefront plus companion card decks, workbooks, and audio/video training products (e.g., Eat That Frog! Video Training Program) that monetize intellectual property beyond the core print/ebook format.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Berrett-Koehler Publishers is an independent book publisher (tagline "Books for a Better World") that produces and sells a curated catalog of trade paperback, hardcover, ebook (EPUB/PDF), workbook, card deck, and video training titles organized across leadership, professional development, workplace culture, diversity & inclusion, personal growth, and social change. Distribution is led by a Shopify-powered direct-to-consumer storefront at bkconnection.com, supplemented by third-party retail/wholesale channels, à la carte author editorial and marketing services open to any author, and a tiered BK Community membership program offering discounts, free books, Author Talks, and Book Boosters.

Product overview

Berrett-Koehler Publishers operates as a book publishing brand (tagline "Books for a Better World") rather than a software platform; its core product is its catalog of leadership, professional development, workplace culture, diversity & inclusion, personal growth, and social change titles, sold primarily through its Shopify storefront at bkconnection.com. The portfolio is organized into six subject collections (Leadership, Professional Development, Workplace Culture, Diversity & Inclusion, Personal Growth, Social Change) and several signature collections such as the Eat That Frog! Collection, The Ken Blanchard Library, No Kings Library, The Hidden History Series, The Remote Work Collection, Essential Workbooks, and Companion Card Decks. Author-facing offerings include the à la carte Author Services bundle (Editorial + Marketing) and the tiered BK Community membership program, which unlocks discounts, free books, Author Talks, and Book Boosters. Distribution of EPUB/PDF ebooks is handled through the third-party Bookshelf app, and individual book pages embed Penguin Random House's Read Sample widget for previews. Bestselling flagship titles include Eat That Frog!, Leadership and Self-Deception, and Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• BK Community: Berrett-Koehler's membership community offering author talks, book boosters, and member benefits.
• BK Connection

Products and services

• Berrett-Koehler Publishers Book Catalog The primary publishing output of Berrett-Koehler Publishers: a thematically curated catalog of books sold primarily through the bkconnection.com Shopify storefront in print and digital formats. Catalog spans six subject collections (Leadership, Professional Development, Workplace Culture, Diversity & Inclusion, Personal Growth, Social Change) plus signature curations (No Kings Library, The Hidden History Series, The Ken Blanchard Library, The Remote Work Collection, Essential Workbooks, Companion Card Decks).
• Author Services (Editorial and Marketing) Professional services for prospective and contracted authors sold à la carte through the bkconnection.com storefront, including Editorial Services (developmental editing, proposal coaching, manuscript reviews) and Marketing Services (giveaways, awards submissions, visibility campaigns). Open to any author pursuing traditional publication with BK or needing independent publishing support.
• BK Community Membership Tiered recurring membership program for readers and authors offering 25% off store-wide purchases, free books, and members-only access to Author Talks, Book Boosters, and BK Community News through a members dashboard. Designed to drive repeat engagement, recurring revenue, and a community-anchored reader relationship.
• Eat That Frog! Collection Signature BK collection curating Brian Tracy's Eat That Frog! productivity franchise into a multi-format learning bundle, including the Fourth Edition book, Action Workbooks, card decks, the Eat That Frog! Video Training Program, and the Eat That Frog! for Students adaptation.
• BK Gift Cards Berrett-Koehler storefront gift cards redeemable across the full catalog at bkconnection.com.

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Penguin Random HousecoreTechnology or IntegrationEach BK product page embeds the Penguin Random House Insight widget (insight.penguinrandomhouse.com / insight.randomhouse.com) for hosted "Read Sample" previews delivered via the title's ISBN and author metadata. The integration standardizes cross-publisher sample experiences and signals that BK titles flow through PRH's sample-distribution infrastructure for discovery and pre-purchase evaluation.
• ShopifycoreTechnology or IntegrationShopify powers the bkconnection.com storefront, including product catalog management, cart, checkout, discount codes, customer accounts, and integrated shipping/policy pages. The platform underpins both individual book sales and tiered bulk-discount automation.
• Bookshelf (VitalSource)coreTechnology or IntegrationAll BK ebooks (EPUB and PDF) are delivered and accessed through the Bookshelf app, providing DRM-protected cross-device reading for the full catalog of titles, companion workbooks, and card decks. A dedicated FAQ explains the delivery and access flow.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• New World Library: Independent publisher focused on personal growth, spirituality, and social change. Comparable thematic focus and independent-publisher scale, with a similar mix of trade paperback and ebook distribution.
• Sounds True: Independent multimedia publisher of personal-growth, mindfulness, and leadership content across book, audio, and video. Comparable as a mission-driven independent publisher extending IP into multi-format products (audio, video) and community programming.
• The New Press: Independent nonprofit publisher of progressive, social-justice, and political-economy titles. Direct thematic peer for BK's Hidden History Series and No Kings Library, with comparable editorial positioning for institutional and academic buyers.
• Chelsea Green Publishing: Independent publisher focused on sustainability, regenerative economy, and progressive social change — overlapping with BK's Social Change and Impact Entrepreneur categories. Comparable independent-publisher scale and values-driven DTC distribution.
• Morgan James Publishing: Independent business/leadership publisher with a hybrid model offering author services (publishing, marketing, distribution) alongside traditional publishing. Direct peer on the Author Services à la carte motion.
• Harvard Business Review Press: HBR Press publishes leadership, management, and organizational-behavior titles from high-credential authors, with deep institutional and executive-education adoption. Direct competitor for the same leadership/workplace-culture buyer and a comparable curation-led publishing model.
• Hay House: Independent publisher of personal-growth, self-help, mind-body-spirit, and business titles. Comparable as an independent publisher with a values-driven catalog and a strong direct-to-consumer sales motion targeting similar purpose-driven reader segments.
• Jossey-Bass (Wiley): Wiley's leadership, business, and professional-development imprint. Closely comparable as a long-tenured publisher of leadership, management, HR, and workplace-culture titles for both individual readers and institutional training markets, with similar Higher Education adoption economics.

Broad incumbents

• Wiley: Global publishing conglomerate whose Jossey-Bass and business imprints compete directly in BK's leadership and professional-development categories, while also operating far broader in scientific, technical, and educational publishing.
• Penguin Random House: World's largest trade publisher and a documented technology partner of BK (via the Insight sample-preview widget). Functions as a broad incumbent operating in the same leadership, business, and self-help categories with substantially larger scale and distribution leverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bkpub
• Facebookfacebook.com/berrettkoehler
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/berrett-koehler-publishers-inc.

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Berrett-Koehler Publishers