Hatherleigh Press and Bloomberg Press, two small publishers that have enjoyed successful launches over the past few years, share one common trait -- they are both distributed by W.W. Norton -- and both credit Norton with helping them boost sales.

"Since our alliance with Norton, our trade sales have exploded. It's like day and night, especially in terms of exposure," said Hatherleigh marketing director Kevin Moran. Hatherleigh Press is part of the Hatherleigh Company, a publisher of professional medical journals; the press released its first trade title in 1995. The company published 15 titles this year and expects to do 24 in 1999. It focuses on health and self-help titles and has found something of a subgenre in publishing military fitness books. Among those titles are The Official U.S. Navy SEAL Workout (for which a video is available) as well as The U.S. Marine Corps Workout.

Hatherleigh's bestseller to date has been Living with Hepatitis C, which has sold more than 40,000 copies in trade paperback. Moran predicts, however, that a fall release, The Secret Strength of Angels, will soon take over the top spot. Hatherleigh has already shipped 30,000 copies of the $14.95 hardcover.

Norton has been handling Hatherleigh's trade sales since May, and Moran estimated that general book sales will increase about 75% this year, putting the program on an even sales level with the company's 22 professional journals.

Bloomberg Press joined Norton after its original distributor, Irwin Professional Publishing, was acquired by McGraw-Hill. "Norton treats us like true affiliates," said Bloomberg sales and marketing director John Crutcher. "They're great at solving warehousing problems and also provide us with lots of useful feedback, particularly about our marketing efforts."

Bloomberg published its first title in 1996 and now has a backlist of 20. The company plans to do 14 books next year as it begins to broaden its publishing program. The company started strictly as a publisher of personal finance books, then added a professional publishing series and has also moved into the small business area.

The company's bestseller to date has been A Commonsense Guide to Mutual Funds, which sold nearly 60,000 copies, 40,000 of which were sold through special sales. Bloomberg revised the book and released it in trade paperback as A New Commonsense Guide to Mutual Funds, which has already sold 17,000 copies. A book that is vying to top A Commonsense Guide as Bloomberg's bestseller is the New Yorker Book of Business Cartoons. Released in October, Bloomberg already has 70,000 copies in print.Bloomberg Press now has a staff of 12, and Crutcher said sales should double this year; he is forecasting a double-digit sales gain in 1999.

Norton currently has nine distribution affiliates, according to Dosier Hammond, sales and affiliates manager. Hammond told PW that in selecting clients, Norton looks for established publishers that have a growth plan and that publish in areas that complement Norton's own publishing program. "We work closely with our affiliates to try and bring them up to the next [sales] level," Hammond noted.

He added that Norton plans to selectively but aggressively add new publishers in 1999. And while Hammond sees a lot of room for growth, he said Norton "wants to keep the number of affiliates to a manageable level."