MSI Press Blog

Authors often ask: Do awards really matter for my book’s success? The answer is yes — but not all awards carry the same weight. For nonfiction, it’s helpful to think of awards in three categories: major, minor (competitive), and less-competitive. Each plays a different role in ROI (return on investment), both financially and in terms of credibility. 📚 Major Awards (Transformative ROI) These are the prizes that can catapult a nonfiction book into bestseller status and secure long-term influence. They attract mainstream media coverage, bookstore promotion, and institutional adoption. Pulitzer Prize (General Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, History) National Book Award (Nonfiction) National Book Critics Circle Award (Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir) PEN America Literary Awards (Nonfiction categories) Anisfield-Wolf Book Award (Nonfiction) Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Nonfiction categories) 👉 ROI impact : Immediate financial spike, sustained visibility, and enduring cultural influen...

  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.  Writing a book is an accomplishment. Publishing it is a milestone. But selling it? That’s a whole other game—and one too many authors enter unprepared. You don’t need to be a full-time marketer to successfully sell your book, but you do need a plan. Without one, even the best books risk fading into the digital void or languishing in cartons in your garage. Whether you’re self-published or working with a traditional or hybrid press, your sales success depends on you far more than you think . Here’s why sales planning matters—and how to do it effectively. 1. Publishing is a Business Books are emotional and creative endeavors, but once th...

    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.  This week, we react to a recent announcement by Spines that it plans to publish 8000 AI-generated books in 2025. This is of concern. The Haystack Grows Already, it is very difficult for any one book to achieve sufficient visibility to garner good sales. This infusion of books would create a situation of market saturation. Finding any particular book (or getting one seen) (discoverability) becomes that much harder for authors and publishers. Wallets Deplete The effect of the growing difficulty associated with discoverability means that publishers and authors will need to take out more advertising in various forms. More often than ...