MSI Press Blog

  In honor of Arbor Day, we pull a lesson from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents by Cindy Alder and Patti Trombly ---  #226 Plant Parts A weed is no more than a flower in disguise. ~James Lowell                Children can easily recognize plants. Your child can probably identify a variety of them, but can she identify all of the basic parts? Here are ten fun activities to try with your child (and whole family!) that will help make a plant’s structure understandable in hands-on ways:   1.      Discuss the function of each part. The best way to do this is by observing a plant your child is familiar with either in or around your home. Don’t forget that trees are plants, too, just on a larger scale. Begin by asking your child what she thinks each part would do by observing it. Here’s a guide: a.      Leaf: makes food with help from the sun. b.      Stem and trunk: like a big straw, they carry water and minerals from the roots to all parts of the plant and hold it uprig

  We have learned that one of our authors, Dr. Syed Arshad Husain, passed into eternal rest last fall. According to his official biography,  Dr. Syed Arshad Husain M.D. , former Chief and Director of Training of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Missouri and the Senior Vice President/Medical Director of Psychiatry Services of Compass Health, died peacefully the morning of September 24th, 2022 at his home in Columbia, Missouri with his wife of over 50 years, Jennifer Devine Husain, at his side. He was 84 years old. A titan in the field of Child Psychiatry and a foremost expert in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dr. Husain’s greatest impact was the result of his decades-long worldwide humanitarian work serving the most vulnerable as they coped with the grief and trauma in the aftermath of the unimaginable destruction of both natural disasters and human created war zones. To read the rest of the obituary, click HERE . Dr. Husain was co-author (with his son) of th

Franki Bagdade, author of the award-winning book, I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them , was recently inter viewed on "Think Business Live." Check it out HERE . For more posts about Franki and her book, click HERE . 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. 

  Excerpt from 10 Quick Homework Tips (Alder & Trombly) TIP # 1    HEAD OFF STRESS BY BEING PROACTIVE "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now." ~ Chinese Proverb   Why is this Important?   One of the biggest reasons, if not THE biggest reason, that kids and parents alike feel stress about homework is that their family simply has no concrete plan for how, when, and where homework will get done.  Kids may not act like it, but they need, and even like, having rules.  They feel better, safer, if they know exactly what is expected of them.  Think about your daily life, at work or at home.  Do you feel more confident, more calm, on days that you are unsure what your boss will want from you, when you don’t know what you are expected to do, or where you should do it and with what tools… or on days when you know exactly what is expected of you, where you know just what to do, where, when and how?  Most of us feel best when there is a routin

  Steven Greenebaum's newest book, An Afternoon's Dictation , was selected as the winner in the category of spiritual/religious books at the just-concluding London Book Fair. A list of all the winner can be found HERE . An Afternoon's Dictation also recently won a Firebird Book Award, and it has been in the top 100 on Amazon in ecumenism many times. Way to go! For more posts on Steven and his books, click HERE . 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. 

  "Shake up your summer with these quality reads," advises Melanie Moore in the Entertainment Post. Among the select group of books she recommends is An Afternoon's Dictation by Steven Greenebaum . Listing: At Fifty years old, the author could not make sense of his life or the world around him. For several months he angrily demanded answers from God, if God were there. One afternoon, an inner voice told him to get a pen and paper and write. Steven then took dictation – three pages, not of commandments but guidance for leading a meaningful life. The book’s sections include deep explorations into “The Call to Interfaith,” “The Call to Love One Another,” “The Call to Justice,” and “The Call to Community.” An Afternoon’s Dictation builds on what unites our diverse spiritual traditions, not what divides us. To read the article in the Entertainment Post, click  HERE . An Afternoon's Dictation Firebird Book Award Honorable Mention For more posts about Steven and his books,

  It is Tuesday. 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 addresses slow-selling books . Books that look like tortoises. They do not take off upon release. In some cases, you could say that they fail to launch. Generally, in my experience, tortoise books fall into two categories: late discoveries and slow crawlers. Late discoveries are books that sell few, if any books, at launch. Even some years later, they are not selling in any quantity. Authors are likely to move on at this point, defeated. If they persevere, however, sometimes little miracles happen over time.  Our bestselling book of all time, laid low, napping, for TEN years; then it was discovered by an Influencer and over