MSI Press Blog

  Congratulations to MSI Press author Bertha Cooper on her book, Women, We're Only Old Once, being selected for the Phoenix Award (Best New Voice) in the category of Health and Fitness. For more posts about Bertha and her book, click HERE .

  The following is an excerpt from the award-winning book, Women. We're Only Old Once (Bertha Cooper) that seems particularly appropriate as the new year begins:  I have been frankly humbled by this experience of entering the last phase of my life. I, so far, have humble thoughts, the most important include being honest about my grief and, in the end, letting go of it. I try to honor the important losses of friends, accept the devaluation of my work, shrug off the newest arthritic finger bump, and pay attention to new thoughts and aspirations that never before had room in my life. Quite important, as you will see in later chapters, I encourage investment in well-being. Among my hopes in sharing this journey with you is that we will honor our bodies, which are changing daily, by taking care of them and will cherish our remaining relationships. We can anticipate that new thoughts and aspirations will begin entering from unexpected places as we clear out denial and grieving. Welcomin

  March is Women's History Month. We celebrate by recommending the following books for women. Order from our webstore and get a 25% discount with coupon code FF25.             108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas (Julie Gentile) Are you too busy for self-care? From a one-minute meditation to building a routine you love to wake up to, this quick read and everyday self-care resource gives you the energy to live a mindful, more nourished life by taking good care of yourself. With Julie M. Gentile, award-winning author, yoga teacher and Millennial mom, as your guide, you'll give birth to your highest self through self-care.  Book Excellence Awards Finalist IPPY Living Now Bronze Medal Read more posts about this book HERE . A Woman's Guide to Self-Nurturing (Joanna Romer) A Woman's Guide to Self-Nurturing offers a new perspective on how to comfort yourself while bolstering self-esteem. Using Bible stories as well as creative techniques for self-nurturing, the b

  MSI Press books have, historically, won many awards from a wide range of competitions. This is the first in a series of sharing the various awards that our books have earned. The first category is Best Indie Book Award. The following MSI Press books have been Best Indie Book Award Winners to date: A Theology for the Rest of Us (Arthur Yavelberg).  If God exists and is good, why is there evil? Avoiding such questions underlies the spiritual emptiness and anxiety in today's world. A Theology for the Rest of Us explores how to approach the divine through Eastern and Western religious traditions without dogma, challenging readers to "be you lamps unto yourselves."  This book also won the Literary Titan Silver Award. Read more about this book and its author  HERE . Andrew's Awesome Adventures with His ADHD Brai n (Kristin Wilcox & Andrew Wilcox).  T his book provides unique insights into ADHD behaviors and suggests highly pragmatic and successfully implemented stra

  Happy International Women's Day ! We are taking a different approach today because it is International Women's Day. So, it seems natural to look at the process of women writing books for women, using some examples from our onw publications. Of course, there are no limits to the topics that women are interested in. The range really is as broad as for men. However, there are some books that zone in on areas experienced principally or exclusively by women and sell nearly exclusively to women. Is it worth writing such narrow-niche books? Based on sales, the answer appears to be yes, and don't forget that women make up over half of the world's population, so the unanalyzed market is large. While the topics that women can and do write about for each other are many, the ones we have focused on at our press and that seem to resonate with a large enough part of the population are: aging, health & fitness, and life events. AGING Aging happens to all of us, and it would seem

  Recently, MSI Press received word that three of its authors' books have won their categories in the 2021 Best Indie Book Award competition. Congratulations to the following: Bertha Cooper: Women, We're Only Old Once . Winner, Nonfiction: Self-Help. Bertha also won the 2021 Phoenix Award for Best New Voice in Health and Fitness. Read posts about Bertha and her books HERE . Julie Potter. Harnessing the Power of Grief. Winner, Nonfiction: Grieving & Bereavement. Read posts about Julie and her book HERE . Arthur Yavelberg. A Spirituality for the Rest of Us . Winner, Nonfiction: Theology. Read posts about Arthur and his book HERE .

  Today's book excerpt comes from the award-winning book, Women, We're Only Old Once by Bertha Cooper -- Growing Old in a Culture of Denial As I began my journey of discovery into what being an older woman might mean in America, I learned that I wasn’t the only one who had questions and fears, nor was I the only one who craved conversation about aging well but didn’t know how to begin it. Most of us are at least curious about the experience of others and how it compares to ours. Yet, inexplicably we women, even those of us who tend to overshare, don’t always engage in substantial discussions about what it means to grow old and how to do it with dignity and self-kindness. We live in a culture in the United States that celebrates youth and hopes to postpone aging as long as possible. As women, we’ve all experienced the message throughout our lives that to be socially acceptable and desirable it’s necessary to be beautiful as in slender but curvaceous, with unlined, made-up faces

  Today's book excerpt comes from Women, We're Only Old Once by Bertha Cooper. INTRODUCTION   I stood at the door to my old age, somewhat reluctant to enter. Since I was only partially committed to the inevitable, I took a cautious first look at this new territory and came up with more questions than answers. What should I wear? What must I plan? What must I pack? What do I leave behind? What does it matter? I embarked on writing Women, We’re Only Old Once!: Keep What You Can, Let Go of What You Can’t, Enjoy What You Have when I was 66 years old and found myself asking even more questions. I knew that I was not alone. I would write from a woman’s point of view. Women, We’re Only Old Once! would be a book for women. I knew that I wanted to share my journey with other women and that I wanted to invite women to share their journeys with me. Aging doesn’t start at 50, 55, 60, or 65. It starts at birth. Aging doesn’t get a bad name until accompanied by wrinkles, arthriti