Personally, I identify less with what our society thinks of as an "artist". I am a storyteller.  I choose illustration and children's fiction as my primary medium and it has evolved to become my business.  

I am grateful to share the tools that have helped nurture the garden of prosperity and thus have given me the space and time to explore my creative desires.  But I ask of you just one thing:

Please let go.

Of everything - YES - I mean everything that society has told you about right brains verse left brains. About not being able to be good at numbers.  That artists must starve and suffer to be good.  That our economy totally sucks and that it's really hard to get anything off the ground.

What you believe in your mind is transmitted into a behavior.  That behavior becomes an engrained belief and then becomes an action.  If you really think that you can't do something, then that becomes a reality. If you believe in yourself that you CAN, the tools and support to get you there will clearly be revealed.

Lesson #1: Support is everywhere.

Learn to ask for what you need. Relationships are soooooooo important.  I couldn't have started out without the support of my friends and community. My first book was funded by a small group of people that I had developed good relationships with.  I put together a business plan (I winged it!), projected my expenses, created a video blog to pitch my idea, and then emailed a group of friends that I knew believed in me with the attached plan and link to the video.

In two days I raised $2,500. 

That capital gave me the kickstart to get my first 50 books printed for a major trade show.  I sold out the first day.

Looking back, 50 books is really not that much...but a majority of those 50 people that purchased those books?  Well, they are returning customers. Some of them post about my work on Facebook.  It all comes back.

And continues to grow.

If your starting from scratch, get really specific about the project that you want to complete and itemize what they expenses are.  Don't get scared....remember - LET GO.  Think of it like baking a cake and needing to go the grocery store.  Basic materials.  Paper? Pens? Software? Graphic Tablet? Computer?

If you get caught up in the "But it's so hard to make it as an artist, how will I ever make it?", give that voice a hug and move on. 

So you have your basic materials listed that are needed to make it happen.  Now, how much time do you project that you will need to get this done?  Consider what you would pay yourself per hour to work on it and then multiply it by your hourly.  Factor that into your cost. 

I want you to add the "needed materials cost" + "how much you would pay yourself for your time cost" and write it down somewhere.  We will call this figure A.

Now, divide figure A by two.  This is figure B.

Add figure B to figure A.  This new number is figure C.

Now, write this following sentence down, "I will need about 'Fig. A - Fig. C" to get this project started".

If your feeling sassy and your brain isn't hurting at this point, I challenge you to project further down the road and consider things like fees for exhibiting at a specific convention (Wondercon? Alternative Press Expo?  A trade show that you just could see yourself rockin' it at?) and travel costs.  Whether or not this is the direction you go, the point is to visualize expansion.  That's another lesson.

The last part of this lesson is to start writing down the names of people that you feel you could approach asking for patronage.  DON'T HOLD BACK.  Professors that inspired you? Teachers from your past?  Coaches?  Advisors? Family? Friends?  If your mind gets caught up in shameful thoughts like, "What am I doing asking for money?" or "What kind of person am I? I should never have to do this", give those thoughts a hug and move on.

Really, love those thoughts unconditionally like a parent would love their tantrum throwing two year old.  It will pass.

I really hope this helps get the wheels turning for setting intentions and getting specific about your project's needs and costs.  If you get stuck, come back to it later.  Sometimes we need to let our creative problem solving mind simmer and brew something extra juicy...that's definitely worth waiting for :0) In the next lesson we will get more specific about using other creative solutions for fundraising such as Kickstarter.com and Indiegogo.com

Also, this is my first time writing a blog like this.  I'm basing it all off of personal experience and what has helped me.  If you have any suggestions or questions or something isn't clear, please leave me a comment!

And remember, Support is Everywhere.

Warmly,

Mollycules