Morton Publishing Company

What Morton Publishing Company does

Morton Publishing Company is a privately-held custom publisher founded in 1976 and headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, specializing in affordable laboratory course materials for higher education. The company produces full-color lab manuals, photographic atlases, and dissection guides across life sciences (anatomy and physiology, biology, botany, microbiology, zoology, marine biology, histology, developmental biology, pathophysiology), physical sciences (chemistry, astronomy), pharmacy, social sciences, composition and communications, and mathematics. Its core technology is a print-on-demand publishing system delivered primarily in loose-leaf, three-hole drilled format, enabling lower unit prices ($19.95–$120) compared to bound textbooks and eliminating inventory risk through a 100% return policy valid up to 12 months from invoice.

The company's flagship service is CustomLab, a custom publishing program that allows instructors to build personalized lab manuals by selecting content from Morton's content library, combining excerpts from existing titles, or submitting original material with optional royalty arrangements. Distribution is multi-channel: direct e-commerce, college bookstores, a regional sales representative network for institutional adoptions, and digital distribution through VitalSource eBooks and Amazon. Revenue is generated primarily through one-time unit sales of physical and digital lab manuals, with custom publishing priced based on page count, image selection, typesetting, royalties, and enrollment tiers. MortyPak bundles, which package custom manuals with photographic atlases at a 10% discount, represent an attach-rate lever.

In 2021, Morton was acquired by Top Hat, a digital textbook and courseware platform, ending its independent ownership. Despite nearly 45 years of operating history, Morton is described as a small, privately-owned company with 11–50 employees, serving a long tail of college and university science departments across the United States. Select named customers include SUNY Stony Brook, which adopted a custom bundle for comparative anatomy courses.

Name

Morton Publishing Company

Legal name

Morton Publishing Company

Website

https://morton-pub.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Morton Publishing Company is a small, privately-held custom publisher founded in 1976 and headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, producing affordable full-color lab manuals, photographic atlases, and dissection guides for higher education science courses, acquired by Top Hat in 2021.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130), Book Publishers (51313)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Life Sciences (Biology, Ecology, Agriculture) Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Scientific & Laboratory Reference (Chemistry, Biology, Physics; Methods & Protocols) (EDAGAGAG)

Keywords

• Custom lab manuals
• Science textbooks
• Photographic atlases
• Dissection guides
• Higher education publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Englewood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Textbook and Lab Manual Sales: Sale of published laboratory manuals, photographic atlases, and textbooks in loose-leaf format, sold as one-time purchases to students through bookstores and direct orders. Also available as eBooks through VitalSource.
2. Custom Publishing Services: CustomLab program allowing instructors to create personalized lab manuals by selecting content from existing titles or submitting original material. Pricing based on page count, image selection, typesetting, royalties (if applicable), and enrollment.
3. Digital/eBook Sales: eBook versions of textbooks sold through VitalSource platform, providing digital access to students alongside physical loose-leaf manuals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Morton Publishing Company is a custom educational publisher that produces affordable laboratory manuals, photographic atlases, dissection guides, and textbooks for higher education science courses. Through its CustomLab program, instructors can create personalized lab manuals by selecting content from Morton's library or incorporating original material, with the company printing on demand in a loose-leaf format to keep costs low. Products span life sciences (anatomy, biology, microbiology, zoology, botany), physical sciences, pharmacy, and other disciplines, with eBook versions distributed via VitalSource.

Product overview

Morton Publishing Company is a textbook publisher specializing in educational laboratory materials for higher education, offering a portfolio of products structured around its core CustomLab custom publishing service. CustomLab allows instructors to create personalized lab manuals by selecting content from Morton's library of existing titles or including original material, supported by an Image Library of photographs and illustrations. The company distributes its products primarily as loose-leaf, three-hole drilled format with both print and digital (eBook via VitalSource) options, along with MortyPak bundle packages that combine custom manuals with photographic atlases at discounted rates. Morton also provides instructor resources including PowerPoint slides, test banks, and lab preparation materials. The product catalog spans Life Sciences (anatomy & physiology, biology, botany, microbiology, zoology, dissection guides), Physical Sciences (chemistry, astronomy), Pharmacy, Social Sciences (anthropology), Composition and Communications, and Mathematics disciplines. Nearly all titles are available for customization through the CustomLab program, enabling instructors to adapt content to their specific course needs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CustomLab (Custom Publishing Services) A custom publishing service allowing instructors to create personalized lab manuals by selecting content from Morton's library of existing lab manuals and photographic atlases, with options for Pick-and-Choose content selection, Build Your Own manual creation, original material inclusion, and access to an image library of photographs and illustrations. Pricing is based on page count, image selection, typesetting, royalties (if applicable), and enrollment.
• A Dissection Guide & Atlas to the Fetal Pig, 3e A full-color dissection guide for students in mammalian anatomy, comparative anatomy, general biology, or anatomy and physiology courses, featuring over 150 photographs and illustrations of fetal pig anatomy with histological sections.
• Van De Graaff's Photographic Atlas for the Zoology Laboratory, 8e A full-color photographic atlas providing clear photographs and drawings of tissues and organisms for zoology laboratory courses, covering invertebrate and vertebrate groups with radiographs, CT scans, and MR images.
• Exploring Zoology: A Laboratory Guide, 3e A comprehensive, hands-on introduction to zoology covering anatomy, physiology, behavior, and ecology of major invertebrate and vertebrate lineages, with over 500 full-color photographs and dissection diagrams.
• A Photographic Atlas for the Microbiology Laboratory, 5e A full-color visual reference atlas for introductory microbiology laboratory courses, designed to be used with Exercises for the Microbiology Laboratory, featuring over 700 photographs and micrographs.
• Exercises for the Microbiology Laboratory, 5e A step-by-step microbiology laboratory manual designed for use with the Photographic Atlas for the Microbiology Laboratory, covering isolation techniques, staining, differential tests, and microbial genetics.
• A Photographic Atlas of Histology, 2e An affordable full-color photographic atlas for undergraduate histology and human anatomy courses, containing over 550 high-quality photomicrographs of human tissues and organs.
• A Photographic Atlas of Marine Biology A full-color photographic atlas designed for marine biology courses, providing visual reference for marine ecosystems and organisms with over 1,300 high-quality photographs and illustrations.
• Comparative Anatomy: Manual of Vertebrate Dissection, 3e A full-color manual for the comparative study of representative vertebrate animals, covering pigeon, perch, frog, lamprey, dogfish shark, mudpuppy, and cat with over 750 photographs and illustrations.
• Exploring Human Biology in the Laboratory A comprehensive human biology lab manual emphasizing anatomy, physiology, ecology, and evolution of humans within their environment, with full-color illustrations and clearly written activities.
• A Photographic Atlas for the Botany Laboratory, 7e A full-color photographic atlas accompanying botany texts and laboratory manuals, providing clear photographs of plant tissues and organisms for botany laboratory courses.
• A Dissection Guide & Atlas to the Rabbit, 2e A full-color guide introducing rabbit anatomy for biology, zoology, nursing, or pre-professional students, with over 150 color photographs and illustrations for anatomical structure identification.
• A Dissection Guide & Atlas to the Rat A full-color dissection manual introducing rat anatomy for students in anatomy and physiology or basic vertebrate anatomy courses, featuring high-quality photographs and photomicrographs.
• Mammalian Anatomy: The Cat, 2e A full-color dissection guide for mammalian anatomy, comparative anatomy, general biology, or anatomy and physiology courses, featuring over 200 high-quality photographs and illustrations with orientation diagrams.
• A Photographic Atlas of Developmental Biology A full-color atlas for students in developmental biology, embryology, or animal development courses, featuring diverse animal models at multiple developmental stages.
• Case Mysteries in Pathophysiology, 2e A case-based pathophysiology textbook for health science students applying anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology knowledge in clinical settings through detailed case study narratives.
• Digital eBook Offerings Electronic versions of lab manuals and atlases available through VitalSource and Amazon Kindle platforms, providing digital access to Morton's educational content for students alongside physical loose-leaf manuals.
• MortyPak Bundles Bundled packages combining custom lab manuals with Morton's photographic atlases at a 10% discount on the atlas component, offering students discounted rates when purchasing complementary materials together.

Quantifiable outcome

• Print and ship within five business days of receiving bookstore orders
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• VitalSourcecoreTechnology or IntegrationDigital content distribution partnership for eBook versions of Morton Publishing textbooks and lab manuals. VitalSource provides the digital platform for accessing Morton content in electronic format.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Macmillan Learning: Macmillan Learning (parent of W.H. Freeman, Bedford, Freeman & Worth, and Hayden-McNeil adjacent custom services) publishes higher-ed science and lab materials. Its life-sciences and custom-publishing capabilities make it a broad incumbent peer to Morton.
• Pearson Education: Pearson Education is one of the largest higher-education textbook publishers, with deep science, anatomy & physiology, and microbiology titles that compete with Morton's life-sciences lab manuals. Its scale, digital platforms, and custom-publishing services make it a broad incumbent peer.
• Elsevier: Elsevier publishes scientific, technical, and medical reference and textbook content that overlaps with Morton's life-sciences and pathophysiology materials. As a broad STM incumbent, it competes for instructor adoptions in science and health-professions courses.
• McGraw-Hill Education: McGraw-Hill Education publishes higher-ed science, chemistry, and life-sciences textbooks and lab manuals that overlap with Morton's chemistry and life-sciences catalog. As a broad incumbent, it competes in the same institutional adoptions with greater scale and digital reach.
• Cengage Group: Cengage publishes higher-education textbooks and lab manuals across the sciences and allied health, including custom-content programs serving instructors. It competes with Morton's life-sciences and custom-publishing offerings but operates at much greater scale and broader portfolio breadth.

Others

• Top Hat: Top Hat is Morton's parent company (acquired Morton in 2021) and a digital textbook and courseware platform with higher-ed and K-12 reach. Although now the parent rather than a competitor, its digital distribution and adaptive homework capabilities make it strategically adjacent to Morton's traditional print lab manuals.
• Carolina Biological Supply Company: Carolina Biological Supply provides science education materials, including lab kits, preserved specimens, and supporting printed resources for K-12 and higher-ed life-sciences courses. While not a direct textbook competitor, it operates in the same science-education purchasing workflow and is adjacent to Morton's lab-content business.

Direct peers

• Jones & Bartlett Learning: Jones & Bartlett Learning publishes health-sciences and life-sciences lab manuals, allied-health textbooks, and anatomy/physiology resources for higher education and professional programs. Its catalog competes directly with Morton's life-sciences lab manuals and custom lab offerings.
• Hayden-McNeil: Hayden-McNeil is a custom publishing services company that produces custom lab manuals and textbooks for higher-education science courses, the exact niche Morton serves through CustomLab. Both companies compete head-to-head for instructor adoptions with similar Pick-and-Choose-style content customization.
• W.H. Freeman & Company: W.H. Freeman, now an imprint of Macmillan Learning, publishes life-sciences and biology lab manuals, photographic atlases, and textbooks that overlap directly with Morton's catalog (anatomy & physiology, biology, zoology lab manuals). Long-standing science-course adoptions make it Morton's closest incumbent rival.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MortonPub
• Facebookfacebook.com/MortonPub
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/morton-publishing-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Morton Publishing Company