A head for business: Publisher launches new model for ''how to'' book series

For publisher Mark Bernstein, it must be a challenge to call a staff meeting. He lives in San Francisco, but his business partner Yadin Kaufman lives in Israel, his designer in upstate New York and his chief editor in Manhattan.

No worries. He calls it a "virtual company," but there's nothing virtual about the success of Hundreds of Heads Books, Inc., and its popular "Survival Guide" series.

Starting with its premiere title, "How to Survive Your Freshman Year," Bernstein's company has taken off, with over half a dozen books in print and selling tens of thousands of copies. Other "How to Survive" topics include dating, marriage, moving and a baby's first year.

It's no surprise that two committed Jews (one of whom made aliyah to Israel years ago) would create a series devoted to helping others survive the major transitions of life. "When Yadin brought this idea to me," says Bernstein, "it spoke to me because it seemed valuable to me as a user. I believe in the product."

The "How to Survive" series is different from the "Dummies" and "Complete Idiot" books. When it comes to self-help books, Bernstein thinks he and his partner have built a better mousetrap.

"The kernel came from Yadin," he says, "who had played with the idea of an advice book based on the opinion not of one expert but hundreds of quasi-experts. He had a son about to graduate from high school and applying to colleges. He thought, 'Wouldn't that be a great advice book?'"

Bernstein agreed with his friend, trusting his instincts that this was a home-run idea. The two began collaborating on building a publishing business from the ground up. "To me, it was a synthesis," he says. "If 'Chicken Soup' is on one end, and 'Life's Little Instruction Books' are on the other, we wanted to be in the middle."

The twist was having their books written by potential readers, the "hundreds of heads' alluded to in the company moniker. Scores of staff head-hunters fan out across the country, soliciting interviews with parents, teens, singles, married men and women, whomever may be the subject in question. Those interviews result in tips, traps and eloquent insights bundled into the "How to Survive" books.

"Our series lends itself to subjective subjects rather than scientific subjects," says Bernstein. "There are a variety of opinions, but the power of this model is authenticity."

That's not a surprising sentiment coming from a former executive with CNN. Bernstein served with the cable news giant for years before relocating to the Bay Area. Yet he remains a son of the South, if a Jewish one.

"My great-grandfather was the first permanent rabbi in Knoxville, [Tenn.]," he says. "He would drive around in a buggy, marrying and brising."

Growing up in a small Conservative/ Reform synagogue in Knoxville, Bernstein got to know both his religion and his Jewish community. "You either had to assimilate or work very hard at keeping your identity," he adds. "We were all very involved in Jewish youth organizations. In fact, I met Yadin's wife at BBYO."

Bernstein became an attorney, practicing for a number of years at a large Atlanta law firm. Being based in the city made it easy to transition to Ted Turner's media empire.

Then as now, Bernstein was very active in the Jewish community. Today he sits on the board of American Jewish World Service and the local board of the AJCommittee. He also chairs the culture and community service allocation subcommittee of the planning and allocations group at the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation. He is recently joined the board of directors of j.

I'm an active volunteer and giver," he says. "That's the tax for being a member of the Jewish community."

Currently on the "How to Survive" drawing boards are future volumes on diet, divorce, retirement, pregnancy, in-laws and motherhood.

"Our objective," he says, "is to create a series people trust and get value from. The idea is turn out books that educate and inform."