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Anticipating Sula's Memorial: A Special Day for a Special Cat

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  Tomorrow at least 70 community members -- may be a lot more since these are the only ones who voluntarily sent an RSVP. Television coverage is expected, and the service will be videotaped. With any luck, we will have it available for the next Caturday. It will als o be available on Sula's Face Book page . The Memorial Service includes all the usual components: prayer, song, and eulogies. In addition, a gratitude basket is being given to the Animal Cancer Center in Monterey, where the staff prolonged Sula's life by two years, and, this being close to Francistide , Br. James from the St. Francis Retreat Center will be be blessing the animals.  Sula's prayer card, which will be distributed at the memorial service, can be ordered through the MSI Press webstore , essentially at cost, by anyone anywhere who would find the card comforting.  For more posts about Sula, click HERE . Arthur Yavelberg, author of  A Theology for the Rest of Us , was recently featured in an  Authorit

Author in the News: Arthur Yavelberg Featured in Authority Magazine As a "Social Impact Author"

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  Arthur Yavelberg, author of A Theology for the Rest of Us , was recently featured in an Authority Magazine article, titled "Social Impact Authors: How and Why Author Arthur Yavelberg Is Helping to Change the World." You can read the article HERE . For more information about the social impact theory and model, click here . For more articles on Arthur and his works, click HERE .                                    Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

Daily Excerpt: Lamentations of the Heart (Wells-Smith) - To Those Who Have Opened This Book

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  Excerpt from Lamentation of the Heart (Marti Wells-Smith) -  TO THOSE WHO HAVE OPENED THIS BOOK   In these pages, you will read of the loss of my only child. I share the details not to inflict needless pain—but rather, to share the incredible signs I received assuring me that he is safe in heaven. The circumstances were shocking but had miraculous consolations. I was so overwhelmed with them all that I felt compelled to express my emotions in both poetic and prose form, while honestly conveying the facts as they unfolded.   As believers, we know that the innocent young always ascend to their heavenly homes upon passing. But perhaps you have also lost an adult child, or other loved ones—and are concerned about their eternal well-being. If so, then I have written this book for you. The Lord has led me to this place—where I discovered, in the midst of my loss, that our heavenly Father is more loving and compassionate toward all of His children than I could possibly have imagined

Five Stars from Literary Titan for Bagdade's I Love My Kids But I Don't Always Like Them

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  Literary Titan has award I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Then 5 stars. In part, the reviewer wrote, This is a critical resource for parents that will help parents re-evaluate their parenting style and promote conversations on parenting and how there is no one-formula-fits-all in raising different children even within the same family. With quirky humor and a free-spirited tone, Bagdade has written an engaging parenting book that is colored by her experience as a mother and consultant educator. She details easy-to-follow approaches to parenting that will help parents enjoy their children, even during their worst times. Read the rest of the review HERE . Connect to other reviews of this book HERE . Read more posts about Franki and her book, including excerpts,  HERE .                                    Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

Puzzlement; What is the relationship between popular books and purloined books?

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  Our most purloined book is How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately by Boris Shekhtman. I find it on various sites, completely stolen in spite of \evident copyright (and often no way to contact the thief to send a cease-and-desist letter -- hopefully, some of the publisher associations working on this issue that plaques all authors and publishers will find some effective solutions). Usually a bad copy, i.e. heard to read. Our most popular book is How to Improve Your Foreign Language Immediately , outselling some of our books 9:1 and our next bestselling book 2:1. Are these sales numbers in spite of the purloining or, ironically, thanks to the purloining (e.g., purchasers wanted an easier-to-read copy, the purloiners brought the book to the attention of potential readers who would not otherwise have known about it)? I suppose we will never know the answer as to whether the book benefitted from or was harmed by the thefts. It will be so helpful for professional organizations t

Guest Post: Cruise Ship Entertainment (Mogren)

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  Today, Ken Mogren shares a post from his blog, in which he talks about being a cruise ship entertainer (becoming such as a result of the publication of his book, Spunky Grandmas and Other Amusing Characters ). Read the post HERE . For more posts about Ken and his book, click HERE .                                    Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Collaboration in Sheep's Clothing

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  1.       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 takes a detour from the usual format of this column in order to share an experience as a warning to other publishers and to authors -- a great get-rich scheme for the company doing the offering and stay-poor scheme for authors, presented as a collaboration. I almost got trapped by this one and there are some takeaways I have learned (and should have known) that could be warning bells for others.   Months ago, I was contacted by ORIM, a legitimate company, offering to collaborate on marketing of some of our e-books. It was a very fair offer: we would put up the e-books, ORIM would market them on