Tom Sowden: on book arts

This article concentrates on artists books that have a physical form. Here the term artists books means books conceived as an art object.

In the following paragraphs I’ll look at ways in which you can produce and market artists’ books. From how you can learn book production skills to where you can sell and exhibit your artist book. It doesn’t cover the craft of book binding, fine press books and book design. You can read more about this in this article by Paul Greenleaf.

I will focus on resources and book arts in the UK. There are well established book arts communities all over the world, most notably the USA.

In recent years there has been an explosion in artists choosing to make work through the book format. Some artists work only with books. Others choose to use books for specific projects. Some books are handmade, some are mass produced, while others only exist digitally.

This explosion has been because of a range of factors. Books have become a recognised art form. A book is an ideal format for narrative, sequencing, and combining text and image. There is also a growing audience that is receptive and understands the book as an art object.

With the growth in digital technologies, it is also easier and cheaper to produce books. Artists can use

• Domestic printers to print book pages
• print-on-demand websites that can produce the whole book.
• Local high street printers to print and bind low-run, high quality editions digitally.

Its also easier to tap into established distribution networks for artists’ books. These include print-on-demand websites, artist’s book fairs or small independent bookshops.

Making a living as a book artist

Making a living solely from producing and selling artists’ books is very hard. In the UK there is an audience of collectors, but it is small and often doesn’t have the largest budget. People can be reluctant to spend a great deal of money on a book. The books that often command the largest prices are those for which the painstaking craft of production it is evident.

Ironically, selling individual pages as prints, would make a lot more money than selling a bound artist’s book.

I only sell my books through attendance at artist’s book fairs and through my own website. I make a very modest income from sales that supplements a full-time research and teaching job.

Printing and selling artists’ books

Print-on-demand is an affordable and easy way to put a concept into book form. Listen to this talk by AND publishing on the subject.

This may limit your choice of size, paper stock, printing methods and binding choices.

I use it a lot now to produce my books as I like the commercially printed and bound book that can be achieved. I also like that until the point of ordering a copy of my book, it is completely free.

Bigger print on demand websites such as lulu.com or blurb.com provide a platform to sell your book. You can set up a storefront on their websites and sell from there.

You pay nothing for this. Buyer pays once they order a copy of a book. The base price is set by the platform. You can add the amount of profit that you wish to make.

A word of warning: don’t charge too much for a print-on-demand book. Regardless of how much effort making them took, these books are never perceived as ‘premium’ products. For example, the most I charge for my books is £25, and that is for the larger books, with colour printed pages. For many of the smaller books, I try to keep them around £10 – £15, about the price of a standard paperback book.

Once you have produced an artist’s book, or a series of books, there are other ways to market and sell them.

The bookartbookshop on Pitfield Street in London, is a fantastic shop dedicated to artists’ books. Started by Tanya Peixoto in 2002, this incredible resource has a changing stock of books, exhibitions and events. You can approach them to see if they will stock your book. They have a selection policy, which includes the need for the books to be produced in larger edition sizes. It’s worth visiting first to see if you think your work would fit.

Artist book fairs

The most common way to sell your books is through one of the many artist’s book fairs around the country. These are great for reaching a dedicated audience, and meeting a like-minded community.

The larger and more established book fairs include

• The London Art Book Fair,Whitechapel Gallery (London)
• The Small Publishers Fair at Conway Hall, London
• Manchester Artists’ Book Fair at Manchester School of Art
• Leeds International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair
• The Artists’ Bookmarket at The Fruitmarket Gallery Edinburgh
• BABE (Bristol Artists Book Event) held biennially at Arnolfini.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. A good way to find out when one is happening sign up to the Book Arts Newsletter.

Having a stand at a book fair can cost varying amounts. London Art Book Fair is one of the most expensive, with stands costing from £350 + VAT for the three-day fair. Most other fairs stands are between £80 and £150 and the fairs can last one, two or three days.

Some book fairs have a selection policy so that you will need to apply. Others run on a first come first served basis, in which case book early. Many fairs allow for the sharing of stands so that you can split the costs. Remember a table that is roughly 6ft x 3ft, so if there are more than three of you it becomes very cramped. Sharing between two people is the norm. You will also need to factor in travel and accommodation costs if the fair is not near your home.

If this all sounds a little expensive, then Artists Book Online might be able to help. As well as selling small edition work (less than 50) through their website, they often have stands at fairs that stock work from their members.

© Tom Sowden, 2014

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