Berrett-Koehler Publishers announced the launch of Montgomery Station Press on August 5 from its Oakland, California base — a new hybrid imprint that opens the house's editorial and distribution pipeline to nonfiction authors willing to pay for the ride.

The imprint will focus on personal growth, current affairs and business titles, with plans to publish five to ten books, according to Publishers Weekly. "Hybrid" in this context means the author funds production rather than receiving an advance — the traditional publisher's upfront payment against future royalties — and in exchange gets professional editing, design and distribution that self-published authors normally arrange themselves.

Montgomery Station Press authors can choose from two packages starting at $35,000 and scaling with the author's needs, or pick services à la carte, as reported by Publishers Marketplace. The imprint also offers foreign and subsidiary rights representation — meaning it will pitch translation, audiobook and other secondary rights on the author's behalf — and gives authors a choice between two royalty structures.

The editorial work falls to senior Berrett-Koehler editors, with design handled by BK's production staff and partners. Distribution runs through Penguin Random House Publisher Services, the distribution arm of the world's largest trade publisher, which will place Montgomery Station Press titles in bookstores nationally and internationally.

Berrett-Koehler founder and publisher Steve Piersanti said in a release that every year the company reads manuscripts from thoughtful authors who have the expertise to write meaningful books. The house reviews more than 2,000 book proposals annually but publishes only 20 to 30 new titles per year, according to the Montgomery Station Press site — a selectivity rate of roughly one to 1.5 per cent.

What the hybrid model does is widen that aperture. Authors whose proposals did not clear Berrett-Koehler's conventional acquisition bar can now access the same editors, designers and distribution network by paying for the service directly. Whether that attracts enough authors at the price points on offer is a question the imprint's first list will answer.

The launch was also announced via press releases carried by the El Paso Times and Arizona Republic. Both confirmed the August 5 announcement and the Oakland dateline.