The Business of Books

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Comment by Julie Russell-Steuart on September 17, 2009 at 4:34am

Hi everybody! I'm looking for input on the business side of being an artist. I have more time now to devote to making books and promoting them. One of the things I am looking for is sample contracts for consignment of artist's books. I have not used my own contract before, and they can be wildly different, depending on whther the artist or the store/gallery originates them. What kinds of protections do you, as an artist/seller, consider a must in your contracts?

Comment by Robert Heather on June 5, 2009 at 11:46am

'T-Shirts and Suits: A Guide to the Business of Creativity' by David Parrish is "a practical handbook for creative entrepreneurs to refer to and find information, examples from other businesses, and practical tips about using powerful business ideas in a creative context. The book condenses over twenty years' experience of working in the creative enterprises, combined with learning from clients and from business school."

check it out here....

Comment by ComfortableShoes on May 26, 2009 at 4:05am

I'm a big fan of etsy. I sell my hand made notebooks on there, not artist's books but notebooks and journals. The thing with etsy is that you have to self promote. There is little to no advertisement done by the site itself.

but on the pro side of things it is incredibly easy to use, set up and sell through. YOu set a fixed price and shipping and people buy. easy. I do pretty well with it, and when I was making my more expensive journals I did sell quite a few of them through etsy.

I'd recommend it if your willing to do the grunt work of pushing sales.

Comment by Robert Heather on December 16, 2008 at 9:55am

There has been a big discussion on the Book Arts List about the possibilities of selling books on Etsy - You can find the beginning of it in the archive here.

It may have a couple of different threads but you can follow them in the archive.

Comment by Robert Heather on November 12, 2008 at 6:53pm

Creative Business Toolbox

The Creative Business Toolbox is a joint initiative of Arts Queensland and the Department of Tourism, Regional Development and Industry.

It is designed to provide you with information and resources to develop, manage and grow your creative business - no matter what stage you are at.

If you're dreaming of having your own creative business, ready to get started, or looking to expand your business, the Creative Business Toolbox is a great information resource, ready to take you to the next stage. It covers five main content areas including planning, financing, marketing, protecting and exporting. It also features video case studies of artists and business owners from a variety of creative industries and links to a range of external contacts and organisations.

This online resource is available here.

Comment by Sara Bowen on September 11, 2008 at 10:50am

Hello Jan, good idea! I have some initial questions that intrigue me, anyway: do members of this community have websites from which they sell their work, and if so, do they consider their websites a crucial part of getting their work 'out there' for collectors and potential customers to see? And what about other web-based opportunities like Etsy? Do they work for artists? I'd love to know... Sara

Comment by Jan Allsopp on September 11, 2008 at 10:32am

I started this group as a result of comments on my recent blog post . I'm looking forward to my business world view becoming a little more healthy. Please start a discussion (blue link above) on anything to do with the business aspect of your art practice.
Cheers,
Jan