Over the years at art shows, many people have approached me with questions about how to get started selling their creations. Frequently asked questions are: How do you find out about where and when the shows are?, How do you get into the shows?, Why are some people admitted and others not?, Where did you get your canopy, print racks and tables?, Can I make a good living doing this?, and so on. I will try to answer these and other questions in this book.
Since my best results for selling my art is at art shows, I will tell you how to do that. I will also cover other ideas for making money with your art or craft. How to sell is relatively simple. It involves getting into shows, then getting a canopy, table, cloths, charge machines, etc. I will tell you some of my best ideas. I won’t tell you all the options available, but simply what has worked best for me and other artists I’ve talked to on the circuit, and you can take it from there. One of the first things you must become accustomed to doing is being your own sleuth. Thankfully there is this amazing thing called the internet.
There’s a lot of information in this book…all relative to what you want to do. Read it in bits and parts or from the beginning to end. Feel free to make notes and jot down anything that you want to remember. In the back of the book there is a section for notes and addresses. Feel free to use this section as a place to keep a list of promoters in your area. I live in California, so there is an abundance of shows every single weekend. Most of them are outdoor shows, however if you do your research, you’ll find indoor shows during the rainy season, so you can work all year round. For those of you who live in a different state, shows may or may not be as readily available…but you can travel. I will be speaking primarily about shows in California. If you live in a different state, different laws and permits may apply to do shows, but the essential information is universal. Your county clerk or local chamber of commerce should be able to tell you anything you need to know.
I’m not a writer or a novelist, I’m an artist and crafter. Therefore, this book is not meant to be a scholarly work of literary art; In fact, I would go as far to say that you should not even think of this as a “book”, you should consider it a guide. When I do workshops, I generally have many informational hand-outs for my class participants. This book is a compilation of those hand-outs. It is meant to be a kind of tool-kit. I use a topical format because it’s easier to approach each subject. I’m sorry, there is not a typical table of contents and no chapters. It’s just a lot of good information for people who want to make money on the fair and festival circuit. I have done it…and you can too. I would go further to say that any true salesperson worth their salt would do well to give this a try. There is no better experience than dealing with hundreds or thousands of people from all walks of life and explaining your product. You get firsthand, up close and personal experience in maneuvering through Q&A and all manner of comments. It’s not for the faint of heart. But the experience is priceless. The book is available on Amazon in paperback and on kindle. Order it!
Take a deep breath, get ready, get set, now GO! Good Luck and use the information well.
“If you want something you’ve never had,
You must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”
― Thomas Jefferson