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What is a meditation retreat like anyway?

By Rachel Gold

 A friend asked me about the meditation retreat I just atteneed and I thought that was probably a good topic for a blog. I’d been trying to learn to meditate since I was 15 (and failing!). In 2004 I attended the first Meditating with the Body program with Reggie Ray and actually started to learn to meditate in a way that works for me. It’s different for everyone, but for me having a 6-month program with a meditation instructor to ask questions and weekly assignments, plus a focus on the body (including physically how to sit), really worked. But enough backstory, what actually happens at a meditation retreat? Well, we sit. And then we walk, really slowly, and then we sit again. Sometimes we lie down. The first five-and-a-half days of the program were held in silence. This means there was no talking except when Reggie was teaching and then it was mainly him talking, unless someone got up to ask a question. The silence included evenings and I didn’t even open my computer most evenings. If you had to communicate something, you wrote a note or did your best with pantomime for items like, “Would you pass me a napkin?” Oh and there was functional talking during ROTA (which is a volunteer work

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April 1, 2013
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The Periodic Table Of SEO Ranking Factors

By Rachel Gold

Search engine optimization — SEO — may seem like alchemy to the uninitiated. But there is a science to it. Search engines reward pages with the right combination of ranking factors, or “signals.” SEO is about ensuring your content generates the right type of signals. Our chart below summarizes the major factors to focus on for search engine ranking success. The Search Engine Land Guide To SEO explains factors in more depth, with tips and a tutorial on implementing them. Read on! via searchengineland.com This is one of the absolutely most helpful guides I've seen about SEO. Not only does it remind me of what I need to pay attention to, but it's also a handy way to explain to clients the complexity of SEO. I encourage you to click the title above and visit the Search Engine Land website where you can download your own copy. 

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January 2, 2012
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Survey Shows Publishing Expanded Since 2008 – NYTimes.com

By Rachel Gold

BookStats, a comprehensive survey conducted by two major trade groups that was released early Tuesday, revealed that in 2010 publishers generated net revenue of $27.9 billion, a 5.6 percent increase over 2008. Publishers sold 2.57 billion books in all formats in 2010, a 4.1 percent increase since 2008. via www.nytimes.com YA fiction is up 6.6% and adult fiction up 8.8%. I like those numbers! And that's post-Harry Potter. Speaking of which, seeing The Deathly Hallows parts 1 & 2 recently really demonstrated to me that ways in which novels can go so deeply into characters, moments and story arcs in a way you just can't get in a movie.

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August 12, 2011
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Reader Buying Habits

By Rachel Gold

I'm in the process of merging my Novel Marketing Strategies blog into this one now that I've had an epiphany about how to marketing novels. (Yes, soon I'll post a longer article about that epiphany.) Here I'm bringing in some of my favorite reader data from that other blog: From a 47-page report of stats from Bowker Pubtrack, assembled by Sisters in Crime. (The report focuses on mystery novels, which may be why some of the numberd reasons above are missing for SFF.)  What influences book sales: Fantasy Part of a series: #1 reason Know/Like this author: #2 In-Store Display/On Shelf/Spinning Rack: #3 Friend/Relative Recommended: #4 Online – Book Review: #5 Online – Author’s Website: #6 Online – Retailer Recommended: #7 Book Club: #8 Best Seller List: #12 Book Review (Not Online): #25 What influences book sales: Science Fiction Know/Like this author: #1 reason Part of a series: #2 In-Store Display/On Shelf/Spinning Rack: #3 Book Club: #4 Friend/Relative Recommended: #5 Online – Author’s Website: #6 Online – Book Review: #7 Online – Retailer Recommended: #8 Best Seller List: #11 Book Review (Not Online): #15 In a study by Verso Advertising about book-buying behavior in 2010 (full study online at: www.versoadvertising.com/beasurvey/), the primary factors in a book purchase decision were: Author reputation 52% Personal recommendation 49% Price 45% Book review 37% Cover artwork/blurbs 22% Advertising (including online) 14%  

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June 1, 2011
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A Writer’s Time – Ken Atchity

By Rachel Gold

I've read many books about how to write and this remains one of my favorites. He covers not only time management tactics, but also creativity management, which is crucial. I recently found this page of notes that I wrote to myself as a quick review of my favorite points of the book. I'm presenting it here to give you an idea of the scope, but to really dig into his strategies for managing yourself as a write, I recommend you read the whole book. (He has a good style, you'll enjoy it!) A Writer's Time: Making the Time to Write Also I didn't make it all the way through the book with my transcription of my notes, so there's a lot more content that's not covered here: "During the next year or the next few years, plan to lay the foundation for your writing career. Immerse yourself in the planning process and build the foundation, and take your satisfaction from the doing of it, not from the having done it. The poet, e.e. cummings reminds us, cares not for things made but only for the making. Your career, you'll discover, will take the shape of your foundation." (p. xv) Ray Bradbury says: "Start writing more, it'll get rid of all those moods you're having." (p.1) "Writing is a craft.

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January 23, 2010