MSI Press Blog

  People often use pleased and proud as if they mean the same thing. They don’t. And the difference matters. To be pleased is to feel satisfaction — a gentle, inward acknowledgment that something went well. It’s a momentary warmth, a sense of harmony between effort and outcome. You’re pleased when a plan works, when a child behaves kindly, when a project turns out right. It’s gratitude mixed with relief. To be proud , though, is something larger. Pride carries identity. It says, this achievement reflects who I am. Pride ties the result to the self — to strength, perseverance, or principle. It’s not just “that went well,” but “I did that.” Pride can be noble, when it honors integrity and effort. It can also turn dangerous, when it forgets humility and becomes self‑inflation. The two feelings often overlap, but they point in different directions: Pleased Focuses on the event or outcome Has a gentle, grateful tone Fades naturally once the moment passes Proud Focuses on the self an...

  Compassion is one of those words we toss around as if everyone means the same thing by it. But real compassion—the kind that changes relationships, softens hardened places, and restores dignity—has nothing to do with pity and nothing to do with superiority. Compassion is mercy without arrogance. It is humble. We often imagine compassion as something we give from a position of strength to someone in a position of weakness. But that framing already distorts the truth. The moment compassion becomes a performance of benevolence, it stops being compassion and becomes condescension dressed in soft language. True compassion begins with the recognition that we are not separate from the person in front of us. Their suffering is not an object lesson. Their struggle is not a stage on which we get to act out our virtue. Compassion is not a spotlight; it’s a lowering of oneself to meet another at eye level. Humility is the safeguard. Humility keeps compassion honest. Humility says: I...

  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  Today's post is a reaction to a communication last week with a new author, whose proposed contract we just rescinded--and why. The author had an interesting book but one that would not have broad appeal; yet, some kind of narrow niche depth appeal seemed likely or at least possible. The author had no publishing history, no platform, and no clear group of fans. This is not all that uncommon for us because we specialize in helping first-time authors edit their first books into good enough shape to win awards and gather in readers and reviews. As a result, we not only invest time, effort, and money into the production of the book, but we a...