ASPIRING AUTHOR USES UNIQUE METHOD TO GET HER BOOK PUBLISHED Can She Depend Upon the Kindness of Strangers?

An aspiring author has put up a creative website looking for other people to help her turn her dream into a reality.

It all began last year with savekaryn.com. An entire new industry of people helping people was born. Karyn, a 30-something New Yorker who had gotten herself in credit card debt, put up a website asking for help. Five months later, and with appearances on the Today Show and a book and movie contract, she had paid off her debt.

Now, an aspiring author has taken that idea and given it a new slant. Wendy Lester, a former Hill & Knowlton staffer, has created www.helpmepublishmyselfhelpbook.com. Lester has posted the Introduction and Chapter One on the site, in hopes that her dream of writing a self-help book will inspire others to pitch in. "I'm very committed to finishing the book and getting it to people who might need it," she says. "The website idea may be a bit unconventional, but I thought the risk was worth the reward."