#allworthpress

Comprehensive “how-to” guide to being a professional and profitable working artist now available for purchase.

While all art is unique, the challenges artists face are shared regardless of background, experience, and artistic medium. With decades of experience training and helping artists worldwide, the expert staff of The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA)—in conjunction with outside professionals—have compiled a best practices approach to planning and organizing an arts career.

In The Profitable Artist: A Handbook for All Artists in the Performing, Literary, and Visual Arts (Allworth Press, 2018), NYFA has identified common challenges; examined specialized areas of strategic planning, finance, marketing, law, and fundraising; and distilled these topics in such a way that readers can digest them and apply them to their own experience and practice. This newly-revised edition has made considerable updates to reflect changes in the legal and financial landscapes, the vast shift in the tools and culture of both social media and fundraising, and proven planning methodologies from the startup community. 

The invaluable guide, which is edited by Peter Cobb, Felicity Hogan, and Michael Royce, appeals to artists in all disciplines of the literary, media, performing, and visual arts—from recent art school graduates to established artists undertaking new arts businesses, to artists seeking more from their careers at any stage.

Retail Price: $24.95 NYFA’s Price: $20.00 (plus shipping)

Click here to purchase. For more information and international shipping costs, please contact [email protected]. If you encounter technical difficulties when purchasing the book, please contact [email protected].

The Book Includes:

●    Techniques for planning your career ●     Innovative fundraising tips ●     Best practices for marketing and selling your work to new audiences ●     Networking strategies for a digital world ●     Budgeting and financial basics made clear ●     Legal requirements and terminology in plain English

Online Learning Initiative

In conjunction with the second edition of The Profitable Artist, NYFA has launched a new Online Learning initiative that provides professional development workshops for artists, arts administrators, and arts professionals nationally and internationally through a webinar platform. Starting September 25, the online workshops will cover topics including strategic planning, finance, law, marketing, and fundraising. More details and how to register here.

Praise for The Profitable Artist

"Drawing from the expertise of legal, financial, and marketing advisors, The Profitable Artist provides an indispensable, user-friendly guide to developing a successful artistic practice. Comparing tactics to those used by successful start-ups, this thorough guide provides valuable guidelines from a range of consultants to contextualize those factors that can make or break creative businesses. The NYFA Artist as Entrepreneur Boot Camp has been a huge positive resource for our students at RISD, as they develop their freelance practices and set up studios and businesses. The same methods employed there form the basis of this book, now broadly available to emerging practitioners. The book is easy to navigate—readers can dip in and out of topics on an ‘as need’ basis on subjects such as protecting intellectual property, developing new audiences for projects and events, planning for retirement, pricing work, optimizing digital tools, fundraising, and many other detailed aspects of building a career. This valuable reference provides artists with essential tools to develop a successful and sustainable practice. – Rosanne Somerson, President, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)

"The Profitable Artist is a goldmine for citizen artists of today who are looking to weave their art into the fabric of our society. The importance of recognizing one’s role and responsibility as an artist is more important today than ever before. It is about defining the purpose and relevance of one’s creative enterprise, and this resource offers meaningful insight in this space." – Aaron P. Dworkin, Professor of Arts Leadership and Entrepreneurship, University of Michigan, and Afa S. Dworkin, President and Artistic Director, Sphinx Organization

"Back by popular demand is the second edition of The Profitable Artist. Its debut is as timely as the first edition. Much of the useful information in The Profitable Artist dovetails with recommendations contained in CreateNYC that support individual artists. It continues to be an invaluable resource of information and pathways to success and independence for artists everywhere!” – Ben Rodriguez-Cubenas, Program Director, Charles E. Culpepper Arts & Culture Programs, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and Chair, Citizens’ Advisory Committee for CreateNYC

This book is part of NYFA Learning, which includes professional development for artists and arts administrators. Sign up for NYFA’s free bi-weekly newsletter to receive updates on future programs.