Berrett-Koehler & The 10 Awful Truths
June 19, 2023 – John Abrams
After “defying the corporate order” at the large publisher he worked for in 1991, Steve Piersanti was fired. The following year he founded Berrett-Koehler Publishers in San Francisco, which quickly became the foremost purpose-driven publisher of non-fiction books about progressive business, next-era economics, and vital ideas.
One of my primary goals after retiring from South Mountain Company was to write a book that’s been welling up. Berrett-Koehler was where I’d hoped to place it - the publisher most aligned with my values and responsible for many of the books I care about most.
I wrote a proposal and tested it with, among others, my friend Marjorie Kelly, who has published three books with Berrett-Koehler and has a fourth, titled Wealth Supremacy, to be released in September. She agreed to introduce me to Steve, with the advice that I should be careful what I wish for - because “he will make you work hard in ways you might not be imagining.”
After her introduction, I sent the proposal to Steve, who is no longer the CEO, because he loves to edit books. He wrote back and said, “I think this book might be a good fit for us. Want to talk?” He set up a Zoom, and we met.
Steve spent most of the hour telling me The Ten Awful Truths About Book Publishing in today’s world and introduced me to the difficult strategies for overcoming them. I had to think about whether I was ready for such rigor, but only for a few heartbeats – the reason to write is to spread a message, and these are the people who have the passion and expertise to teach me how.
He embraced the book concept but told me that it would need the blessing of the editorial committee (“their job is to stress-test the proposal for what is new and compelling”) and the publication board (“their job is to determine how likely the book is to sell”).
And he said the proposal needed work. Like . . . serious work.
He made suggestions that led to six weeks of back-and-forth coaching and continuous improvement to nail the concept. When I thought it was all-the-way ready, I sent the latest version to him, and he agreed it was good to go on to the two committees. They approved the book, he sent me a contract, and I signed it.
Now I must write the book and learn how to roll out the message. Exciting. Daunting.
I need your help. On June 26th, Berrett-Koehler and I will be sending you a survey. It will have a brief description of the book (see below), a list of naming suggestions, and it will ask you a few questions to help us determine the best title and subtitle. I’d be grateful if, when you get it, you’d take a few minutes to fill it out and return. I’m told this kind of market research is valuable.
Here's the book synopsis:
As nearly three million over-55 U.S. business owners with employees reach retirement age (The Silver Tsunami), estimates suggest that roughly $10 trillion in small business assets will move in the next 20 years. Ready capital is likely to come from larger businesses and extractive private equity, which will take the money and run, decimating businesses that have anchored communities for decades. What if the 32 million employees who helped to build the companies - the people whose livelihoods depend on their stability – could provide capital through their labor, assume ownership of these businesses, democratically manage them, and reap the rewards?
Many business owners want to keep their mission-driven organizations vital and healthy beyond their tenure. Their employees, and today’s young entrepreneurs, are hungry for purpose, agency, and inclusivity in the workplace.
Successioning (not yet a word, but let’s make it one) is my label for the process by which small businesses can transition in four ways:
From founder to next-generation leadership
From sole proprietorships and partnerships to widely shared ownership
From hierarchical control to participatory democratic management
From unprotected mission to perpetually preserved purpose
Each reinforces the others. Together they comprise a promising Next Economy business succession path. Through stories of B-Corps, worker co-ops, employee ownership, perpetual purpose trusts, and other forms of mission-driven corporate design, this book tells how we can leverage the seismic Silver Tsunami, elevate GenZ aspirations, and ascend to a new era of meaningful work, shared prosperity, and better lives on a healing planet.
Keep an eye out for the survey on or about June 26th. And if you are so inclined, follow these links to learn about Berrett-Koehler’s impact and latest releases.