Art Money & Success: A complete and easy-to-follow system for the artist who wasn't born with a business mind.

I was was originally interested in this book because of the high reviews, but was disappointed that there was no solid advice for getting customers from just starting out. The other thing I was disappointed in was that this is from the standpoint of a marketer, not the artist - another disappointment. Its great that she can market all her husbands stuff while her husband just does art all day but for an artist working full time, trying to market their own stuff and get pieces to sell? This book isn't very helpful. She does have some good advice for artists already selling their work hence the three star.

I’m a professional airbrush artist. I’ve always approached my art commercially and having a marketing management background I’m not a newbie to business. However, I’ve always found that marketing and selling art provides unique challenges. My airbrush business really picked up since last year, but now I’m looking to reach a new level. I’ve read Maria’s blog in the past. This book was released at exactly the perfect time for me. It expands on a lot of topics she has written about in her blog, but it’s all in one book and organized in a logical order and there’s a lot more info and background. I love the worksheets at the end of chapters. Some of her advice I was already practicing before I read the book, but I also picked up a lot of great ideas from her book. A big one for me were her chapters on pricing and of course art licensing. What I really like about her book though, is that it’s full of great advice, without the condescending tone of some other art business books I’ve read. I highly recommend this book.

I certainly wasn't born with a business mind, much artistic talent or any inclination to surf. So this most Californian of how-to books that focusses on how the author went about selling her surf-loving husband's art should have rubbed me – a cynical Old World Brit who merely dabbles in water colours when he's had too much to drink – up the wrong way. And yet, despite the odd mix of woo-woo spiritualism and crass Yankee commercialism (you have to emanate true love for other people before you can close the deal) I found myself, dare I say it, agreeing with her. After reading this personal guide to negotiating the choppy waters of making a living through creating art I was inspired. OK, I don't have the talent (yet) to make a living from my art, but I do have the tenacity. Put a cork in the wine bottle, and get to work. Business and art don't have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, as you realise the further you get though the book, good art and good business go hand in hand. The bottom line? If you have any desire to make a living from your art, I recommend you read this practical, inspirational book.

This book is a gold mine for anyone in a creative field, but definitely incredibly helpful for illustration artists like me. I've been freelancing since 2010 doing illustration and graphic design, but I was barely making it. I had no business training whatsoever, but this book was a perfect resource to teach me the ins and outs of the art business and it helped me immensely. Just following Maria's advice to get focused on what I really want to do was super helpful. I realized I didn't enjoy doing graphic design or taking on commissions that didn't mesh with my core values as an artist just to earn a paycheck. Now I only focus on making fantasy illustration and portraits. I'm doing what I love, so the work I'm producing is so much better and people are taking notice. I've implemented so many of the strategies Maria laid out, and I'm finally seeing the success I've yearned for all these years. Suddenly doors are opening and there's more opportunities than I could have ever imagined. I can't thank Maria enough for writing such a heartfelt, insightful book to really help artists achieve their goals and make money doing what they love. A+++++ and a must have for all artists out there!

I buy art and business books frequently. While many have very good and practical information, some, like this one, are treasure troves of inside perspective. Few things are as frustrating as reading advice from someone who has not actually accomplished what they are writing about. I've wasted plenty of money listening to "experts" who are really only interested in marketing their marketing materials. It's refreshing to read a book like this detailing specific plans of action and offering practical exercises to help clarify your path.It's a very substantial review of the tried and true methods of both traditional and guerrilla marketing as well as an honest appraisal of what it takes to succeed. I like that the author suggests that every artist must forge their own artistic and marketing path and style. Additionally, she does a great job using her own challenges to illustrate the roadblocks and solutions that she and her husband discovered along the way.I'll be re-reading this guide a few more times. I'm sure there are gems I'm missing.

I have my bachelors degree in Fine Art from a prestigious art school in the United States that I will not name. All through college I remember students asking the professors “How can we make money from our art?” The professors would laugh at us and replied “If you are trying to make money from your art, you should probably seek another profession.” There were never any classes that taught us anything practical about selling art, finding clients, online sales, how to network etc. The only thing they “taught” us was a minimal class on how to try and get into galleries. I graduated 10 years ago and had given up on being a full time artist. I didn’t know how to even find clients. The only people I ever met were unwilling to pay money for artwork. My dream was dead until I found this book. I just finished reading it and I can’t wait to start re-reading it. When I finish my next body of work I will immediately use the techniques from this book. If you are an artist who wants to make a living at what you love, buy this book. I have never read any of this information in any other book about art. Thank you Maria Brophy!!!

I absolutely loved this book. After successfully working as a graphic designer for 20+ years, I'm starting a new career as a full-time artist. The problem is that I don’t know the first thing about making a living as an artist, and at 52 I'm way behind. I’ve read books and watched courses, but this was the first book that really spoke to me. It's practical and actionable. And, because Maria is a marketer rather than the artist whose work she promotes, her writing feels more objective and frank than most. She has a no-nonsense approach and go-get'em attitude, while extolling the virtues of kindness and love which are so frequently lacking in business. I also love that she draws not only from her own experience in selling her husband's work, but from many other artists she's interacted with. So it feels like she's distilling real-life wisdom from a broad community.In fact, I liked her book so much that I'm hiring her as my coach. Obviously, everyone responds to different kinds of teaching, but if you're looking for actionable advice from someone who cuts right to the chase, start with this book.

This is a fantastic book. Full of great ideas on why to stay focused on what you want.Absolutely my favorite Art business book.Thanks for writing it!

This book was a phenomenal guide and a much needed resource for me. Maria is incredibly knowledgeable and has so many situational examples that I have already begun to apply to my art business. It is truly an invaluable resource and I know I will frequently come back to it for advice!

This book is so great, after reading the first chapter I cried because it was exactly what I needed to help create a new plan for selling my work. It is a guide for anyone trying to elevate and grow their art business. Maria breaks it down into simple strategies, and speaks to us artists that really aren't marketing minded by nature ( I do realize there are exceptions, I am just not one of them!) . While I've had a certain amount of success in one genre of selling my work, I have to now create multiple streams of income with my art now and that is like starting a new business over again and creating more opportunities for collectors to see my work. I knew I needed a plan and this book is helping me break it down into actionable steps. Maria really makes it more of a simple step by step plan, and she is so down to earth in how she speaks to us creatives and doesn't get too complicated. It's a small price to pay to get solid advice and some solid business strategies, and to figure out what you really want to do with your art and how you want your lifestyle to be. And, this book makes you think about being in control of all that, because we are the ones that are truly responsible for making our work successful in how we think about it, and how much time we want to put into it.I think I'll be re-reading this one for a while! And make sure you do the worksheets that go along with it, so that it becomes solidified in your mind what your going after. Take Maria's ideas and invest time into learning and improving your marketing skills, and you can say too that you are making a living as a full-time artist!! Pretty simple - Buy the book!!

I haven't yet finished reading "Art Money & Success" but I've read enough (I've reached chapter 22) to know that I would encourage any artist to get it. It is warm and engaging, honest and sincere, positive and encouraging, but also very, very practical. It's an easy read and what I would call a 'more-ish' (more please!) kind of read. I have learnt a lot and I am perfectly satisfied that buying this book was money well invested. The advice provided is very detailed and very comprehensive. Some of what I have read corroborates some of the thoughts that had already been running through my mind, but much of what I have read has put new knowledge into my hands. I now feel much more confident about the nitty gritty details of running an arts-based business. I feel equipped ... and I haven't even finished reading it all yet. I already know that I will be reading this through a second (and maybe third) time to really absorb everything. I have skipped the writing and introspection exercises because I wanted to get through the material faster, but I would definitely like to go back and do the exercises. The only issue that I had with the book was that my version (ebook) was missing the table of contents. I wrote the author (respectfully) about it and this issue was quickly rectified. The author was even kind enough to provide me with a new digital version. Little glitches like this can happen and I can easily forgive this because we are all human, and the quality of the content far outweighed that little drawback. It's packed with good advice, the chapters are short, the writing style is inviting, and the content is easy to get through. That's why, despite the table of contents missing (and the very rare typo here and there) I would still give it five stars - great read, great book! Very happy that I got it! If I had bought the printed version (or if I ever do), I can promise you, I wouldn't be lending it to anybody ... 'cause I wouldn't want to risk not getting it back.

This has been THE most practical, easy to understand and encouraging art business book Ive read. I constantly revisit & refer back to this book for guidance. She encourages you to do the work and get validation as an artist for the work.

I first bought this book in digital format and then bought a hard copy to make notes in. I've been a professional artist for almost 20 years and Maria's book is one of the best I've read on the business side of art. So many books and coaches say the same stuff over and over, write an artist statement, a bio, get a website, approach galleries, and hope for the best when you have time between your day job. Maria gives real-world strategies from experience that go outside of group think. Just one example is her daily-painting strategy to raise cash fast. I did it (with a few of my own embellishments) and raised almost $5,000 in a month. She has great advice on dealing with people in the industry and lots of ideas for making money.

I believe the book is very general, there isn’t new information that is not already out there.The book is more of a personal journey than a business book. It wasn’t worth the money and time reading it.