Independent publishing company
Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Business, Independent, Nonfiction
Published Updated Reviewed every month · next review November 2026
About Berrett-Koehler
Berrett-Koehler is open to unagented proposals for business and general interest books that drive positive change. You upload a proposal with a chapter by chapter outline on its proposals page or send it by email, and it aims to reply in 4 to 6 weeks.
Berrett-Koehler Publishers is an independent publisher in Oakland, California, founded in 1992. It publishes books that drive positive change at personal, organizational and societal levels. Its work runs across three lines: BK Business for leadership and organizational change, BK Life for personal growth and inspiration plus BK Currents for social, economic and environmental change. Its primary market is the US.
Submissions are open to authors without an agent. Your proposal covers an elevator pitch, audiences, your bio, five similar books from the last two years, a chapter outline, a word count estimate, a timeline, a marketing plan and your reach. You upload it on the proposals page or email it. Its pages disagree on file format, so follow the current proposals page and send a PDF to be safe.
What Berrett-Koehler is looking for
- Books that drive positive change at personal, organizational and societal levels
- Business and general interest books for BK Business, BK Life and BK Currents
- Books that challenge the status quo and support personal growth
- Books that advance equity and justice and promote more meaningful leadership, work and lives
- Authors in the US, or non-US authors with an established US presence through travel, speaking or consulting
Publishes
- Business
- Independent
- Nonfiction
- Self-Help
Readers
- Adult
How to submit to Berrett-Koehler
From its own guidelines- Write a proposal with a pitch, audiences, bio, five recent comparable books, chapter outline, length estimate, timeline, marketing plan and reach.
- Save it as a PDF, checking the current proposals page for format rules.
- Upload it on the proposals page, selecting all files at once, or email it with the subject line "Proposal for Berrett-Koehler Publishers".
- Allow 4 to 6 weeks for a response.
Is Berrett-Koehler right for your book?
A good fit if
Berrett-Koehler suits authors writing about leadership, personal growth or social change who can describe their audience, reach and marketing plan. Non-US authors fit best when they already travel, speak or consult regularly in the US.
Look elsewhere if
Look elsewhere if you cannot send your proposal as a Word or PDF file, since its FAQ says other formats are deleted without review. Non-US authors without an established US presence may also struggle to fit its primary market.
Berrett-Koehler imprints
Which take submissions| Imprint | Direct submissions | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| BK Business | Yes | Line (not imprint): leadership and organizational change |
| BK Life | Yes | Line: personal growth and inspiration |
| BK Currents | Yes | Line: social, economic and environmental change |
| Montgomery Station Press | Not stated | Linked from about page; relationship not stated |
Questions about Berrett-Koehler
Does Berrett-Koehler accept unsolicited manuscripts?
Berrett-Koehler accepts unsolicited proposals from authors without an agent. It asks for a proposal rather than a full manuscript. The proposal covers an elevator pitch, audiences, your bio, five similar books from the last two years, a chapter by chapter outline, an estimated word count range such as 40,000 to 50,000 words, a timeline, a marketing plan and your reach.
How do I submit to Berrett-Koehler?
You upload your proposal on the proposals page, selecting all files at once, or email it with the subject line "Proposal for Berrett-Koehler Publishers" as its FAQ describes. The proposals page accepts Word or PDF, while the FAQ says PDF only and deletes other formats without review. Follow the current proposals page and send a PDF to be safe.
How long does Berrett-Koehler take to reply?
Berrett-Koehler aims to respond within 4 to 6 weeks when a proposal is correctly formatted. A proposal in the wrong format may not be reviewed at all, since its FAQ says other formats are deleted. Sending a complete PDF that covers every listed section gives your proposal the best chance of a timely reply from the editors in Oakland, California.
Listing history
- Checked on the publisher's own site
- Checked on the publisher's own site
