Green Books

What Green Books does

Green Books is a sustainability-focused book imprint operating as a curated collection within Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (LSE: BMX), a publicly listed UK publisher. Founded in 1986 and based in Cambridge, the imprint publishes practical, instructional titles across organic gardening, sustainable building, eco-living, and environmental philosophy. The catalog of more than 20 active titles includes guides on polytunnel growing, market gardening, companion planting, Passivhaus construction, straw bale and cob building, beekeeping, foraging, and green parenting. Books are available in paperback, hardback, and ebook formats and are sold globally through Bloomsbury's e-commerce platform with dedicated storefronts for the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and India.

The imprint operates with a lean team of 13 employees and shares infrastructure with the parent company across rights management, royalties, trade sales, and marketing. Distribution is handled through Bloomsbury's multi-regional e-commerce platform, with marketing executed via the Bloomsbury website, author features, and content marketing through articles and recipes. Green Books has no proprietary technology, software platform, or digital service layer; its product is fundamentally a print and ebook catalog under the parent publisher's brand. The 2024 Garden Media Guild Award finalist recognition for 'Beekeeping for Gardeners' is the principal recent external validation cited.

The business model is one-time unit sales of physical and digital books priced between approximately £15 and £30, with frequent discounts of 5-10% below RRP. Revenue is not separately disclosed as Green Books is reported only as a sub-brand within Bloomsbury's consolidated results. Customer segments are horizontal and consumer-facing, including home gardeners, sustainable self-builders, nature and wildlife enthusiasts, and eco-conscious families. There are no enterprise customers, no subscription or recurring revenue streams, and no disclosed partnerships.

Name

Green Books

Legal name

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Website

https://greenbooks.co.uk

Company type

Public

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Green Books is a sustainability-focused book imprint within Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, publishing practical guides on organic gardening, sustainable building, beekeeping, and eco-living for environmentally conscious consumers in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and India.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Book Sales: Green Books generates revenue through the sale of physical and digital books across multiple formats including paperback, hardback, and ebook. Books are sold directly through Bloomsbury's e-commerce platform with retail pricing displayed publicly.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Green Books publishes and sells a curated catalog of sustainability and environmental books in print and digital formats, covering organic gardening, sustainable building methods, eco-living, beekeeping, foraging, and green parenting. Titles are sold directly to individual consumers via Bloomsbury's e-commerce platform and regional websites at unit prices with typical discounts of 5-10% below the recommended retail price.

Product overview

Green Books is a product line/brand within Bloomsbury Publishing comprising sustainability and environmental books. It is not a unified software platform but rather a curated collection of print and digital publications focused on green living, sustainable gardening, and eco-friendly building practices. The portfolio includes practical guides on organic gardening (polytunnel growing, market gardening, companion planting), green living topics (self-sufficiency, foraging, nature learning, green parenting), and sustainable building (eco-home design, straw bale construction, Passivhaus standards, cob building). Books are available in multiple formats including paperback and ebook versions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• How to Grow Food in Your Polytunnel (Second Edition)

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Permanent Publications: Permanent Publications is a UK-based independent publisher focused on sustainability, green living, and ecological topics — operating in the same niche as Green Books and serving similar UK and European audiences with comparable subject matter.
• Chelsea Green Publishing: Chelsea Green Publishing is a leading US-based independent publisher specializing in books on sustainable living, organic gardening, renewable energy, and eco-building — directly comparable to Green Books' sustainability, gardening, and natural construction focus.
• Timber Press: Timber Press publishes books on gardening, horticulture, and sustainable landscaping — overlapping significantly with Green Books' gardening titles (polytunnel growing, perennial vegetables, garden design).
• Storey Publishing: Storey Publishing specializes in practical books on gardening, homesteading, self-sufficiency, and natural living — a North American counterpart to Green Books with significant overlap in subject matter (vegetable growing, sustainable building, animal husbandry).
• New Society Publishers: New Society Publishers focuses on books about sustainable living, green building, and social justice — a North American peer with substantial overlap to Green Books' eco-building and sustainability subject areas.

Broad incumbents

• Workman Publishing: Workman Publishing publishes practical lifestyle books including gardening and sustainability titles — competing with Green Books for shelf space and consumer attention in the practical non-fiction sustainability category.
• Earthscan / Routledge: Routledge (Taylor & Francis) publishes academic and professional environmental and sustainability books through its Earthscan imprint, overlapping with Green Books' environmental subject matter but serving more academic/professional rather than consumer audiences.
• Penguin Random House (Sustainability Titles): Penguin Random House publishes sustainability, gardening, and eco-living titles across multiple imprints (Penguin Life, Ten Speed Press) — a broad incumbent whose individual sustainability titles compete with Green Books for the same consumer readers.

Emerging players

• Mother Earth News / Ogden Publications: Mother Earth News (Ogden Publications) covers self-sufficiency, organic gardening, and sustainable living through magazines and books — directly comparable in subject matter to Green Books though distributed primarily through magazine/online channels rather than trade book publishing.

Regional players

• Floris Books: Floris Books is a Scotland-based independent publisher with a sustainability and natural living list alongside its core Steiner/Waldorf education focus — a UK regional peer with thematic overlap in nature-based and sustainable living publishing.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/green-books

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Green Books