Thursday, March 28, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
follow-up to follow-up : the report card
So, my soul-bearing-whining-(people thought it sounded depressed even though I didn't feel that way)-telling of the events in my previous post was cathartic. It got me unstuck. Many people wrote to say that they admired what I said, admired that I was honest and revealing, admired not that I was a success or not, but that I was actually pursuing my dreams.
The inspiration to write it came from seeing a video on TED by Amanda PALMER. "The Art of Asking." That combined with a couple other things I saw and read. It occurred to me, that not only was I stuck in the failure of my Berlin project, but maybe, what was missing was asking people to support me.
The report card :
So, I wrote my little speech. Don't regret it.
And then, I was inspired, not only by asking for help, but by the idea to give people a way to help if they wanted to.
I already had an artbook on blurb.com "crépuscule" (of which I have sold exactly zero copies, until this week when I sold one. Ok, I agree $47 for hard cover is expensive, even if the book is beautiful). So, after discovering that blurb does ebooks, I decided to make an ebook version of my book and make that available. link Instead of $47 it was $5. Again, after announcing it, exactly zero copies were purchased.
So, I decided that if money were an issue, that I would make an ebook available of my work and offer it for FREE to my supporters. link Seemed like a win win situation. My public gets a cool book and my work gets out there.
I offered it first to my followers on my blog. There are 13 members, so reaction wasn't a tidal wave.
There are 608 fans on my facebook page, so I offered it there too. By tracking statistics of visitors on my blog, there have been 21 people to date who have visited the blog post. I can't say that they all downloaded. I know for sure that one person did, because they left a comment on the blog and sent me a private email. Given that all 21 people downloaded, that means exactly 3,34% of my followers actually took me up on the offer for a free book. Yes, that's a little more than 3% and yes it was FREE. Is anyone else surprised by this?
Given the overwhelmingly positive comments I receive when I do an installation, this is the mystery to me. The difference there is between the "verbal" reaction to my work and the what I call "feet on the ground" reaction. Concrete reaction, sales, if you will.
I'm not saying that people are obligated to buy my work just because they like it, but it just seems that the statistic should be a wee bit higher than 0%. I shouldn't have a 100% success rate and I shouldn't have a 0% success rate either.
What do I know? Maybe that is a typical reaction. You do something and 3% of the viewers react in a concrete way. That's hard to believe, but maybe that's just the math, just the way it is. Maybe I just have to accept that that is reality. Do the artists among you have any feedback about your stats?
This divide between verbal reaction and physical reaction has been very present and very frustrating for me for a long time. There has to be some explanation and I keep thinking that if I find what is "missing" in the equation, I will be able to affect it. Nothing I've done has changeds this statistic and I have done everything I could think of.
Don't get me wrong. My work has done well. I have been able to do about one major installation per year, and for each I have been paid, always adequately and sometimes well. So, on that level, I am lucky. Subsequently, as previously mentioned, the public's reaction has often been overwhelming. Again reason to be thankful and I am.
A part from that, I have never sold even one of the smaller portable sculptures. I have sold a few of my sewn photographs, three to be exact. Okay, I can count myself luckier that Van Gogh, who never sold a single painting other than to his brother, in his whole life.
So, I have thought of many ways to make my art more available, often following the suggestions of friends and fans. I have made limited edition prints. and here. Again, the response was less than what I expected. It was even less than 3%. Once more, it was zero.
Again, I'm not saying this as a complaint. I am just mystified and completely unable to understand this phenomenon. I don't, for instance, expect everyone to like it and/or to buy it, but I find 0% or 3% (remember 3% was when it was free) hard to believe. Ideally, I would have expected something like 20%, or maybe 10%, but zero?
Is there something I'm missing? There must be.
Maybe, I'll figure it out someday. No one can say I haven't tried. and I'll probably keep trying.
Still perplexed. Any suggestions?
The inspiration to write it came from seeing a video on TED by Amanda PALMER. "The Art of Asking." That combined with a couple other things I saw and read. It occurred to me, that not only was I stuck in the failure of my Berlin project, but maybe, what was missing was asking people to support me.
The report card :
So, I wrote my little speech. Don't regret it.
And then, I was inspired, not only by asking for help, but by the idea to give people a way to help if they wanted to.
I already had an artbook on blurb.com "crépuscule" (of which I have sold exactly zero copies, until this week when I sold one. Ok, I agree $47 for hard cover is expensive, even if the book is beautiful). So, after discovering that blurb does ebooks, I decided to make an ebook version of my book and make that available. link Instead of $47 it was $5. Again, after announcing it, exactly zero copies were purchased.
So, I decided that if money were an issue, that I would make an ebook available of my work and offer it for FREE to my supporters. link Seemed like a win win situation. My public gets a cool book and my work gets out there.
I offered it first to my followers on my blog. There are 13 members, so reaction wasn't a tidal wave.
There are 608 fans on my facebook page, so I offered it there too. By tracking statistics of visitors on my blog, there have been 21 people to date who have visited the blog post. I can't say that they all downloaded. I know for sure that one person did, because they left a comment on the blog and sent me a private email. Given that all 21 people downloaded, that means exactly 3,34% of my followers actually took me up on the offer for a free book. Yes, that's a little more than 3% and yes it was FREE. Is anyone else surprised by this?
Given the overwhelmingly positive comments I receive when I do an installation, this is the mystery to me. The difference there is between the "verbal" reaction to my work and the what I call "feet on the ground" reaction. Concrete reaction, sales, if you will.
I'm not saying that people are obligated to buy my work just because they like it, but it just seems that the statistic should be a wee bit higher than 0%. I shouldn't have a 100% success rate and I shouldn't have a 0% success rate either.
What do I know? Maybe that is a typical reaction. You do something and 3% of the viewers react in a concrete way. That's hard to believe, but maybe that's just the math, just the way it is. Maybe I just have to accept that that is reality. Do the artists among you have any feedback about your stats?
This divide between verbal reaction and physical reaction has been very present and very frustrating for me for a long time. There has to be some explanation and I keep thinking that if I find what is "missing" in the equation, I will be able to affect it. Nothing I've done has changeds this statistic and I have done everything I could think of.
Don't get me wrong. My work has done well. I have been able to do about one major installation per year, and for each I have been paid, always adequately and sometimes well. So, on that level, I am lucky. Subsequently, as previously mentioned, the public's reaction has often been overwhelming. Again reason to be thankful and I am.
A part from that, I have never sold even one of the smaller portable sculptures. I have sold a few of my sewn photographs, three to be exact. Okay, I can count myself luckier that Van Gogh, who never sold a single painting other than to his brother, in his whole life.
So, I have thought of many ways to make my art more available, often following the suggestions of friends and fans. I have made limited edition prints. and here. Again, the response was less than what I expected. It was even less than 3%. Once more, it was zero.
Again, I'm not saying this as a complaint. I am just mystified and completely unable to understand this phenomenon. I don't, for instance, expect everyone to like it and/or to buy it, but I find 0% or 3% (remember 3% was when it was free) hard to believe. Ideally, I would have expected something like 20%, or maybe 10%, but zero?
Is there something I'm missing? There must be.
Maybe, I'll figure it out someday. No one can say I haven't tried. and I'll probably keep trying.
Still perplexed. Any suggestions?
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Introvert
This text that I published on my facebook profile is as much about my art life as it is my personal life.
so, pertinent to post here too.
introversion
so, pertinent to post here too.
introversion
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Free Anthology ebook for my fans on Blogger
Dear fans,
A little (well big) thank you for your support. I'm offering you first dibs on a free pdf/ebook anthology of my work from 2003-2012 that you can load on your smartphone or on your ipad. (retail price : $9.90)
It's a big file (161mo) so, it takes a while to download.
Please post your comments here.
Thanks again.
All the best,
Sean
PS, if you think it is too big, I will work on a more compact version. Let me know.
PPS. If you download, please leave a word here of who you are.
PPPS. It goes without saying, that this download is for your own personal use and is not to be reprinted or published without expressed written consent from the artist.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
the dam breaks
There must have been something to writing. It felt like the right thing at the time and ever since it feels like the dam has broken. Up until doing so, projects and ideas have either been stopped or were so fraught with difficulty and obstacle that I gave up on them. But now, everything seems to come easily. I can't help but think that it's due to the fact that I fessed up to my past and didn't let it have a hold on me any more. Suddenly, I am doing two ebooks a day (new anthology ebook due out soon... stay tuned), inventing new projects with gusto, and rediscovering my work in the process . Inspiration abounds, so does positive thinking. Crazy. Simple. Easy.
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