"Of course, we have to tell them more than once. We have to figure out how to get media attention and personal appearances and talk going at the same time."

To do that, the firm produces Action Plans for books. The plans cover everything from bookstore sales to special sales to serial sales to book clubs to specialized media to organizations and public appearances. A typical plan runs over 20 pages and can be somewhat daunting at first.

"When people ask what distinguishes our clients," says Judith Appellbaum, managing director -- whose classic How to Get Happily Published was the impetus for the firm -- "we say it's that they realize that creating the book is only part of the job. The other part is getting word about it out. If you're a writer who's too shy to speak in public and unwilling to write articles or give interviews you probably shouldn't be working with us. That doesn't mean we'll suggest you do anything you're uncomfortable about, but you have to work to reach your readers and get happily published the way we see it."

"My Action Plan gave me specifics about distribution, press materials, bookstore programs and selling through libraries, catalogs, organizations, corporations and the Internet, as well as though bookstores and I've been telling all my writer friends that I think everyone should work with Sensible Solutions," says Peggy Huddleston. Her book -- Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster (Angel River Press; ) -- is about to go into its fourth printing, was a finalist for the Books for a Better Life Award in 1997, is being used in hospital nurse training programs and given to surgery patients by hospitals and will be featured in a PBS special, "Body & Soul," that will air in January of '99.

In addition to marketing books under contract, Sensible Solutions target markets manuscripts to editors. "The question we always get," continues Appelbaum, "is, How can I get a publisher without an agent? And the answer is, By identifying editors who have some reason to be responsive to your ms. and sending them a query that states clearly and quickly why that is so. One of our favorite stories is about the eminent editor who responded to a query from one of our clients by saying that he never looks at unsolicited manuscripts and then going on to request that she send him hers because her query was so intriguing."

The firm does a great deal of work with small and self-publishers, for whom they provide the kind of expert, professional guidance few small houses can afford. "Sensible Solutions' marketing strategy helped us go back to press with Lightening in July, a first novel by Ann McLaughlin which was picked up by Reader's Digest Condensed Books and became our biggest money maker," says John Daniel, publisher at Daniel & Daniel.

For more information about Sensible Solutions services and rates, e-mail Judith Appelbaum or Florence Janovic at Sensibly@aol.com.

To order How to Get Happily Published, call 1 800 ALL BOOK or click on the title, above.

For more information, contact:

Florence Janovic
Sensible Solutions, Inc.
212 687 1761
sensibly@happilypublishe
http://happilypublished.com