Rupert Murdoch sells topless Page 3 girls to England, and he sells “fair and balanced” television commentary to America. But until last week, his most eccentric product was Beliefnet.com.

My wife always tells me, 'Mark, you have two speeds—zero and 10,’ says Mark Tauber, 39, publisher at HarperOne. That top speed has served him well in a career that began in book publishing and detoured to help launch two still-thriving Internet startups, bringing him back to publishing and to a city he has always loved.

A witch blessed the offices of HarperOne when the publishing house moved to San Francisco's Financial District a decade ago.

In the '90s, it made sense. The publisher had just scored an international bestseller with "How to Turn Your Ex-Boyfriend Into a Toad," a self-help book masquerading as a collection of magic spells.