rocking horse « Robin Writes

Last Saturday, I spoke at a writers’ conference in Columbia, Missouri, on a publishing panel. There were about 20 writers in the audience, at all career stages, and they asked some good questions. The question I pose here is “should you attend writers’ conferences?”

Absolutely!

There are many great things about writers’ conferences: you get meet other writers, you get to pick up bits of wisdom and best practices and great ideas, and you get to socialize with others just like you. Plus, you make contacts that might be of help to your career, if not now, later.

You might even sell some books!

This can be a sticky point.

You could sell one or two. Or twenty—but that doesn’t happen often. However, if you have other material, like bookmarks or business cards, people can pick those up and might go online to buy your books. Just remember, people often buy your books because you’ve made a personal connection—so get out of your shell and TALK TO PEOPLE.

I know, that can be scary, but folks won’t flock around your table if you’re sitting there in silence . . .

On the subject of book buying, a real danger at conferences is coming home with a ton of books—I know, I know, you love books, the more the merrier, right? But if your intention is to sell books, and you buy as many as you sell, you’re not really making progress.

By all means, buy a book if you’re interested in that book. But not because someone bought YOUR book.

Money can be an issue when it comes to conferences, as well as travel expenses. This is something only you can decide, for yourself. Some conferences will cost around $40, some edging close to $200. Think about value for your money, such as how long the conference lasts, who is speaking, who’s attending, and distance.

And then decide how it affects your career.

Conferences aren’t going to hurt your writing career, and they can be very, very beneficial—just don’t become a conference junkie. You need to spend your time on the things that move your career forward, and that’s a business decision that only you can make for yourself.

I really did NOT think that finding the right piece of land would be this difficult!

There are three counties close to us, and obviously that’s going to increase the price—I understand that, and while I continue to check, we’re seriously looking a bit farther away. But not too far.

“The one that got away” still annoys me, even after a couple weeks. We hadn’t even seen it and it was under contract. I keeping hoping it will fall through . . .

Anyhow, last week we looked at two properties less than two hours away.

The first one was beautiful—and mostly flat! Believe me, that’s unusual around here. It was landlocked, but with a deeded easement, so no real worries there. Even had a nice, wide trail all the way to the back and electric right in the middle. No water, but still . . .

However.

To get to it, you go south on a state highway. Paved, all that, and then turn on to a gravel road. Good so far, right?

At the intersection of that gravel road is a junkyard. I think. Or a perpetual yard sale. Or, maybe, they’re getting ready to call a fleet of dump trucks and a bulldozer. One can hope.

But.

Down the gravel, passing that junkyard, were MORE places that looked darn near as bad. Since yards were covered with toys, swingsets, appliances, vehicles, etc., etc., some new, some used, I can only assume that theft is not an issue around here.

Sheesh.

So the property looked promising, from the road, but that easement I mentioned? Crossing that, we walked past a falling down building, another that appeared to have been scavenged, a pile of . . . something, and another, well, dump. Then we reached the property listed, and hey—bonus tires!

Well.

I think not.

To get to the next property, we drove down a nice gravel road and passed lots of trees—no dumps in sight! Then we turned and drove straight up—and up! We stopped at a home, also for sale with 20 acres, and walked over to the listed property.

Very nice. A lovely clearing in the middle, sporting a gigantic dead tree, two deer stands and a few game cameras, and well, not very level. Besides which, the price is steep (heh) and we’d have to build a road. Um, no thanks! Not up that hill!

Next weekend brings more possibilities to look at, but we’re kinda sorta seriously considering going back to that cave property. I want to take measurements and find the actually boundary markings, and maybe talk to the neighbors.

I’m not quite as excited about this place as my husband is, but hey—IT HAS A CAVE!