Self Publishing Authors Need to Be Artists and Entrepreneurs

There'a nice article on entrepreneurship and self-publishing in Nigeria's Business Day. (What, doesn't everybody read Nigeria's Business Day in Eastern KY?) Here are a few snips:

As more people turn to self-publishing to launch their creative works into the market, there is now the realisation that sound business principles are needed to achieve success. Joy Isi Bewaji, self-publishing author of ‘Eko Dialogue’ discusses the principles needed for success in self publishing business recently in a chat with Business Day.

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Self-publishing is becoming a very difficult terrain, where the artiste also becomes the entrepreneur pursuing goals that are not art-related all in a bid to make known the product. Artistry and business management are two divergent tasks but it could be a good learning experience for all writers who intend to become or are already ‘self-publishers’.

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Apart from raising funds for publishing a book, as a self-published writer, one needs to set aside funds for publicity, advertisement and be able to create regular forums where the book can be discussed. All of these cost a lot of money. However, self-publishing gives the owner a level of control over the intellectual property.

The most essential thing for a self-publishing author is funds and ability to take advantage of every available opportunity. Money is needed to run the ideas and sponsorship is usually difficult in this line of business. So, the writer may need to take up a job on full-time or part-time basis or engage in a business at the initial stages to jump-start the self-publishing business. But care must be taken to ensure the job or business does not stifle time for creativity.

[…]

To know if there is a market for the book, research has to be done. Since funds are limiting, simply explore ways to find out if people normally buy books in that category. If there are already similar books to the one you want published, find out if they are being patronised.

As a self-publisher, the author must make a firm resolve not to publish any work that would not be interesting to the target market. This can be done by asking some knowledge people to assess the manuscript before publication.Always remember that it is not what you write but how you write and sell it that matters. So do not simply write and publish what you want but what buyers want to buy.

Even though self-publishing is challenging, if one is ready to apply the entrepreneurial principles needed for its success and be persistent, it could become very lucrative.

A footnote: Aren't there paralells here for those of us who work in rural areas where heritage products/services (tourist sites, crafts, artistic works, stories, music, etc.) offer a way to build the local economy?

Artists Are Entrepreneurs Too!

Artists are entrepreneurs too!!!

Adrian Swain Curator of the Kentucky Folk Art Center says "Jo Ann Butts is an original and creative folk artist. Her work is colorful and often carries an undercurrent of self-effacing humor. Jo Ann’s work has been selected for use in several temporary exhibitions at Kentucky Folk Art Center. As a member of the broader community of folk artists in Elliott County, Jo Ann Butts executes original work that seems to have remained largely uninfluenced by the many other artists who surround her".

“When I was a child we didn’t have a lot of money so we made our toys. Sometimes it was a piece of wood and we would whittle it into something to play with. That’s where I first started my art”.

This is the story told by Jo Ann Butts of Sandy Hook, Kentucky. Her art depicts native critters she has watched in her yard and in the woods growing up as a child and as an adult. Her inspiration comes from nature. “I like to sit on the porch and watch the birds in the spring” she said. “The little robins get a worm in their beak and they pull and pull until they get it out of the ground. Its so fun to watch them because they bob their heads back and forth just fighting with that worm until they win the battle, or the work gets lose and escapes back into the ground. Then they walk around until they find another one”.

Jo Ann’s signature pieces are roosters and hens. “They were always walking around on the farm and early in the morning that old rooster would crow and wake everyone up then we would have fresh eggs for breakfast” she said.

Her brilliant choice of colors and the whimsical characterizations make her work one of a kind. “I didn’t know my work was art until one day Minnie Adkins said ‘Jo Ann you should sell your work. What you are doing is folk art and a lot of people collect folk art’”. Minnie bought the first piece I ever sold. The next thing I knew I had a booth during A Day in The Country at the Morehead Folk Art Center”.

Jo Ann’s latest piece is a squirrel. “Not many people realize the squirrel uses its big bushy tail as shade from the sun and shelter from the rain” she said. Her smiling squirrel sits with a nut ready to eat and the bushy tail over its head.

Joann, an Elliott county folk artist who sells her work across the country, paints as well as carves. Her latest painting is a 12’X30’ mural on a barn. “It’s what the back porch and back yard of my home looked like when I was growing up” she explained.

Saturday Josh and I drove to Newfoundland to take a picture of the latest mural being painted on a barn. We were pleasantly greeted by the artist, Joann Buts. As we looked at the mural we noticed the boards of the barn overlap to create a perfect row of shingles for the roof of the back porch. “And look” said Joann Butts “the door of the out house is locked from the inside. You can tell because the outside button is pointing up. Yep, someone’s in there”, she said.

The back porch of the yellow house displays a wringer washer; a #2 washtub hangs on the wall, there’s a churn for making butter, and a washboard with a cake of lie soap at the top for treating those tough stains. Among other items used in everyday life on the farm is a lantern. “Everyone used a lantern”, she said. “It was dark going to the out-house at night so a lantern hangs right there on the porch post to use on nights when the moon doesn’t light the way.”

A path of stone leads the way to the out-house. “See the rooster on top of the toilet, yep he crowed every morning. He woke us up early every day”. She said.

Joann sits atop scaffolding with giant umbrellas shading her from the sun. “A humming bird came to the lilac bush” she said as she pointed to the flowering shrub growing beside the back porch. “And the other day, I was just sittin’ here painting and a butterfly lit right on that holly hock” she said with a grin. And as real as the sun in the sky, hens, roosters and baby chicks call the yard home.

A bucket attached to a chain sits on the well box reminding everyone of the days when frost would make the chain stick to little hands who had to draw water for household uses.

The brightly colored rendition of “The Back Yard” has drawn attention by passers by. “People are always stopping to tell me I’m doing a good job” she said. And sure enough, while we were talking, a truck with two young boys in the back stopped to compliment Joan on her work. “It looks just like where I grew up” said the driver of the truck. But it was the blond hair and blue eyes peeping over the bed of the truck that won Joann’s heart “I like that house” he said and waved as the truck pulled away. “Keep Up the good work” the driver of the truck said.

Joann was painting quilts on a clothesline as we walked away. Just before we left she pointed to a quilt on the line and said, “This is my quilt”. With a smile she looked at Josh and said “I have one just like it at home. Its grandmother’s fan”, she explained. Joann painted quilts hanging on the line to compliment The Clothesline of Quilts project.

As you find each little butterfly and baby chick be sure to notice Grandma with her hair pulled in a bun, hanging Grandpa’s long-johns on the clothesline.

Joann is painting the mural on Steve Gray’s barn just a bit after turning on 32 from Route Seven at Newfoundland. It’s a great cultural rendition of life in earlier years. Even if you don’t have a trip planned around route 32 its worth a short drive to see the mural. Thanks to Johnny Porter for the use of his scaffolding. It made painting the mural possible.

Funding for the mural was gained through a grant from the W. Paul and Lucille Caudill Little Foundation.

Recreational Entrepreneurs Create Tourist Opportunites for WW2 Enthusiasts

A couple of entrepreneurial activities around Appalachia that seem to have tourist potential:

McCreary County reenacts the battle in which their favorite son, Wilburn K. Ross, received the Congressional Medal of Armor. Battlefield reenactments aren’t new, but I’ve seldom heard of holding one a continent away. Could be the start of a trend…

Meanwhile, Middlesboro, which made national news for locals’ efforts to reconstruct a P-38 abandoned during WW2 in Greenland only to be brought back to KY a half century later, will receive a familiar if unusual visitor at its local airport when the Glacier Girl returns.

One thing that Eastern Kentucky has been blessed in abundance with is unused land. This, combined with the absence of local zoning rules, offers entrepreneurs- both recreational and for-profit- an easy opportunity to organize events such as these and bring tourists into their community.

Does anyone know of any rural communities that are looking for tourist opportunities? Coaches?