If you have ever considered selling your photographic work, you probably know that there is a lot that goes into trying to make a sale. The first thing you have to decide is: are you wanting to sell your work as a wholesale commodity such as you would to retail stores, or as stock images? This is where you make less per item, so you have to sell a lot of them. Or do you want to create works of art and sell very few, but you make much more per individual sale?
The goal of Marketing Fine Art Photography is to analyze these questions and put you on a firm foundation to make the right decisions about the sale of your art work. While the author does present an unbiased look both methods of selling, the goal for this book is really for selling based on quality and not quantity.
Marketing Fine Art Photography is 320 pages in length, contains 21 chapters and is divided into six parts. I will break it down by part.
Part 1, "Selling Fine Art Photography," begins by looking at taking control of your destiny. In this part you will systematically learn what it means to market your photographs. You will begin by defining what fine art photography means to you as far as styles and what kind of work you want to create.
Then you will get down to how you want to sell your work - wholesale, consignment, or retail. Here you will begin to understand the pluses and minuses of all three styles of sale and how they will influence how you set up your business. Finally you will look at the differences between quantity and quality of work and how it will affect your marketing strategies.
Part 2, "What to Sell and Where to Sell It," now pretty much assumes that you are going the quality route with your marketing approach, so you begin to look at what you will be selling. Obviously matted prints are one item, but there are many other things that can be packaged and sold. Here the author steps through these things and gives the pros and cons of each one.
Next you will look at where you can sell your fine art work and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each kind of market. You will also see how to price your work. This takes a lot into consideration, including what you feel comfortable charging, how much it costs to create the product, and how much you plan on making from your business. This part finishes up by looking at what it means to have a best seller and two different methods to creating them.
Article comments
1 - Fine Art Photography
I have to agree that this is a fantastic book. Reading it gave me the confidence to start selling my black and white fine art photography. This year (2011) I have had my first exhibition for nearly ten years, and sold about 8 pieces of work. This gave me the confidence to create my website and I have just sold my first piece of work via the site. Can't recommend this book enough.
2 - Michael
This is such a great book. I highly recommend it. Props to the above comment for the accomplishment of selling first prints! And getting a gallery going. Buy this book if you need to learn what it takes to sell your photographs.