Business of Art Book Reviews: Marketing and Promotion

ART/WORK: Everything You Need to Know (and Do) As You Pursue Your Art Career
Heather Darcy Bhandari and Jonathan Melber
Liz Roth: Great, all around guide to getting started with your marketing materials. Emphasis on NYC gallery scene and East Coast. Good legal section.



Self-Promotion for the Creative Person Get the word out about who you are and what you do
Lee Silber
Sue Clancy: for artists needing to do self-promotion on tight budget, press kits, portfolios, postcards, media, and business phone calls


Art Marketing 101
Constanace Smith
Liz Roth: I find this book irritating. I feel like the information had to be organized around the size of the pages, and therefore parts are too short and others too long.
Julia Kirt: Fine, but Stanfield’s self-promotion and Crawford’s legal guide much more usable and motivating



I’d rather be in the studio: The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self Promotion
Alyson Stanfield
Julia Kirt: Kick in the pants for artists looking to ramp up; especially helpful about communication, marketing, web presence, and being proactive
Liz Roth: Highly positive book, which makes promotion seem do-able and straightforward. The best chapter on thinking about and writing an artist statement I have ever seen.

The volume of books about art businesses is pretty overwhelming with many titles and concentrations. I have read close more than a dozen business books targeting artists and sometimes get confused which is which, not to mention which ones to recommend for whom. This is part of a series of feature brief reviews and recommendations of business of art books by several knowledgeable artists. I hope the reviews will help artists know which books are most useful for which topics and career stages.


Feel free to add your own reviews and/or book ideas!