MSI Press Blog

  Excerpt from  Understanding the Challenge of "No" for Children with Autism  (McNeil) - Chapter 2 No Running   Raise your hand if you have found yourself plugging along on a multiple-choice test when you were stopped cold, or at least had to slow down and look more carefully at a question stated in the negative: “Which statement is NOT correct?”  Or worse yet, a double negative: “Which answer does not disagree with the following statement?”  Huh?  Okay, slow down. I’m looking for the incorrect answer and the answer that agrees with the statement. Why did the instructor have to be so tricky? As my hand is elevated along with yours, I admit to having gotten more than a few of these answers wrong throughout my education. In my groove, working steadily along, I was busy looking for the correct answers, not the incorrect ones, and I didn’t read the question carefully enough. As scholars, it is our responsibility to read carefully and decipher the negatives in order to respon

  (photo by Frank Perez) It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. 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 topic is about the publication process itself. You have a manuscript in hand, now what? There are several stages. So, let's take each stage separately. Stage One. Completion of the Manuscript You have finished writing the manuscript and have carefully proofread it, but you are NOT ready to move to Stage Two. There are a few things you need to do first. If not done, this is the stage that often dooms a manuscript never to move to Stage Two and on into becoming a book. You proofread, right? For what did you proofread? Spelling? Ran it through the spellchecker? Certain your own eyes wil

    Excerpt from  Staying Safe While Sheltering in Place  (Schnuelle, Adams, & Henderson) (written as one of our pandemic books, much of the advice is pertinent even now) From chapter: You, Me, Staying at Home (Schnueel) Coping, Seriously As soon as practicalities were largely handled and as time stretched out, the themes that came up repeatedly boiled down to, “How do I not lose my mind?” Keeping one’s sanity lies in realizing this is an abnormal situation. In unprecedented circumstances, it is actually normal not to know what the hell is going on. We don’t live through world-wide novel virus pandemics\ often, and aren’t we all so thankful for that? In an abnormal situation, the usual routines will probably not work.  We have to do something new. Adapting to what is happening right now, instead of trying to impose the old ‘normal,’ will probably work better. Get relentlessly practical and find a new normal: here is what we can do today. Now we go to school online. Now we order gro

  Congratulations to Colette McNeil, whose book, Choice and Structure for Children with Autism  has been selected as a Gold Medalist for the 2020 Reader Views Literary Awards in the education category. It was also selected for a silver award in the parenting category. This is the second of Colette's books to be selected for this distinction.  Understanding the Challenge of "No" for Children with Autism   earned a silver medal in the adult classics - nonfiction category.  To read more posts about Colette and her books, click  HERE .

  The title says it all. Three recent Readers' Favorite reviews for Choice and Structure for Children with Autism by Colette McNeil awarded the book five stars. You can read the reviews HERE . Colette's previous book, Understanding the Challenge of "No" for Children with Autism , was reviewed earlier and also received 5 stars.

  San Juan Books is the hybrid division of MSI Press LLC. It allows first-time writers to become published in a traditional way through the reduction of risk by sharing publication costs. All other publishing features are traditional in nature, and most SJB authors go on to be offered traditional contracts for their subsequent books. SJB publications are available as paperback, hard cover, and e-book versions. SJB authors' books very much hold their own against their contemporaries in the traditional publishing division. Indeed, a number of them have outsold their traditional compatriots. Today, San Juan Books presents author Colette McNeil. Colette McNeil aspires to develop confidence in individuals with autism by expanding the perspectives of their parents, families, teachers, and caregivers. Experience: Colette McNeil has worked with children and adults with disabilities for 30 years.  She spent 20 of those years teaching students with autism and related disorders ages 3-22. Add

Yesterday, with the release of Julie Gentile's book, How to Stay Calm in Chaos , we reached release #10 of the books in our pandemic series--experts among our authors who have turned their expertise into providing advice, help, and encouragement with dealing with the fallout of various sorts of trying to cope with and manage life successfully during a pandemic. These books encompass a wide range of topics, all of them very pertinent to what is happening all around us. Which ones could help you? The  Pandemic and Hope , written by former priest and long-term, respected psychologist, Dr. Dennis Ortman. Read more HERE . Tips, Tools, and Anecdoates to Help during a Pandemic , written by San Diego social worker, Joanna Charnas. Read more HERE . God Speaks into Darkness , written by church leader, J Bennett Easterling. Read more HERE . Diary of an RVer during Quarantine, written by RV expert (judge of the RV Oopsies awards), Karry MacDonald. Read more HERE . Old and On Hold , written by