Russell Nohelty

It’s the reason that some of the most successful artists of all time died in squalor and misery, their talent only being recognized upon their death.

It’s the reason companies can exploit creatives for far less than they are worth, making massive profits in the process.

Corporations certainly do not hold the same stigma about creating a business from art as creatives do.

In fact, massive industries have built their fortunes on the backs of artists. Marvel, DC—heck, the entire advertising and publishing industries—generate billions upon billions of profits from art every year while creatives can barely make rent.

Well, I am sick of it. I don’t blame the companies for exploiting their workers. I blame us, the creatives, and the idea we’ve lived with for far too long that mixing business and art is gross. It’s not that thinking of yourself as a business is a necessary evil; it’s not evil at all. Implementing business practices into your art allows you to get better clients, improve your life, and gives you more freedom.

Growing a brand and a business offers you the flexibility to turn down work and have enough money to take vacations with your family; it allows you to save for retirement and prevents you from working your fingers to the bone just to scrape by.

I learned this a long time ago when I was stubborn and ignorant. I thought sales was gross and marketing was evil. I thought people should value my work for its merit alone. I thought people would magically find me...and that puppy dogs cleaned their own poop.

Of course, this isn’t the case. The market is flooded with content. It’s impossible to stand out from the crowd without a bullhorn. The good news is that it’s also never been easier to build an audience and find a market for your work. The tools are already in your hands.

That’s what this book is about—how to turn your art into a business and make a career as a creative.

What is a creative? A creative is anybody that makes things. This includes, but isn’t limited to: writers, painters, sculptors, craft people, comic book artists, singers, musicians, animators, and people that create things from scratch, with a strong emphasis on people who create products, whether that be books, art prints, jewelry, oven mitts, et al.