WIRED MAGAZINE, HARPERCOLLINS PUSH PUBLISHING TO DIGITAL EDGE : FIRMS' CYBER-SAVVY BOOKS READY TO HACK INTO NEW MARKETS.

Byline: P.J. Huffstutter Daily News Staff Writer

The media of the future are preparing to take a giant leap into the past.

Wired magazine, required reading for the '90s digital intelligentsia, is branching into a new genre of book publishing. So too is HarperCollins. Both are developing a line of books which will explore how technology affects the public and vice versa.

So forget those ``how-to'' computer books. These are going to be ``smart books for smart people, a sort of technology meets pop culture,'' said Peter Rutten, founder and publisher of HardWired, the book division of Wired Ventures Inc.

And like the magazine's articles, these books will reflect a single, simple belief: If the Industrial Age was about the domination of machines over nature, the current Digital Age is all about reinventing nature and culture through technology.

``We know what we're talking about, not those big New York publishing houses,'' Rutten said. ``The magazine has been the icon of the digital revolution. Now, we've won the revolution, and we want to build a digital civilization. But we can't have a civilization without books.''

According to the HardWired philosophy - and its six-title debut catalog - the modern digital citizen should be reading such books as:

``Mind Grenades: Manifestos from the Future,'' a collection of the magazine's hyperkinetic designs from its first three years (out now, $32.95).

``Digerati: Encounters with the Cyber Elite'' by John Brockman, a collection of profiles of prominent thinkers, most of who have written for or been featured in Wired (Nov. 8, $24.95).

``Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age,'' billed as a Wired version of the Associated Press stylebook (Nov. 27, $15.95).

HardWired's catalog mostly features material culled from the magazine. Indeed, Wired is the company's star product, an ultra-trendy publication fat with consumer ads and nearly 310,000 hungry readers. Art, entertainment, culture, politics, sex, power - Wired tackles them with a technological twist.

Wired's name recognition has become its primary strength, its ``branded content with attitude'' an underlying corporate asset. Using these tools to draw consumers, Wired is expanding to a variety of other media. There are the on-line magazine sites, HotWired and Suck; a World Wide Web search engine called HotBot; and a TV show on cable's MSNBC called ``The Netizen.''

And then there's its latest baby, HardWired, and its plan to offer a catalog of nonfiction titles written by today's ``digerati'' - a community of scientists, journalists and theorists who muse about digital media and their sociocultural implications.

But while Rutten claims that East Coast publishing houses ``just don't understand what's happening,'' HarperCollins has launched its own techno-culture imprint, HarperEdge.

The new department will launch a four-title list in early 1997, including Timothy Leary's last work, ``Design for Dying,'' and MIT Computer Science Laboratory chief Michael Dertouzos' ``What Will Be: Our Lives in the 21st Century.'' Prices will range from $22 to $25.

Eamon Dolan, senior editor for HarperEdge, understands the stakes involved.

``Publishing tends to be a fairly traditional business, where what you sell today follows on the track of what sold in the past,'' Dolan said. ``But there's no track for these books.''

Both companies have noted the growing public interest in technology. Computer usage in the home and the business world is up, as is the number of American consumers who are using the Internet.

``When everyone else in the magazine industry said no one but nerds wanted to read about computers, Wired shocked everyone and proved there was a broader market,'' said Bob Prior, acquisition editor for computer science at MIT Press. ``But will Wired readers buy books?''

There is no specific precedent for such books outside of the academic world, but their roots and inspiration are found in science fiction (Bruce Sterling and William Gibson) and science writing (Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan).

Both markets have a loyal fan base, but they are considered small niches compared to hot genres like romance and cooking.

According to the American Booksellers Association, science fiction only captures 2.5 percent of the adult book-buying market last year. Computer titles, which include everything from educational to techno-culture books, grabbed an additional 2.2 percent.

Still, observers see profit potential.

``You don't have to sell millions of copies to be successful. All you have to do is find your niche and sell your books, nice and steady,'' said Andrew Leonard, whose book on the biological and digital evolution of computer programs will be published by HardWired this spring. ``From what I can tell, both Harper and Wired realize there's a vibrant culture growing around the computer industry. You know computers have gone mainstream when you see Web addresses on commercials during the Super Bowl.''

Those who doubt this crossover need only flip through Wired. In 1993, Wired padded its pages with ads trumpeting new software. Today, the ad space is dominated by companies outside the technology arena - Nike and New Balance, Absolut and Smirnoff, Saturn and Toyota.

And in the past two years, there are signs that techno-culture titles can appeal to a broader audience. Nicholas Negroponte, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, hit the charts with his 1995 book, ``Being Digital.'' To date, it has sold more than 250,000 copies in the United States.

Last year, Canadian astronomy and physics expert Lawrence Krauss had similar success with ``The Physics of Star Trek,'' a look at the plausibility of wormholes and time travel. Krauss' book has sold 118,000 copies in the United States and Canada, and is currently the No. 1 seller in the United Kingdom.

Even the first Wired-era backlash book, Clifford Stoll's ``Silicon Snake Oil,'' has sold well.

``Will these books be as big as a Stephen King or John Grisham book? I doubt it,'' said sci-fi writer Sterling, an occasional Wired contributor. ``But you never know. Michael Crichton did pretty well with that little known book `Jurassic Park.' That had a lot to do with computers.

``But then again, there were also some dinosaurs in it.''

Local bookstores plan to carry the HardWired and HarperEdge works. But consumers may not know where to look on the bookshelves.

``I have no idea where we would stock these titles,'' said Consuelo Moreno, assistant manager at the Bookstar in Woodland Hills. ``It could go in the sociology or cultural studies area. Or maybe the computer or science sections.''

HardWired hopes to use the company's multiple media ventures to tap into the magazine's readership: Authors will be profiled in the magazine, interviewed on the television show and featured on the Web site. Even the books will be sold on line.

HarperEdge also plans to promote and sell its titles on the Internet. But instead of relying solely on new media for its success, the imprint intends to follow a more traditional publishing route.

Wired's venture seems to be the most risky and unconventional, flying in the face of its core philosophy that bits - or tactile materials like paper - are a less efficient and increasingly outdated mode of distribution.

While executives won't divulge how much is being spent on the book operation, the firm has said that the magazine is its only profitable division. The company postponed its initial public stock offering in July.

Dolan, meantime, says that HarperCollins has spent ``somewhere in the seven figures'' to start and run HarperEdge.

``HarperCollins has been selling books for 179 years,'' Dolan said. ``We know how to sell books. More importantly, we can afford to take a chance on something new. If they're not successful, I don't know how long a smaller company like HardWired can afford to be in the business.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1) Peter Rutten

Heads Wired's book division

(2 -- color) HarperCollins and Wired are forming book companies to focus on how technology affects the public and vice versa.

Photo illustration by David Sprague