rocking horse publishing « Robin Writes

Here’s our general plan for the layout of our new place (note the two arrows—switch the supplies and storage sheds; I haven’t had enough coffee yet to aim for perfection):

It might be a little hard to read, since I’ve made a few changes—work in progress, you know—and we’ve gotten new and exciting information!

We’ve been having some issues with the house itself, particularly the size. It seemed to be, um, growing.

So I took a different tack. I wrote down the size of each room by the minimum needed. For example, our current bathroom (yes, we have only one) measures 5 x 10. That’s just 50 square feet (I can actually do SOME math!), so the only thing to add was room for the washer and dryer; our current utility closet is 4 x 7, or 28 square feet. Ergo, the new bathroom/laundry could easily be just 100 sq. ft., not 120.

I did this with the bedroom and office too—how much space do we really “need” in order to fit in the furniture we want to keep? Besides that, we’re thinking of heating and cooling costs as well as one of the reasons for the move: being outdoors.

And that means we’ll spend a lot of time on the deck and porch and garden and in the woods. So who needs a bigger house? Not us.

In the end, we had 640 square feet.

And THEN!

We found a local place that will deliver AND BUILD a 640 square foot house (on our concrete pad/subfloor) for just under $8000!

So our tent option/idea has changed—we’ll save at least $500 there—and the plan is to get that shell up in the spring/early summer. 2015. Then we’ll finish it out over the next year, or less.

Cool, huh?

I may have scared a few people this weekend. In fact, I’m sure I did—especially those whom I “borrowed” during my presentation. But I’m equally sure they’ll recover . . .

Well, mostly. Probably.

See, I gave a talk on “submitting, marketing, and distribution” and what YOU, the writer, must do to increase your sales and your odds of success.

What are these things?

Be visible.

Promote yourself and your book.

Make yourself an expert.

Make contacts.

Follow up.

Schedule events.

Form relationships.

I talked about the dos and don’ts. See, if you walk into a store to buy a TV, and the salesman runs up to you, gets in your face, and shrieks over and over, “BUY THIS ONE! THIS ONE! BUY IT NOW!” you’re going to think it’s time to call for back up.

But if he starts the conversation with introducing himself, making non-threatening comments about the weather or something equally inane—but socially acceptable—and gets to know you (however superficially in such a short time), he can recommend the best TV for YOU. Even if it’s not the one that nets him the highest commission.

And so you get what you need or want, are happy with the choice, and you’ll probably remember him fondly—maybe even tell your friends about his other products.

See how that works?

My marketing book, only on Kindle, will be revamped and expanded in the very near future—be sure to keep an eye out for it—and it covers all these things I listed above, and more.