MSI Press Blog

    This week, we   look at look at one of the most difficult tasks an author has, yet one that they belief is easy. Probably most authors know what they want to call their book before they even write it. Often, when an author approaches us with a book title, we feel compelled to discuss other options with the author. Here are some of the reasons (problems). Title Duplicative The title already exists. This is quite problematic when one of the books is better known. The new book will likely be overlooked. It is just a copy cat. It is very problematic when there are multiple books by the same title. One proposed title that had this problem was the book now called One Simple Text... The original proposal was for From Tragedy to Triumph . Take a gander for that title in Amazon -- many titles. How would the first-time author's book stand out among them? It likely would not. And if someone were looking for the author's book, that person would have to parse through a number of...

  Today's book back story provides inside information about  One Simple Text.. . (Shaw & Brown).  From the publisher -  Betty Shaw and Dave Brown brought to the press a great story. One of tragedy that through patient fortitude, medical skill, and great faith turned into triumph. Of a life almost lost because of one simple text while driving. The what and who of that text I will leave readers to discover. A story that had propelled the author and the protagonist of the story, her daughter, to Oprah Winfrey's TV show. They had, however, not yet written a book. (Advice here: if you have the opportunity for world-class publicity, get your book done in advance; it is so  helpful for book promotion to have the publicity come after the book and not afterward.) They needed some help in refining the story into a book that works. That is where MSI Press came in. We do this all the time with first-time authors. We help turn their wonderful but seemingly unmanageable s...

  \ LIFE’S JOY “What can separate us from the love of Christ?” --Paul of Tarsus   “I’ve never been happy. I don’t believe I’ll ever escape my misery,” my elderly patient lamented. She had suffered from anxiety her whole life. She was its prisoner. “I’m always worrying about something. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Anything can cause me to panic,” she explained.  I asked her, “Who would you be if you didn’t worry?” She responded honestly, “I don’t know. I wouldn’t know myself. That would be even scarier!” My patient had constructed an identity around her illness. She could not imagine living without it and the misery it caused her.  Another patient of mine was terrified of leaving the house. She insisted she wanted to feel free to go out and socialize, but still stayed home to feel safe. I asked her, “You say you want to go out, but still stay home. Which is true, what you say you want or what you do?” Both, in fact, may have been true. She felt hopelessly con...

  We all know the feeling. The phone buzzes. A message lights up. You’re driving, but it’s just one quick glance. Just one reply. Just a few seconds. But those seconds can be fatal. Texting while driving isn’t a minor lapse—it’s a major risk. It’s not just about you. It’s about your passengers, the people in the other car, the cyclist in the bike lane, the pedestrian crossing the street. It’s about lives that can be shattered in the time it takes to say “on my way.” Here’s what the numbers reveal: Distracted driving caused 3,275 deaths in 2023 in the U.S. 14% of all fatal crashes involve cellphone use Drivers who text are 23x more likely to be involved in a crash At any given moment, 660,000 drivers are using their phones while driving And when a crash happens: Drivers are most likely to die if they’re texting at high speed Passengers , especially teens, face significant risk—often with no control over the situation Pedestrians and cyclists : 611 were killed in 20...