Luann Udell

The author has some sound advice, but some of it is head-smacking. First, the good stuff that I found useful (although I am not a 2D artist): How to consistently price 2D work; options for pricing work with or without frames; do NOT have a sale rack or "bargain bin" during your open studio; let there be a little (creative) mess in your studio; have a sales assistant present if you plan to do demos; prepare a slide show of your proecess on a laptop if you can't/don't demo. And for our very first mailing list, she offers some great suggestions for who to add. (With their permission, of course.) My gripes: Absolutely no information on how to greet and engage visitors, especially when SO MANY ARTISTS do it wrong. She advocates negotiating our prices for people who ask for a discount. (First, there are many reasons why we shouldn't automatically give a discount, especially for someone who's never bought anything from us. If it's from a customer who's already purchased a lot of our work, there are ways to reward their patronage without necessarily discounting our work.) She only accepts cash and checks for her work, no credit cards. She complains about the percentage a credit card processor will take from our sales, Helloooo? Galleries take 40%-50% percent, does that mean we shouldn't sell our work through galleries?? Also ignoring the fact that most people use credit cards these days over cash and checks.. She doesn't say anything about the power of a good artist statement. Much of her advice doesn't have anything to do with art that isn't 2D. Example: The one photo of a box maker's display is one of the worst I've ever seen. So, I give it 3 stars, for the good half of the book's advice.