SUNDAY STAR-LEDGER
NOVEMBER 10, 2002

BY PATRICIA C. TURNER
STAR-LEDGER STAFF

A graduate of Hillsborough High School, Nataly Kogan had to write a thesis at Wesleyan University, where she majored in political science and economics.

She appreciated help and advice she received from older students, and distilled that information in a 10-page paper on how to approach a thesis. Several years later she ran into another Wesleyan graduate who told her a professor had copied Kogan's paper and distributed it to other students as a guide.

That made Kogan, now 26, think there could be a career here. She is founder and president of Natavi Guides, and her husband Avi Spivack is managing editor. (Natavi is a combination of their names.) She wrote "Conquering Your Undergraduate Thesis" as an expanded version of her initial work.

Called "Students Helping Students," the slim paperbacks are written by current students or recent graduates and are extensively reviewed by students all over the country.

Kogan and Spivack contracted with Independent Publishers Group in Chicago to handle distribution of the books, which sell for $6.95 for shorter books, around 96 pages, or $8.95 for the longer ones, around 140 pages.

The primary author gets a small upfront payment and royalties. The editors and book designers work on a free-lance basis.

"We advertised for student authors and the response was overwhelming," Kogan said, "For the first five books we got about 500 resumes. The author writes the book by interviewing many people, and then reviewers go over the draft. A lot of students contribute to each guide. The authors and major contributors are shown on our web site, which helps with their resumes."

Jay Harris, 20, of Fanwood, graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School and is now a junior at Columbia University with a double major in computer science and creative writing. He is co-author of "Navigating Your Freshman Year." He produced a draft that his co-author went over, and he in turn went over her draft before they combined their efforts.

His basic thought about freshman year? "You don't have to go through it again," he said.

Co-author Allison Lombardo, 19, of Cranford is a sophomore at Brown University. She has not yet chosen a major. She learned about Natavi Guids through a Brown job-search web site. "My freshman year was pretty typical. It's a time for change for everyone," she said. "Once you leave high school, it's a very different experience. You have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable."

Lombardo said she spent most of second semester working on the book. "It definitely took a significant amount of time. I wasn't doing it for the money. The process of writing a book was interesting and fun," she said.

"Navigating Your Freshman Year" will be published in the spring.

Albert Suh, 23, graduated from Lawrenceville High School and from Princeton University, where he majored in politics and minored in environment studies. He is living and working in Newark.

He contributed to "Conquering Your Undergraduate Thesis" - his was on nongovernmental organizations and international diplomacy. He is the primary author of "Acing Your College Apps" which is due out next fall. Suh taught SAT prep courses, which helped give him background for the book.

He said he is being paid "very minimally" but was happy "to have the opportunity to share my thoughts."

Books currently available in the series are:

"Conquering Your Undergraduate Thesis," "Getting the Most from Study Abroad," "Fishing for a Major," "Tackling Your First College Paper," and "Scoring a Great Internship."

The plan is to publish five new books in the spring and another five next fall. "We'll see how they do," Kogan said.

The web site is www.studentshelpingstudents.com.