As an independent writer, I've read a myriad of freelance books geared toward writing. I've also read many guides for the photography business. However, this is the first book I've delved into to learn the traditional art market--the modern one.

Lisa Congdon covered all the basics: the pep talk to assure the reader that they are an artist, how to set up their business, promotions, selling, exhibitions and galleries, illustrations and licensing, and managing work flow. Perhaps most importantly, every chapter includes one or two interviews with artists from various specialties, gallery owners, and agents.

I never felt like I was reading a heavy book. The layout follows visual-friendly rules like extra white space, relevant but non-technical illustrations, and changes in fonts and colors. The combinations kept my focus and made the book's place flow freely despite being text dominant, whereas many books on freelance writing and photography can be heavily detailed without a layout that allows for quick referencing.

Ultimately, it seems that creative businesses are best conducted intelligently and intuitively--don't over think. Stick to your personal brand (your personality and preferred style), be active on social media and your blog (a popular means of gallery recruitment and regular sales), price fairly, and do what you do best. ( )

nonfiction (2018). If you're serious about learning the business side of being a successful artist, this is worth checking out. It might not include everything you want to know, but it'll give you a good sense of the steps you might need to take, and which things you'll want to learn more about. Includes brief interviews with people representing various roles in the art industry. ( )

Really useful, interesting, well done. I need to buy this book to use as a reference. ( )

Art Inc. is part of a series of books for visual artists, crafters and bloggers on establishing their creative careers, and each has a very similar format. The books are written by working professionals in the field that they are writing about; each chapter examines a specific aspect of the occupation, such as marketing and self-promotion; and they include interviews from people working in the sector who represent different aspects or a career options in that field. In this book, the author explains the career management process for visual artists, starting with creating a more business-like, or self-sustaining, mindset for an artist’s career, to exploring the different income possibilities, such as selling in galleries or working in illustrating or licensing your work.

This is not the book if you want advice on how to select pieces for your portfolio, or if you want specific advice on breaking into the business side of the arts, such as gallery ownership or becoming an agent. You also aren’t going to learn what educational program to complete, or if you need one, to become a visual artist. Congdon does a good job of breaking down myths about what it means to be a working artist: she argues that the work of the artist is not only to create objects, but also to raise enough money that the artist can fully support their work--supplies, travel, fees to enter shows and competitions--without taking a second job, unrelated to the arts, to pay for their artistic career. She establishes early on in the book that “Much of what separates successful artists from those who struggle is simply their mindset” (p.15), and that she wants to encourage artists to work at their art as a full-time career that includes steady income derived from their art..She also introduces many different ideas for creating a variety of income streams, such as licensing, and also tackles the idea of self-promotion, arguing that every working artist will have to promote their work. She also devotes a chapter to dealing with ups and downs in income and making suggestions for replenishing the creative well while still working in the arts.

Like other books in this series, each of the chapters includes interviews with a variety of visual artists, agents and gallery owners, providing anecdotal career advice and suggestions. These interviews are more stepping off points to give you ideas about career options to pursue, as well as advice on how to work with other professionals, such as agents. There are other books and resources, as well as experiential opportunities, that an aspiring artist can read or pursue to get more in depth information about the options she introduces. Overall, Art Inc. is a good book for beginning career management in the visual arts, with ideas that the reader can use to look for more information about the aspects of their career that they want or need to develop on their way to becoming a working artist.

I am a third of the way through and it is probably the best book on helping you get started in bringing your creations to the world.....that I have read thus far.
I will add comment after I finish but you know that feeling when you not only absorb an authors words but the layout, the colors, even the shapes make you feel like the author is speaking ONLY to you?
That is what I am feeling.
More soon. ( )