People are People

Last night I attended a crafting circle, and I discovered that writers and artists share some very similar challenges. The whole "selling crafts" world is new to me, so I mostly keep my ears open when I'm around the artists and try to absorb their collective expertise.

But here's what struck me last night: Selling art is every bit as challenging as selling books, and the same sorts of characters inhabit the art world as the writing world.

1. Every artist's product is unique, just like every writer's book is unique. It's not like selling Mary Kay or Tupperware, where years of experience and research have led to THE ONE WAY to sell the product. Every artist's path is different and what works for one artist might not work for another. This is also true of writers. I may love a certain agent or publisher, but my friend may have a miserable experience with these same people.

2. When artists get together, they all complain about how they can't make enough money, and brainstorm ways to attract more buyers. They brainstorm promotional ideas, they do link exchanges, they do paper giveaways (much like the bookmarks writers are so fond of giving away). They use the same cheap printers that writers do!

3. The art world is peopled with some standard characters--the ones who suffer for their art and never expect to make any money because that's crass; the ones who do it as a sideline but dream of someday making enough money that they can quit their day job and stay home all day doing art; the professionals, who actually do make a living as artists. These are rare, probably even more rare than self-supporting writers.

4. They complain about bad advertising. Whereas writers often are appalled by the grammar or spelling in an ad, the artists complain about the typography. ("He used Comic Sans for the whole ad, can you believe it?")

5. Artists are supportive and nurturing. As the newbie in this group, I feel completely welcomed. Everyone is free with their advice and resources. I've always found romance writers to be the same way.

6. And finally, artists like to eat and drink when they get together. Yes, we all want to work on a project as we network, but first things first--the gumbo and cheap wine! (That's what our host served last night.) With writers it seems to be chocolate and fancy martinis, but I imagine there's some cross-over.

I guess people are people, whatever their avocation. (Although I don't imagine gatherings of doctors, lawyers or engineers would bear much resemblance to gatherings of writers or artists. For one thing, doctors dress better.)

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Writing news: I recently received the cover for my June book, which, if I did everything right, is posted here. I love the bright colors!

Thanks for spending this time with me,
Kara