MSI Press Blog

Out this month, the updated version of Publishing for Smarties: Finding  a Publisher by B. L. Ham. Here is what MidWest Book Review had to say about it: Synopsis: Now in a newly revised and expanded second edition, "Publishing for Smarties: Finding a Publisher" by B. L. Ham is specifically written for aspiring authors having trouble getting their book published, as well as new authors wanting to avoid the long wait through dozens of submissions as publishers they have submitted to seek find a writer whose work they would be amendable to publishing. Written from the perspective of an acquisitions editor for a publishing house who has also served as a reader and adviser for acquisitions editors at presses ranging from small to large to the leading presses in her field, B. L. Ham wants to help new writers navigate the confusing myriad choices in finding a publisher. Typical missteps of new authors are presented, along with criteria for making decisions on choosing

  Today's shared blog post comes from Elizabeth Mahlou, author of A Believer-in-Waiting's First Encounters with God and Blest Atheist :   My cooking is well known -- for how bad it is. In fact, the topic figured prominently in Doah's book,  Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest . My mother gave up on teaching me to cook years ago, saying that it was too expensive because I ruined so much of what I touched. My kids quickly learned that it was better to have Donnie do the cooking, and I could almost always get them to do whatever I asked by threatening to cook. There is, however, one thing I can cook well: ham. So, for this new year's New Year dinner, I made a ham. Now, we usually go out to dinner on special occasions since it really is only Donnie, Doah, and I. However, this year, it was rainy and cold and seemed perfect for a ham dinner and fire in the fireplace. Doah was not so certain, however. Right after that, he ran hollering to Donnie, "Come quick! Mom's cookin

  1948-2021 It is with great sadness that MSI Press notes the death of Carl Leaver, CEO of the Press and typesetter and graphic designer par excellence . Many authors have expressed not only condolences but also a sense of legacy from covers he designed that they love.  Here is his obituary: On August 16, 2021, Carl Don Leaver of San Juan Bautista passed into eternal rest. A forester with the US Forest Service in Idaho and Montana, he turned to nature photography while working in the Bitterroot National Forest. His photographs graced national magazine covers and on a weekly basis the local paper of Hamilton, MT, the Ravalli Republican. He later worked on photography projects for the US Army (AFEES) and taught photography at the New York Institute of Technology in Amman, Jordan. His final career change led him to computer graphics and publishing as co-owner of MSI Press LLC; his many typeset books and book covers have helped MSI Press authors win a large number of awards over the years,

  In lieu of our regular column, we want to bring your attention to the many questions from the column that are answered in this book: Recently released - the audiobook for Publishing for Smarties by B L Ham . Having trouble getting your book published? Or are you a new author, wondering how to avoid the long wait through dozens of submissions find an author? This books is for you!  Written from the perspective of an acquisitions editor for a publishing house who has also served as a reader and adviser for acquisitions editors at presses ranging from small to large to the leading presses in her field, the author helps new writers navigate the confusing myriad choices in finding a publisher.  Typical missteps of new authors are presented, along with criteria for making decisions on choosing a publisher - and advice on how to approach the publisher. Of potentially great assistance, the author, an acquisitions editor, shares real-life stories of manuscripts she turned down -- and why.  T

Sometimes a book title flies into an author's mind, and from there begins the writing of a story or  a book. More often, though, an author agonizes over the title of a book, and that agony can slow down or even preclude the writing of the book. Does not having a title mean not having a book? No. Just put nearly anything as a working title (only because you will need to file your documents under some title), and write the book. Focus on the theme of the book and the goal that you want to reach. Why are you writing the book? Let the words for that play out in your story. What is the story about? Develop it. Who are the characters? Develop them. What is the takeaway you want for readers? Make sure that is clear. Along the way, the title will likely become obvious. If it does not, stay with your working title. Make it short (less than 8 words). Make it clearly connected with the theme/message of your book. Make it your 8-second elevator speech about the book. Then, send

  Excerpt A Real Home and Food For the first time, Intrepid had a limitless supply of food and water. He understood that he could eat whatever and however much he wanted. He did not understand the limitlessness of the supply. So, he hunkered down beside the cat food bowl in the kitchen, never leaving it except to use the litter box.   How he knew to use the litter box was an enigma. Perhaps he saw the other cats using it. Perhaps something about it came to him instinctively. From the very first day, he was always a clean cat.  Ultimately, after a number of weeks, he realized that the food would not disappear, and he ventured out to explore our other rooms, all of them very large: two bathrooms, three bedrooms, a dining room, a living room, and a closed-in sunroom. One by one, he explored them all.  In the living room, he discovered tall plants. Somehow, he discovered that though the plants were five and six feet tall, if he could get a running start, he could take a kamikaze

This week's blog post is the next in the series of book back stories and is the story behind Publishing for Smarties: Finding a Publisher by BL Ham. From the author -  The story behind this book is quite short and easy -- as was writing the book. The topic was one I presented on frequently at workshops for authors. One day, I decided to turn the slide deck into a book. Voila! The book you see here. The plan was to have other books in the series. Indeed, they will appear in due course -- topics such as reading your proposed contract, and more.  Paperback copies of this book can be purchased at the  MSI Press webstore   at 25% discount with coupon code FF25. Currently, it is on sale at a very deep discount. For more posts about this book, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter (recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, author advice, and more -- stay up to date)   Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Inter

  Today's fortune cookie is associated with Publishing for Smarties: Finding a Publisher (Ham) .   Read more about B L Ham and this book HERE . Get a copy at  MSI Press webstore . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.  Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our  Authors' Pages .    

Kitchen Chaos My mommy is a very nice mommy, but she is a very bad cook. When my sister needed to take some deviled eggs to Rain­bow Girls’ meeting, my mommy made them. Mommy didn’t re­ally want to make them. She wanted to find some place to buy them. However, the leader of the Rainbow Girls’ chapter told Mommy that they were asking all the mommies to make, not buy, the food contributions in order to set a good example for the girls in the chapter. Some example! Against her better judgment and protesting all the way, my sister, Fawn, took them to her meeting. We all knew what would happen. Sure enough, Fawn came back home with all the eggs except one. After one person had tasted one of the eggs, no one else wanted to eat them. Mommy said she did not understand what the problem was. She had made only one small change to the recipe. Since she did not have any paprika, she used some­thing that she thought would be okay because it looked very much like paprika: cayenne peppe

  Books on discount through Kindle (Kindle Countdown) All books begin (first day) at 99 cents, with amount of discount decreasing during the countdown period, so, if you are interest in the book, snatch it on day one for the best price. (Subsequent prices, though, are something to smile about.) Books return to regular price the day after the last day listed below. Survival of the Caregiver  (Snyder) 12/10-12/17 Tucker and Me  (Harvey) Hollywood Book Festival  12/11 - 12/18 The Widower's Guide to a New Lif e  (Romer) Book of the Year finalist 12/12 - 12/19 Christmas at the Mission  (Sula) 12/13 - 12/20 Heart to Heart Resuscitation  (Montgomery) 12/14 - 12/21 Blest Atheist  (Mahlou) 1/8 - 1/15 in time for Orthodox Christmas, reflected in the opening and closing scenes Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star!   (Leaver) 1/9 - 1/16 Publishing for Smarties  (Ham) 1/11 - 1/19 Paperback formats (and in some cases, hard cover formats) of the above e-books can be purchas