Celebrating our International Partners on our 25th Anniversary: Graal Literary Agency, Poland

In 2017 we are celebrating the 25 th anniversary of our founding. From the very beginning, Berrett-Koehler books have been widely translated to many different languages and wonderfully received all over the world. Over the years, we have signed over two thousand foreign translation rights deals. We could not have done this without the tireless work of our translation rights agents around the globe. As part of our year-long celebration, we will be featuring one of these foreign partners every month.  We asked each of them to provide us with a few words describing their experiences working with BK.

In May, we are very pleased to feature our long term partner in Poland, Graal Literary Agency. As it happens, they will also be celebrating their own 25th Anniversary soon, and we have had the honor of being their client for most of those years. Founded in 1993 by Maria and Zbigniew Kánski, they now employ several agents, among them Lukasz Wrobel and Michal Landsberger. Lukasz and Michal truly understand BK and its mission, and over the years they have helped us find a Polish home for over 70 of our titles. Here is what they had to say about working with BK:

"Berrett-Koehler is not our typical publisher or client. You are not afraid to walk off the beaten path, even if it means going against the grain. Your motto is to create a world that works for all, and you mean it. Working with your titles is sometimes tough, especially in a country which, for historical reasons, had been deprived of the benefits of the free market economy and free exchange of thought for many years and therefore finds it harder to see its rough edges and project into a better, more humane world and work place. The fact that you are able to turn this motto into a prosperous business in an extraordinary feat, which inspires hope. Plus, your newsletters are a highlight of our week, showing us that the world is what we make it, and that we should try to make it better.
 
Ironically, your nonconformist and inspirational company content-wise, has been the paradigm of stability in the ever-changing and restructuring global publishing industry. The Graal Agency has worked and met at the fairs with Maria Jesus Aguilo, later joined by Catherine Legronne, for almost twenty years now, while most of our clients have changed their foreign rights staff a number of times in that period. Clearly, long and close relationships with its co-agents is a value for BK, and it works the other way round, too."

Thank you Zbig, Lukasz and Michal, and all the staff at Graal for your great work on our behalf for all these years!