Ryan Field's Blog, page 451

Truth About Amazon Sales Ranks; Great Blogging; Dumbass Bloggers

Amazon Sales Ranks

This week I found a new literary agent publishing blog by Victoria Marini I think I like. It's too soon to tell at this point, but I'm going to follow the posts for a while before I form an opinion. I did enjoy this post: Amazon Bestseller Ranking System: The Myth and the Magnificent.

I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble, here. My goal here is not to de-wind your proverbial sales, but rather explain why a high Amazon bestseller ranking does not necessarily equate to mam...

An E-mail from "Freedom to Marry"

I wish I had more time to post comments with this, but it's a crazy day. Here's an e-mail I got this afternoon from "Freedom to Marry." If you are interested in marriage equality, it's an interesting organization to follow.

Ryan,

Huge. Happy. Historic. Last night brought us the wave of wins we'd worked for, with irrefutable momentum for more. Our campaign to win marriage nationwide is ascendant, and this year of transformation has put us in place for an even bigger year of victories in 2013.

In...

State by State: Gay Marriage/Equality Wins

While most people were more focused on the general presidential election last night, I was following what was happening with marriage equality because that's a social issue I think should be at the top of the list but is often placed at the bottom. I would feel the same way about any other equality issue, too.

When President Obama said in a recent MTV interview that he believes marriage should be left up to the states, I watched this election even closer because I'm at the poin...

Best Gay Beach in New Jersey; New Jersey Publisher Hits Big

Due to all the devastation in New Jersey this past week, I wanted to post two things a lot of people might not know about New Jersey...one, a private gay beach, and two, an independent NJ publisher that did very well with a book that was adapted into a highly respected TV series on HBO.

I live in Pennsylvania now, and I love where I live. But I'm only one mile from the NJ border, and I still have trouble thinking of myself as a resident of PA...for twenty years now. It...

Doing the "Right Thing" on Tuesday and Political Bullies

Tuesday is election day in the US. We are voting to either reelect our current President, or voting to elect a new President. We hold these general elections every four years. It's a very exciting time for most of us, and it can also be a very stressful time for some.

I don't post about politics or my political beliefs here on this blog. I'm not doing that now. I happen to be a rare dying breed: I respect everyone's opinons. So this is just a general post mainly for those are worried abou...

Lit Agent Marie Lamba Coming to Bucks County Romance Writers Group

Marie Lamba of the Jennifer DiChiara Literary Agency (I think in New York) is coming to the Bucks County Romance Writers Group this week. I found this in my local newspaper...the last one left around here in print...and figured I'd share with anyone in the Philadelphia area who might be interested in attending.

I actually think these things are good for readers as well as authors. I know I'm always interested in places where I can listen to people talk about books, publishing and ot...

Just Some More Devastation at the Jersey Shore; How Not to Promote Books

I'm told this photo was taken by someone who is working hard at relief and rescue at the New Jersey Shore this week in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

And this is just one of many I've received from people.

I'd also like to add this. One thing that's been particularly hard this entire week has been watching self-absorbed writers promote and market their books without even acknowledging what's been happening here in this part of the US. I'm thrilled you have your 16th five star Amazon r...

Gorgeous Chris Pine in "People Like Us"

After all that's been going on around here with clean up and the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, last night we got power back and watched a movie on demand just to escape from reality for a while. Of course we haven't been hit like people on the coastline and for that we're more than thankful. But there are still tons of people without power, it's still hard to get gas, and a lot of businesses are still closed and no one knows when they'll reopen. I just spent twenty minutes...

Why I'm Wild About Ravenous Romance...

The title of this post, Why I'm Wild About Ravenous Romance, isn't an accident. The odds are I would never write anything that dramatic (or painfully self-indulgent) in a blog post title unless I had a good reason. In this case it's about search engines. About four years ago a nasty low end blogger wrote a negative post with a similar title and I'd like something to show up that balances that post out. From my own POV, as someone who has been working with Ravenous for...

Why It's a Good Idea to Cancel the NYC Marathon

I'm a runner, so you'd think I'd be the first to complain about canceling the NYC Marathon.

But I'm not. I think it's a great idea to cancel it. People have been devastated this week. Lives have been ruined. It's hard to be happy about anything right now when people are still in a state of shock.

I remember something that happened locally during 911. On the day of the 911 terrorists attacks, the same horrible day planes flew into the WTC, we had a local event scheduled for that even...