Artists are confronted by many different ways of “publishing” their art nowadays. What are the positive and negatives of these new opportunities? Let’s take a look!
Nowadays you can self-publish a book of your images, pay to have your images inserted into print publications, and in a mind-boggling array of ways get your images “out there” in front of prospective buyers. Do any of those ways really work? Here’s one positive experience! Anne Marchand, a Washington, D.C.-based artist who paints big, bold abstractions (https://www.annemarchand.com), explained:
“As a painter I am always looking to expand markets into other parts of the country. The west coast has been of special interest to me. In the last decade, I had two galleries in California and Hawaii close due to the US market downturn. One way I’ve found to continue a presence in that geographical region has been to submit work for jury with a publisher in California.
“Since 2006, I have had paintings published in American Art Collector’s yearly book. At the beginning of last year, I received a call from collectors who saw my work in the publication. They were compelled to set up a studio visit to see more of my work. We selected work for their home and installed two paintings within the week. I mailed the couple a copy of the new book featuring my work and I use postcards printed in tandem with the book to reach out to other potential collectors.”
What’s your experience been like? Leave a comment or, better still, drop me a note at ericmaisel@hotmail.com and let me know about your experiences, positive or negative. Have you self-published a book of your artworks? Has that proved useful? Have you paid to insert work in print publications? How has that worked out? What other efforts have you made? Have any of them panned out? I’d love to hear from you and share your experiences with others!
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In case you’ve been thinking about becoming a creativity coach (a life coach for artists), please take a look at my upcoming class that teaches the fundamentals of coaching:
https://www.entheos.com/academy/courses/Fundamentals-of-Coaching
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