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What is the Hundreds of Heads line of books?

Four years ago, old friends Mark Bernstein and Yadin Kaufmann were talking about how best to prepare Kaufmann’s son Dov for college life.  They realized that sadly their own college experiences were a bit stale…and Dov was unlikely to listen to his father even if his information was deemed relevant.  Frustrated by the sheer number of ‘how to’ books, they thought that they could come up with a better concept for sharing advice.

So they decided to get a little help from their friends – so far over 10,000 of them.

Twenty successful books later, Bernstein and Kaufmann’s Hundreds of Heads Media is a fast-growing San Francisco-headquartered publisher built on a most simple and timely philosophy – if two heads are better than one, then hundreds of heads is even better. Think “user generated content” – the hottest area on the Internet – meets both old and new media. 

Rather than relying on only one “expert” on a subject, Bernstein and Kaufmann’s team of nationwide “headhunters” interview hundreds of people to get their stories on each of a range of subjects covering life’s major milestones and challenges – from learning how to date or care for a baby, to how to have fun during retirement. 

Each book (and now their new website) is filled with hundreds of thought-provoking anecdotes and advice from real people who have made it through these big transitions in their lives: dating, weddings, marriage, in-laws, pregnancy-baby, dieting, teenagers, freshman year, first job, real-world, divorce, retirement, and moving. There are many more books in the works.

In particular, the college-themed books have quickly becoming the “bible” of college student advice; How to Survive Your Freshman Year, inspired by Kaufmann’s son, is already in its third edition and ninth printing and has been followed by books about Getting Into College, How to Get A’s in College, and Surviving the Real World (college graduation),  with more college titles in the works.  More than 300,000 Hundreds of Heads guide books are in print and the entrepreneurial Bernstein and Kaufmann are moving rapidly to extend the Hundreds of Heads brand onto other media platforms (see www.HundredsofHeads.com) .

Bernstein, who’s based in San Francisco, and Kaufmann, based in Israel, are seldom in the same country, much less the same room.  But we got both of them to answer a few questions for us.

How did this series get started?

Yadin:  A few years ago, I was thinking about how best to help my oldest son, Dov, prepare for college.  My own college experience (at Princeton) was a bit stale…and Dov wasn’t likely to listen to his father anyhow!  Sure, I could introduce Dov to my circle of friends and acquaintances – but that’s a narrow group too. 

It occurred to me that it would be great to find a way to give Dov – and everyone else who’s about to start college – input about what college life is really like, from thousands of kids who are in college today, and have something interesting to say about it.

Tell us about How to Survive Your Freshman Year.

How to Survive Your Freshman Year gives students great advice on:

• Getting off to a great start in college
• What to take
• Where to live
• How to get a good roommate
• Dorm Life
• Choosing classes
• When and where to study
• Exams secrets
• Filling free time
• The dating and party scene
• Finances, and
• Choosing a major

The book reflects today’s new freshman lifestyle and experiences, with new chapters covering:

• Social networking and Facebook
• Wireless & digital devices
• Student expectations vs. reality
• Changing the world and environmentalism
• Diversity
• Food, fashion, the party scene - and much more

A new appendix provides useful checklists for incoming freshmen.

The third edition’s new Special Editor, academic advisor and instructor Frances Northcutt, adds expert advice, guidance and insightful commentary.  Fran is an academic advisor in the William E. Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York at Hunter College.  She has advised students at Wesleyan University, the University of California, Berkeley; and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, where she also taught classes on college skills and professional development.  Frances is active in the National Academic Advising Association, and was selected as the Outstanding Advisor (Primary Role) for the Mid-Atlantic region in 2006. 

Why Hundreds of Heads?  Why this new approach to “How to?”

Mark:

We believed that no single author in any one book could have all the solutions for any one person, especially in such personal experiences like going to college, dating, marrying, parenting etc..  The one size fits all strategy in ‘how to’ books just doesn’t cut it anymore. 

Ultimately, people don’t care if you have a Ph.D., went to an Ivy League school or have a self-important title.  Perhaps that makes you an expert in the classroom, but not in the real world.  People want to hear from people who actually have “felt their pain;”’ not just studied theories about pain.  You can learn the most from people who have experienced and overcome the challenge you’re about to face.  The hardest challenge in most life transitions is thinking that you alone are facing that set of worries.  Just knowing that hundreds of others have shared that anxiety and overcome it many different ways has great value.

There’s a really interesting book called the Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki.  Surowiecki gives fascinating empirical evidence that often large groups of people are smarter than an elite one – no matter how brilliant.  These groups are better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future.  We’re amazed (but happy) that no other publisher has applied such a common sense principle to a series of books.

How did you perform the research for this book?

Yadin:

First we consulted with people who work with Freshmen, and looked at every book we could find on the subject, to make sure we covered every issue that would be of interest to entering college freshmen.  We drew up a list of questions we thought students would want answered.  And we sent our team of dozens of journalists – our “headhunters” – to campuses all across the country, to find students with something interesting to say about some important aspect of college life. 

These headhunters went out and interviewed thousands of students at over 120 colleges all across the country - big schools, small schools, Ivies, and state universities; Greeks, geeks, and jocks.  They spoke with students at the college newspapers, kids hanging out in the library or in the rec center, kids on their way to class or lounging around in the dorm.  One headhunter in Pennsylvania offered free pizza for students willing to share their advice.  The interviewers asked the students questions about every aspect of college life – about what they would advise incoming freshmen, and why.  We also collected tips at our web site, www.hundredsofheads.com. 

We then compiled the best material that we felt gives our readers direct, informative and humorous advice they might not get, even from their best friends.  The result was How to Survive Your Freshman Year – which is now in its 3rd edition.  The book has become a sort of “bible” of college life for entering freshmen, and offers hundreds of the best practical tips and fun stories to help entering freshmen better navigate their way through this challenging period. 

What makes this book different from other college life guides?

Yadin:

Great question.  There are lots of other books out there about college life.  But virtually all of them give a single perspective – one person’s experience and philosophy.  We thought that someone should offer entering freshmen, input about what college life is really like, from thousands of kids who are in college today, and have something interesting to say about it.  You know the expression “two heads are better than one”?  Well – we thought that when it comes to taking on one of life’s most important challenges – starting college – hundreds of heads would be even better than two. 

The book offers hundreds of the best practical tips and fun stories to help entering freshmen better navigate their way through every aspect of this challenging period.  And I think the diversity of opinion and experiences that we’ve captured in our book really makes it stand out from the other titles out there – and helps explain why college kids seem to love it.

You have an entire line of college life guides.  Can you tell us a little about them?

Mark:

We are trying to build a collection of books that take our “real world” approach to sharing advice and wisdom, and applies it to the complete college experience….from getting-in to graduating and finding a job.

We have 3 titles focused on the challenges of the college admissions process:  How to Survive the SAT [and ACT], How to Survive Getting Into College, and How to Survive Getting Your Kid into College.  These books are totally different from other college prep guides because they provide the successful perspectives of real college applicants and they share the small and large tips that made their experience more palatable.  They are great companions to the more traditional guides from Princeton Review or Kaplan.

For the actual college experience, in addition to How to Survive Your Freshman Year, we have published How to Get A’s in College, which contains hundreds of tips and pointers on navigating the academic challenges of college.

Finally we have brought out two great books about making the most upon your graduation from college.  How to Survive the Real World, compiles the best advice from recent graduates on adjusting to life outside the cocoon of college and How to Survive Your First Job (or any job) focuses on finding and succeeding in the world of work.

Our new website also focuses heavily on these subjects.

What’s next for Hundreds of Heads?

Mark: 

After we produced the first edition of How to Survive Your Freshman Year, we took our basic idea – collecting the “real-life” wisdom and useful advice from hundreds of “experienced” people to help others – and started applying it to some of life’s other challenges.  We’ve now produced 20 books, including How to Survive Getting Into College, How to Survive Your Marriage, How to Survive A Move, How to Survive Your Retirement – and many others. 

And, we continue to research the big life-cycle moments that really produce anxiety in most people —those decisions about which folks usually reach out to a wide range of their friends for advice.  We do the initial work for them… we like to think that we’ve got their back.  As one critic commented, reading a Hundreds of Heads guide, “is like having a hundred of your closest friends on speed dial.”

In this world of “reality television” overload, we’ve stuck with our own strategy that’s firmly based in “real” reality…giving people an opportunity to share their 15 minutes of genius.  It’s not manufactured by Mark Burnett, but it directly represents the true voice of the people.  And people are fascinated by reality…even if it’s just sound advice.

The demand for Hundreds of Heads information is growing.  Our stories are now syndicated in newspapers across the country and we have just launched a new website that provides a host of information and communities on all these key life moments and transitions (www.HundredsofHeads.com). 

We think we are taking a somewhat stale category of “how to” and adding an extra boost of real life.  We want to revolutionize the category by taking it from “how to” to “how true.”  People want what’s real and we try and deliver that to them in a variety of formats in a light, cool, easy-to-consume style.

Where can we find you on the Web?

Our new website is found at www.HundredsofHeads.com.  Visitors can share advice, get more information, read articles, post questions, debate strategies and join a community of people facing the same life challenges they are encountering. 

We also have launched two free e-mail services for students applying to college and those in their freshman year.  Folks can sign up for either of these free services at:  http://old.hundredsofheads.com/newsletter/subscribe.asp?book=.