WORDS AND IMAGES : Self-Help Guide : Entrepreneurial writers fuel a growing publishing industry with books that deliver on what they promise.

We are all aware of the thousands of self-help books inundating us with advice on just about everything. Many of them are slickly packaged and filled with good old common sense stuff. Others are full of questionable theories about how health, wealth and career success can be achieved with little effort.

However, here in Ventura, there is a growing publishing industry being fueled by entrepreneurial writers who are producing fine, basic self-help books that deliver what they promise.

For example, although we know that a sedentary lifestyle and tobacco inhalation contribute to ill health, many of us need a push to begin an exercise routine or to kick life-threatening addictions. Moon River Publishing provides this motivation in “Walk Yourself Thin” and “Dying for a Smoke,” both authored by David A. Rives.

Rives, a graduate of the University of Michigan with a bachelor of science degree in cellular biology, says he is “a former fatty and smoker who walked himself thin and kicked the habit.”

A subject we all hate to deal with has been addressed in “Final Celebrations,” recently released by Pathfinder Publishing. This guide for personal and family funeral planning was written by local author Kathleen Sublette and funeral director Martin Flagg, to help families avoid the dissension and financial loss that often occur when decisions are made during a time of grief and stress.

You’re out there fine-tuning the garden--mowing the lawn, pruning shrubs--and you’re not sure what to do with all the trimmings. If you don’t want to send all that stuff to a landfill, get a copy of “Backyard Composting” by John Roulac. Discover how easy it is to recycle yard clippings and food scraps. The book is available in bookstores or from Harmonious Press, P.O. Box 1865, Ojai, 93024.

The Ventura County Writers Club has invited Cal Lutheran University English Prof. Jack Ledbetter to discuss “Poetry: Its Problem in Publishing.” Ledbetter, a Conejo Valley resident, has published articles, poetry, anthologies, chapbooks and fiction. He is also a composer and an artist and has produced one-act plays. The meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, 1101 Ponderosa Drive, Camarillo. Non-member fee is $4. Call 495-8730 or 647-5369 for details.

A “Baseball, Sportscard and Comic Book Exchange” will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Newbury Park Branch Library, 2331 Borchard Road. Volunteers may still be needed to provide supervision. Call Barb Wilson at 493-2179.

The Arcade Poetry Project features Abigail Albrecht and Katie Ingram, who will read Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Momentum Gallery, 34 N. Palm St., Ventura. Open readings will follow. Call 658-7045.