Art, Craft, and Salability

When you are working in the creative fields, whether in fine arts or writing, or when you are working to facilitate someone who is working in the creative endeavors (such as being a publisher or an artist's agent), there are three things we need to take into account:

First, there is art...the creativeness of the endeavor. As an artist, as a writer, we are working to achieve and enhance creative communication or simply to do so for the creative process itself. Art is about creation whether that is through the fine arts or through the literary arts. It is about forming something within oneself and then bringing it out — manifesting it within the outside world where it becomes accessible to others.

Second, there is craft. With every art there is an element of craft. If an artist of any form — a potter, a novelist, a musician, a non-fiction writer, a painter, and so on — does not take the time to learn the craft, their creative endeavor will inevitably fall flat. It will never be able to reach its potential. Craft is the foundation for art; it is the structure that underlies and supports the creative manifestation.

It is one thing to say I have something to express — whether in writing or drawing. It is a different thing to build the knowledge and ability to express that something effectively.

Third, there is salability. Note: It must be recognized that salability and artistic merit are two entirely different things, and they do not always match or overlap.

Salability is something you need to consider anytime you engage in creative work if you wish to sell this creative work. For those who are facilitating creative endeavors — publishers, gallery owners, agents, and so on — this is almost always going to be paramount.

A market must exist, with a reachable and interested audience, for a creative endeavor to make it off the shelf, out of the studio, and into the hands or eyes of others. If you, as a creative person, wish to become successful in that you are selling your work, than you must understand the market you are trying to reach - who they are, what they need to have communicated to them, what they want to have communicated to them, and how they can be reached.

These are the questions that a writer needs to have approached at the beginning of their endeavor, and then be able to communicate the answers to those questions to their publisher. For a publisher, these answers are vital. Publishers love to facilitate writers and good writing, but in order to do so they must make a profit. They must keep their business viable.

The goal, therefore, becomes to marry and merge the artistic merit and the salability of the creative endeavor that one is crafting.

Beth Peterson sits on both sides of the publishing/writing fence. She is the head of Cattails Publishing LLC and the author of "People Who Play God" and "The Hero's Guide to Protecting Yourself Against Harmful Relationships". She is also a trained working artist. Her art gallery can be viewed at www.wingedblue.com