The one thing that keeps artists from selling

Is not whether they know sales or marketing. It’s something deeper than that. PLUS behind the scenes of the new book-cover design...

Welcome to Follow Your Gut, a newsletter about the artist life and business from a mother of two. After soon a decade as an independent artist and writer, the question is not only how to do it, but how to continue to follow your gut in a world that tries its best to stuff it with fluff.

85% of new letters are free to read for 3 days, whereafter they go behind a paywall. If this is our first date, I warmly invite you to check out the free archive first. I’m Swedish after all, don’t want to be too pushy (just a loving nudge ❤️).

Hi there!

Thanks for clicking through, I’m opening up with a pretty bold title today and I aim to deliver an as bold answer as possible.

I think the main thing that keeps artists from selling their work is attachment to their art.

What do I mean?

Oh, I think you know what I mean…

Our artworks, books even these newsletters are our babies, our vulnerability and pride.

We pour our hearts and souls into the bodies of work, which then get scrutinized by complete strangers. And somehow, this process from the intimate to the exposed makes us want to curl up into a little ball and hide away from the world for a bit.

It certainly does NOT want us to expose ourselves even more by trying to convince someone else to buy it…

Me hoping my art will speak for itself while I slightly embarrassed (but still excited for the potential) choose to look out the window… classic

The tricky part is that we want to sell so that we can make a decent living and buy more time to make more art-babies.

But we also, secretly, don’t want just anybody to buy it. We want the right person to buy it. A gentle person. A person who understands and who values all the love we’ve poured into it.

That’s why it’s so hard to sell art.

Because we don’t necessarily want to part ways with it. We kind of unconsciously block our own way to financial success…

There it is my friends. The answer, which I think is quite bold.

I remember (even more vividly now that I’ve just worked through my book When will you get a real job? where I discuss this in more detail), how I had a hard time to part with my art when just starting out.

I even wrote a piece about how I put my head in the sand for 2 years out of fear of being a sell-out.

It felt awkward to try to sell something and naturally talk about it when it was something so personal. Like, do you want me to get undressed too?

It felt exposing somehow. Desperate even?

The thing is, it will feel incredibly difficult until we reframe what it is we’re selling. Until we realize that we make ourselves a disservice by keeping a big ego and strong attachment.

To think that people will buy from us because we’re so incredible, simply puts too much pressure on everyone involved.

Instead, the magic and ability to detach from your work only happens when you’re able to re-frame it in a way that puts the buyer in centre instead of yourself.

It’s no longer as difficult for me to market and sell my art, nor to talk about my book When will you get a real job?, which by the way will be available as a kindle within the next 10 days or so for all paying members of Follow Your Gut, because I’m not the main character. You are.

What?!

Yes, the book is about my husband’s and my journey to full time independent artistry including all the ups and downs along the way. But more than that, it’s a book written in a way for you to reflect on your own journey too.

By writing about my experience of fearing to sell my art, you can identify your own fear and blockages. As I describe how my relationship to marketing and sales has evolved, you’ll be able to see how it may evolve for you too.

Maybe, there’s actually a light at the end of the starving-artist-tunnel.

What do you think?

P.s. Cover update…

The only things left before I can re-publish When will you get a real job? Is formatting and a new cover…

If you follow me over on Notes, you may have seen some insights already. But the vast majority haven’t, so I wanted to bring you behind the curtains as well because that’s where all the fun stuff happens, isn’t it?

My husband helped me design two covers, the first of which I wasn’t too much of a fan (I frankly just don’t like the picture of myself, which I suppose is an ego thing again… still work to do here!).

Thankfully (ooops, sorry my love) most didn’t seem too convinced with it either and many referred to it as having a more how-to-crafts-book vibe.

The second proposal (see below) was my initial “commission” for him and I quite love it.

BUT,

Many of you made terrific note about it feeling strange that it should be only me on the cover when we worked together… good call you guys!

My logic was that I’m the narrator of the story, which is why it makes sense that it’s me working and looking quite thoughtful (which I suppose every artist who tries to figure full-time artistry out does at one point or another).

Either way, I came to think of the photo below, which was taken in our first studio in Paris together in early 2017 (when parts of the book is taking place IRL). To capture the involvement of social media in our success, I thought it could be fun to have the picture as a screenshot from my Instagram rather than just the photo independently. This is a rather quick proposal reflecting that idea (not sure I like the white font on black though… feels too harsh?);

Lastly, even though I admit I felt a bit overwhelmed to make an art piece for the cover when I’m not sure of whether it will be more effective than a photograph (but definitely more time-consuming), I made a sketch this morning using another image of us from the early days as my reference (see below);

This sketch can hypothetically be transferred to fabric too so that I can embroider it and thereby reflect the medium that we used to grow our first art business rather than keeping it in a more raw sketch-format…

Ps, regardless of whether this sketch will be used or not I’m beyond grateful you pushed me to do it. My oldest daughter picked up her sketchbook too and sat in her little corner behind the curtain (more cosy, right) and did some drawings too. Claire Venus suggested I add her versions on the inside of the cover, but E informed me that it’s for spider-man (don’t know where that came from?!) so I can unfortunately not use it… ;)

Here’s the part where I’d love for you to add your 2 cents if you fancy;

Thank you so much for reading and for participating in the last step of getting the renewed version of When will you get a real job? out there!

Elin, xx

Ps. If you enjoyed this piece, I’d be very happy for a like or comment as it helps me get the word spread ❤️