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One Christmas when I was young I received a special present. It was in a large flat box. After carefully removing the wrapping paper, I opened the box. Upon seeing the contents of the box, I remember thinking, "Why would I want this?" My father must have seen the confusion on my face. He firmly said, "It's either this or voice lessons." Being the shy person that I am, I chose the lesser of two evils: I chose the guitar.
Thus began my music lessons.
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It's about halfway through the Art-A-Fair Festival. This is the summer long art show in Laguna Beach, California that I have been doing for many years. Over the nine weeks of this show I talk to quite a few people.
Some are artists, some are not. If I spend enough time talking to the person, and if I think it's appropriate, I show them my latest book, The Shy Artist's Guide to Answering Questions. What has surprised me is who ends up purchasing one of my books.  There's something a little bit scary about clicking the button. The button that says, "Okay, I'm ready to send this out into the world.
I just did that today. I clicked the button. I approved the final version of my next book. This is a very similar feeling to completing a piece of artwork. You know ... that moment when you sign your name to the piece declaring IT IS DONE.  I am a do-it-yourselfer. If there's something that needs to be done, I'll get in there and do it. Sometimes I don't even know how to do what needs to be done. But, I do it anyway.
Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. And, the times that it doesn't work, can often result in mistakes. When you spend a lot of time in your booth, you invariably end up listening to a lot of spiels from other artists. You hear them said the same way over and over again. And, you start to notice certain things.
 A few days ago, I was with a customer. She was looking at my handbags. The question came up, "Which one is the most popular?"
Well, since I have sold two of the red ones, I immediately responded, "The red one." BIG MISTAKE! Sunday, I was in my booth at the Art-A-Fair Festival. A couple came up to me and started chatting like they knew me. It took me a few moments to realize that I had spoken to them the day before. The first time I met them, they gave my work lots of compliments; but, they weren't buying anything.
I do a lot of selling on eBay, and so I've gotten to know my mailman very well. Today, when I gave him a bunch of invitations to my next art opening to mail, I also handed one to him. As I was explaining to him what the invitation was for, I could see that he was growing more uneasy.
I recently acquired software called It's software that along with a microphone, you can use to speak your words and have them typed into your word processor or e-mail. If you're a bad typist it's a really big help. But that's not why I bought it.
I am working on the next book in The Shy Artist Guide series. I haven't settled on the title yet. For now I am calling it The Shy Artist's Guide to Answering Those Annoying Questions. It is filled with all those questions and comments that artists and crafters hear all the time. You know, like, "Did you make these?"
So, I was working on the chapter dealing with the comment, "That's the most hideous thing I have ever seen!" I have yet to come up with an appropriate response to this comment. And, I think it is probably best left alone. Here's an excerpt from the book. See what you think … |
About the AuthorHelping artists and crafters improve their sales, one word at a time. Categories
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