Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to building a business out of your creative passion. Being a great artist isn’t always enough to survive in the industry You need to know how to market yourself, your skills, and how to meet the right people that’ll keep writing you cheques and for that you need to have the business knowledge.
If you need a boost in your artistic business game then these books are sure to help.

Here are 6 brilliantly useful books to add to your Art business Library :

1. Launching your art career : a practical guide for artists

by Alix Sloan

Overview:
Written by a gallerist for artists, this encouraging, easy-to-read handbook includes business of art advice and information to help artists successfully launch or accelerate their careers. Topics include: Setting goals, networking, finding & creating exhibition opportunities, selling & pricing art, working with galleries, websites, artist statements, studio management and much more. Also included: Online resources and additional advice from over forty working artists and art dealers

Why this is a must-read :
Alix Sloan here in this one gets all practical and focused and this is what so many artists need to understand while jump start their art career. This is a completely comprehensive guide for starting up or reinvigorating your art career with many useful and helpful tips. It is a must-read for emerging or moderately established artists. It has a great section of resources at the end which is amazing and includes advices from successful artists/gallerists from around the world.

2. The Artist Guide: How to Make a Living Doing What You Love

By: Jackie Battenfield

Overview:
A comprehensive guide for both emerging and mid-career artists to pursue a career in the visual arts.
Providing real-life examples, illustrations, and step-by-step exercises, Battenfield offers readily applicable advice on all aspects of the job. Along with tips on planning and assessment, she presents strategies for self-management, including marketing, online promotion, building professional relationships, grant writing, and portfolio development.
Each chapter ends with an insightful Reality Check interview, featuring advice and useful information from high-profile artists and professionals.
The result is an inspiring, experiential guide brimming with field-tested techniques that readers can easily apply to their own career.

Why this is a must-read:
If you are an artist, or not this should be in your cart anyway as this one is super refreshing and relatable for anybody who’s on their initial stage of any career. When it comes to managing career in whole this guide becomes necessary. It’s a survival guide for any artist/creative who wants to take their career into the next level. It’s full of resources layouts, formats & more. This is one of the best book when you need a jumpstart on brainstorming and taking action towards your future art career.

3. Art, Inc.: The Essential Guide for Building Your Career as an Artist

By Lisa Congdon

Overview:
Art Inc.: The Essential Guide for Building Your Career as an Artist” is written and illustrated by Lisa Congdon. This book will teach you how to, set actionable goals, diversify your income, manage your bookkeeping, copyright your work, promote with social media, build a standout website, exhibit with galleries, sell and price your work, license your art, acquire an agent, and much more. Throughout each chapter, Lisa shares hardearned wisdom from her own career as well as insider tips from art world pros, including Paula Scher, Jessica Silverman, Nikki McClure, and Mark Hear

Why this is a must-read :
Excellent primer for anyone starting an art career/business. This book consists of some amazing interviews with artists who have successful art businesses, which is again very valuable. Also, it is very concisely elaborated about how you can organize your art career. This is a must buy as it is one of the most accessible and handy, plus it’s well organised visually and conceptually. It’s a short easy to read book but a very valuable asset.

4. How to sell your art online: Live a Successful Creative Life on Your Own Terms

By Cory Huff

Overview:
An essential guide for artist that teaches them how to skip the gallery system, find their niche, and connect directly with collectors to profitably sell their art.
How to Sell Your Art Online shows any artist how to make a successful living from their work. Cory Huff dispels the myth of the starving artist and provides the effective business strategies necessary to make artistic creations pay. He helps individual artists find their niche; outlines the elements essential for an effective website; and provides invaluable advice on e-mail marketing, blogging, social media marketing, and paid advertising—explaining how to tie all these online activities into offline success. Most importantly, he shares the secret to overcoming the biggest challenge artists face when self-marketing: learning how to tell their unique stories.

Why this is a must-read :
If you are an artist want to make money from their art this one is for you. In this book Cory quite rightly dismissed the old idea of the starving artist and have come up with ideas of how you can sell your art. It has everything you should know in the process of selling your art, it talks about how you can approach like galleries and the need to sell your work face-to-face as well as online. On the whole, it’s a great read, full of useful information and inspiration and wisdom.

5. I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist’s No-Excuse Guide to Self-Promotion

By Alyson B. Stanfield

Overview:
I’d Rather Be in the Studio takes on the top eight excuses artists give for not promoting themselves effectively. Each excuse is answered with practical action steps to help artists take charge and build thriving art careers and businesses. Includes online worksheets and forms. For all kinds of visual artists.

Why this is a must-read :
This guide consists of a practical approach which will help you sell more art and build an art career that lasts. Alison B Stanfield the author and also the art marketing guru behind ArtBizCoach.com shares self-promotion tools that have enhanced the careers of thousands of artists. This is a super helpful book when it comes to exploring areas where artists might be weak in self-promotion and give many suggestions on how things can be done.

6. Arts & Numbers: A Financial Guide for Artists, Writers, Performers, and Other Members of the Creative Class

By Elaine Grogan Luttrull

Overview:
The creative class—artists, actors, writers, musicians, freelancers, dancers, performers, and the like—are known for applying their passion for creative expression to everything they do. Perhaps the one thing that most fills this group with apprehension is the rigid world of numbers Finances, budgeting, and business matters can be dreaded, if not outright ignored, by creatives–to the detriment of their artistic pursuits. Author, artist, and CPA Elaine Grogan Luttrull has written Arts & Numbers to help creative professionals find the same confidence in their financial dealings as in their chosen mode of expression. It is an engaging, accessible guide that covers a variety of must-know topics, such as budgeting, cash management, visual charting, taxes, employment, and business etiquette.

Why this is a must-read :
This is a must-buy book for somebody in our business especially if he or she is a creative entrepreneur. Sometimes it becomes hard to find basic financial advice that is framed for people with irregular incomes from a variety of sources and this book fits the bill. this book is extremely informative about the business and financial side of being a creative entrepreneur and also explains key Financial and money management concepts into easy and understandable examples it is a solid financial primer for artist/creatives who Are on their own.

Want more creative content, opportunities, helpful Tips like these?

Sign Up Now for Arts To Hearts Project’s Newsletter

and receive all art related stuff right in your inbox every week.