MSI Press Blog

Veteran and award-winning author, Omar Imady, has done it again with a new book, Erasures . Literary Titan Gold Award Winner. 'An exceptional novel on par with previous dystopian classics written by Orwell and Huxley.' - Los Angeles Book Review The Year is 2049. Following a brutal seven-year war, Earth teeters on the brink of destruction. The World Congress is convened to identify the enemy: unpredictability. Deep in the subterranean corridors of Zone 4 Literature Hub, Head Archivist Ray Blankenship is tasked with digitizing humanity’s remaining books. In this new world, meticulously organized, monitored, and managed, Ray is restless. In the absence of chance, of mystery and miracles, meaning is missing. Amid the order, Ray’s shocking discovery of disappearing digital texts quickly plunges his department, his superiors, and the entire principle of predictability into uncertainty. Soon, whole books begin to vanish. But not just any books. Only religious ones. As the race to pres

                             Have you published a book recently (2022-2023) on a topic related to achieving near-native foreign language proficiency? Send it to the Journal for Distinguished Language Proficiency . JDLS is looking for books to review in JLDS 9 (2023-2024). --- We have available for individual purchase each of the feature articles from issue 8 of the journal at a very accessible price and will make the feature articles available from other issues as time goes on. Check our  webstore  to see what we have at any given time. We will announce and link each of these individually in upcoming blog posts. The  Journal for Distinguished Language Studies  is available by subscription. JDLS is a biennial journal, and it is easy for time to slip by and miss the next issue. Subscription will take care of that. Subscribe  HERE  and never miss a copy. (Publishes typically in December of even-numbered years.) Also, don't believe Amazon's listing of previous issues of  The Journa

It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.  Today's post discusses the difficulties in getting book reviews -- from the publisher perspective and the author perspective. Sometimes, those perspectives are the same. Reference here is not to paid reviews; those are pretty easy to get -- put up your money, and back comes a review. Reference here is to unpaid, professional reviews, what every publisher wants and expects and what every author should, too. Lost in the Haystack of Pre-Publication Reviews Pre-publication reviews are hard to get because there are very few reviewers out there, and they are overwhelmed with books being sent to them. One reviewer who wanted to review one of our

  A bit of a detour from the usual Cancer Diary posts, this week we are posting reviews about a well-liked but not widely known book about living with cancer (spoiler: it has a religious appeal): Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Cat's Story by Sula, Parish Cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista. #1 Synopsis: Sula is a cat with a divine mission who has an uncanny ability to sense which parishioners at the California's San Juan Bautista Old Mission need her attention at any given Mass. But is it really uncanny, or does St. Francis give Sula tasks during her daily conversations with him? Or is she led by God? Sula has developed a special bond with cancer survivors like herself. The bond between her and the Old Mission parishioners saw her through two bouts of cancer, flooding her with gifts: money for surgery, a home for recovery, prayers, and love. In the pages of "Surviving Cancer, Healing People: One Cat's Story" is comprised of truly charming, heartwarming,

  GodSway  by Diana Keathley was released earlier this week, and already it has received honorable mention in two book competitions:   New York Book Festival Hollywood Book Festival Also, already, it has gather a number of 5-star ratings. Here are samples from Goodreads readers: #1.  I love this book. In these pages you’ll read stories of how God did extraordinary things in response to a woman’s unrelenting day to day faith. I felt joy and it gave me a renewed trust and faith in a loving God that longs for an intimate relationship with us. GodSway reminds us that stories of faith need to be remembered and shared for the glory of God and the encouragement of others. #2.  This memoir was heartfelt and genuine. Diana Keathley writes candidly about her faith journey and her divine encounters along the way. I was encouraged by how she invited God into her everyday and praised His faithfulness in life's biggest blessings. If you love to read about God's Goodness and Presence, I recom

    Learning to Feel   by Kris Girrell has been a favorite since its release a month ago, spending most days in the Amazon top 100 in its various categories and reaching #1 on hot new books on Amazon.  Also, already, it has gathered a number of 5-star ratings. Here, from Amazon, where all reviews are 5 stars: #1.  The author uses his personal journey in learning to feel to expose universal struggles we all can relate to. Great reminder that our emotions are our greatest teachers and this book teaches how to listen to the lessons they are trying to teach. #2.  I never thought taking a journey through the lifetime of a man from boyhood deep into manhood could be so invigorating, enlightening and abundantly full of learnings. In this book Girrell lays his soul out for all to see in such a vulnerable way that one must laugh, cry and experience the world with him. Different authors have tried break the concept of Emotional Intelligence into discreet boxes with labels attached to incomplete

  And the best books of September 2023 are ... drumroll! .... Top 100 Amazon 1.          Hot new releases           Bob McGee’s book,  A View through the Fog , was #1 in hot new releases in bridge engineering for the entire 30-day new-release period and bounced around #13-#41 overall in bridge engineering. Great showing for a first-time author.         Steven Greenebaum’s book,  An Afternoon’s Discussion , was #1 in ecumenism in hot new releases on June 24 and #21 overall in Christian ecumenism, mostly staying in the top 100 during the new-release period. Congratulations to him on that #1 status!!  General categories a.    Kris Girrell’s book, Learning to Feel , reached #60 in biographies of social scientists and psychologists.   b.      Shannon Gonyou’s book, Since Sinai , reached #10 in biographies of Judaism.   c.       Steven Greenebaum’s book,  An Afternoon’s Discussion , reached #59 in ecumenism.   d.      Larry MacDonald’s book, RV Oopsies , reached #34 in travel humor, #116 in