This is a repost from October, 2008. Its relevancy proves the paradox no matter how much things change, they stay the same.
Free Email Consultation Offer
I offer consulting via email and in one-on-one sessions. Today, I'm offering the first ten readers who send me their selling art prints question a free email consultation.
Send your questions, I will reply. The answer and reply may become a future blog post. You will have the chance to remain anonymous in the process, if you choose.
Here is my post from October, 2008:
A Reader's Question Answered: How to Sell Art Prints
Occasionally, I get questions from readers that are good sources for blog posts. That is, they are general enough in context to help most who read this blog regularly.
If you have specific questions, I also offer consulting in the form of hour sessions by phone or via email. In either of these consulting cases, I urge you to first read my book because it may have the exact answer you need, or it will avoid you spending time in consulting on what you could have easily and more affordably learned by reading it first.
Should we proceed from that point, by having read my book on selling art prints, you'll be better informed to ask better questions and get more from the experience.
Download Chapter One Free
For those of you who have not read How Profit from the Art Print Market, my book on how to sell art prints, you can download a free copy of Chapter One. Click Here to Get Your Free Copy
Here is a great question posed to me via email:
My name is Kasie Sallee and I'm a young artist and mother. In the past year I've been focusing very seriously on my art with the hopes of building a career. I recently bought and read your book "How to Profit from the Art Print Market" and I truly want to thank you for writing it.
The book is a treasure trove of information that I will be referring to over and over again. In the past year I've begun a series of work, promoted my art through a blog, and very recently have set up a website.
I have a question about the best path forward and was wondering if you had some advice.
My ultimate goal for the future is to license my work or to work with a publisher. My question is: If this is my ultimate intention, will selling prints on my own, say through a site like Etsy, cause publishing companies to not want my work?
I guess what I'm trying to say is will publishing companies want to work with images that I have already printed and sold? Thank you so much for your time. I'm a long-time reader of your blog and I sincerely respect your advice.
Here is my reply
Dear Kasie:
Thanks for your kind words and question. You are on the right path in setting up a Web site and accompanying blog. They are both integral components of a solid marketing plan for an emerging artist.
A Website and Blog Form a Solid Marketing Foundation
Both are works in progress and investments in your future. That is, neither are likely to immediately begin to return a substantial income right away. However, if both are properly maintained they will be invaluable components of your marketing efforts for years to come.
Licensing Your Art Prints Is Potentially Lucrative
Your goal of licensing with a publisher is a good one. If you are thinking posters or open edition prints, you have to realize the income from such a situation is likely going to be minimal, especially at first.
If you are thinking about giclees, your income could be more substantial as price points are far greater. As a way to broaden their lines, many poster publishers are now also offering POD print-on-demand reproductions. These are usually open edition and lower priced than limited edition publishers.
The Art Print Market Remains Challenging for Poster Publishers
Overall, it is a most challenging time for poster publishers with no real relief in sight. I think it will take more than time to revive the market. [Ed. note: Now in 2012, poster publishers are showing positive signs of growth.] Many poster publishers are also active in the third party licensing arena as represented by such tradeshows as Surtex and The Licensing Show.
Surtex is where one would primarily find find companies seeking images for stationery, wallpaper, linens and so on. The Licensing Show tends to run to the animated and action figure images and less to fine art, but both can be important as sources of tertiary passive income for artists. The royalties are small and it can take a few years to make it worthwhile, but for artists with the right look, it can turn lucrative over time.
Finding the Right Art Print Publisher Takes Research and Patience
To be successful in getting a contract from publishers, you need to determine where your prints fit into the market, then determine which publishers are the best fit and most likely candidates for you to contact. It takes researching time, but it is just part of what you need to do to pursue appropriate publishing opportunities.
Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, said, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there."
Regardless of the outcome, the education will serve you well throughout your career. You have to make an informed conscious decision about what you want from your career and use it as a North Star to guide your underlying decisions. To answer your questions about being on Etsy, Fine Art America, or other online sites that can sell your work, I will say no, in general, it does not affect your ability to land a publishing deal.
Online Art Sales Success Can Help You Land an Art Print Publishing Deal
If anything, if you have some demonstrable success with online art sales, you will give most publishers more confidence they can move your images to their customers. That said, publishers are not going to accept you competing directly with them for the same images, if at all.
There are some high-end publishers you would expect to look down their noses at artists doing business on Etsy, but if your research is effective, you would have ruled them out as unlikely candidates to approach anyway. Some publishers will want an exclusive on the images they want to run. Others may want more exclusivity.
Learning Negotiation Skills Will Help Every Aspect of Your Art Career
You have to be aware of the quid pro quo to make a good deal for yourself. This means making negotiations with publishers. I recommend you read at least one book on negotiating, such as Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
A couple of caveats here. If you paint slowly, it could be a problem for you if you have to create a new line for a publisher who in most cases will expect to be fed a steady stream of images. The other is if in your researching, you find the publishers most desirable to you frown upon seeing your work online, you may need to reassess your online strategies and marketing efforts.
The best situation for artists working with publishers would be the publishers immediately finding a bevy of repeat buyers for your line. The more likely scenario is you have to grow into your role with a publisher learning along the way what its needs are and what its buyers needs are.
Art Print Publishers Have Different Needs and Demands
Conversely, a good publisher will seek to understand how to best work with you. I would hope you get a publisher that will allow you to publish your own work. In some cases, artists use a Nom de Brusse (alias) to avoid having a conflict with their publisher. There is no hard fast rule regarding any of these situations.
You must keep in mind you need to do what is best for you. You have to know whatever you are going to invest your time, talent and energy into that you stand a decent chance of getting a reasonable return for your investment. With that in mind, do what you can to further your career, to sell more work regardless of the source. In the end, it's up to you to make it work.
Having a great publisher to help you get started is wonderful advantage and great learning experience. As with many, if not most, things in life it is not where you start, it is where you end up. That is, did you fulfill your dreams and talent potential? Making the right choices for yourself is a key to your future success and your own self-satisfaction. You see examples of this all the time.
Creating Work that Sells and Current is Crucial
The music industry is easier to relate with this concept because much of what happens is on a national or international scale. Think about song choices and how that affects an artist. No matter how talented, ultimate success requires making good choices for content, style and ability. It's the same with visual artists even if it is harder to judge how things are going for visual artists.
Visual artists don't have the equivalent of Billboard Top 100 list to let them know who is moving up the charts, and who is just treading water. Nevertheless, if you consistently find some artists tapping the zeitgeist who are getting great results with a steady stream of print sales over the years, you can be certain they have not only an eye for art, but an instinct for what their buyers will want to own and display in their homes and businesses.
I hope these thoughts help others, as well as you Kasie, gain a better understanding of how to sell art prints!
All the best to you,
Cheers,
Barney
Some very good tips.
Posted by: Lee | October 18, 2012 at 05:39 AM