In theory I’m all for it - hasn’t any anxiety about “selling out” largely evaporated by now? Who would blame anyone for doing their best to make a living, especially in the art world? It’s a hustle at best.
But what kind of affiliates would make sense for the art world? No one is really selling the kind of high volume/low margin products that could make sense for a partnership, galleries couldn’t/wouldn’t give a percentage of sales. Plenty of them don’t even remember to pay their artists fairly.
Ya, things fall apart when it comes to actually implementing it. It would have to happen automatically—an online art platform that would pay out the affliilate commission anytime a sale is made
It’s funny you mention this new role - a mix of art consultant, influencer, and writer - because that’s exactly how I would describe myself! Still on the hunt for a title that doesn't sound so coporate / capitalist though haha!
Also, thank you so much for mentioning How to Art :) I really appreciate you using the word musings to describe what I write, it perfectly captures who I am and what my art writing is all about!
The title of my newsletter doesn’t have “art” in it but I’ve been writing about art and sometimes books since early 2021. Take a gander and let’s talk. Regards, David Gibson
My second post on Substack was about the related subject of the way people see independent art professionals... I don't know about the art world at large but being an art pro is a great lens into seeing how ways of making money have changed, and we need to keep up.
My issue is with people following on a personal level. Your idea with automated affiliate links is great, but why not extend it to artists whose work you really like, or self-published authors who aren't having the visibility they should? I have a friend who started an art mag, didn't pay the writers, who were friends, but never thought of not paying the graphic designer who was also a friend... Isn't a certain kind of work we do in the art world devalued?
Why do we ask ourselves so many questions about income, or ecology when much of people's money goes to Amazon or delivery services without people giving it a second thought, and yet here we are, pondering... :-) Thanks so much for putting this out there. Re-stacking as we speak.
It’s hard to say exactly how I feel about the idea of this. But I think it could be truly constructive and probably the only chance I would have at monetizing art writing. The way I see it is you can always divide things up; not every article has to be linked. With that in mind, maybe it could be worth pursuing!
This is such an interesting topic - I see myself partially in that art consultant/ influencer etc role ! And often I feel I do a lot for 'free' because the 'eye' or 'thoughts' are hard to monetize. Also, the art world is so particular - there is money to spend on blue chip art but not enoug to pay interns, writers, 'art influencers' . Anyway, thanks for the article and great newsletter recs!
I fear the attribution period for a purchase needs to be like ~1 year for the writer / influencer to make money. And the gallery / artist is unlikely to pay for anything less than a purchase (and rightly so). Trying to measure some halfway conversion, like a soft lead, can get messy.
But if there was a clever way to make it mutually beneficial, I'm all for it!
In theory I’m all for it - hasn’t any anxiety about “selling out” largely evaporated by now? Who would blame anyone for doing their best to make a living, especially in the art world? It’s a hustle at best.
But what kind of affiliates would make sense for the art world? No one is really selling the kind of high volume/low margin products that could make sense for a partnership, galleries couldn’t/wouldn’t give a percentage of sales. Plenty of them don’t even remember to pay their artists fairly.
Ya, things fall apart when it comes to actually implementing it. It would have to happen automatically—an online art platform that would pay out the affliilate commission anytime a sale is made
It’s funny you mention this new role - a mix of art consultant, influencer, and writer - because that’s exactly how I would describe myself! Still on the hunt for a title that doesn't sound so coporate / capitalist though haha!
Also, thank you so much for mentioning How to Art :) I really appreciate you using the word musings to describe what I write, it perfectly captures who I am and what my art writing is all about!
I agree, it's something similar to my role as well! I hope we get to meet in person soon!
Thanks so much for the s/o!! And a great roundup here—I'm learning about subscribing to lots of these!
I love how many art newsletter there are now!
The title of my newsletter doesn’t have “art” in it but I’ve been writing about art and sometimes books since early 2021. Take a gander and let’s talk. Regards, David Gibson
My second post on Substack was about the related subject of the way people see independent art professionals... I don't know about the art world at large but being an art pro is a great lens into seeing how ways of making money have changed, and we need to keep up.
My issue is with people following on a personal level. Your idea with automated affiliate links is great, but why not extend it to artists whose work you really like, or self-published authors who aren't having the visibility they should? I have a friend who started an art mag, didn't pay the writers, who were friends, but never thought of not paying the graphic designer who was also a friend... Isn't a certain kind of work we do in the art world devalued?
Why do we ask ourselves so many questions about income, or ecology when much of people's money goes to Amazon or delivery services without people giving it a second thought, and yet here we are, pondering... :-) Thanks so much for putting this out there. Re-stacking as we speak.
It’s hard to say exactly how I feel about the idea of this. But I think it could be truly constructive and probably the only chance I would have at monetizing art writing. The way I see it is you can always divide things up; not every article has to be linked. With that in mind, maybe it could be worth pursuing!
This is such an interesting topic - I see myself partially in that art consultant/ influencer etc role ! And often I feel I do a lot for 'free' because the 'eye' or 'thoughts' are hard to monetize. Also, the art world is so particular - there is money to spend on blue chip art but not enoug to pay interns, writers, 'art influencers' . Anyway, thanks for the article and great newsletter recs!
Interesting! I enjoyed reading this. Great list, too!
Thank you so much for the mention! I actually love the idea of affiliate links lol
Super helpful round-up!!! Thank you 🙏
Great article. Definitely an interesting point.
This was such a good read! And thank you for the mention 🤸🏻♀️🤸🏻♀️
Thanks for the round-up of art publications (including mine :-)), Tatum. I am going to review them all and add to my list of reads!
I fear the attribution period for a purchase needs to be like ~1 year for the writer / influencer to make money. And the gallery / artist is unlikely to pay for anything less than a purchase (and rightly so). Trying to measure some halfway conversion, like a soft lead, can get messy.
But if there was a clever way to make it mutually beneficial, I'm all for it!
Thank you for the feature :)
This is an awesome collection. Love to see you lifting and supporting other art communicators!