Blog
The narrative around this, however, is complicated.
I think everyone is familiar with the concept of the starving artist. There is this pervasive idea in the collective consciousness that artists – no matter your art – are noble in their struggle. This is part of why hobbyists are frequently hit with the idea of “exposure” over getting paid for their art.
I’ve jumped at opportunities to write for exposure. There was a tiny magazine, largely just a vehicle for advertising, that I got to write a couple of articles for. Then, one became the actual cover story. When they asked for more, I let them know that I appreciated the exposure, but now I needed to be paid for my time and work.
Guess how many more articles they asked of me?
I have multiple friends who are fiber artists. They can knit, crochet, or sew incredible things with relative ease. When someone commissions a work from them, they often balk at the cost. “But, don’t you do it for the love?” Perhaps, but even factoring in material costs, every other job pays for time, effort, and expertise. Why are artists expected to work for little or for free so often?
This is why I’m sharing this. Because the reality is that creativity and money are not mutually exclusive.
The noble, struggling, broke artist does artists a disservice
Every prejudice, belief about a culture or people, and legend or myth has a basis in truth. However, that basis might have been lost eons ago, or was popularized for a time for one reason or another, then never forgotten.
One asshole, years ago, claimed that vaccines cause autism. He was debunked and thoroughly proven wrong. Yet today, people still believe this bullshit notion, and nearly extinct diseases are resurging because of it.
While not the same degree of stupid or threat of death, the idea of the starving artist, that suffering for your art is noble, persists. Van Gogh, a brilliant genius artist, is often a poster child for this idea. He struggled with his mental health while producing tons of amazing artwork, but wasn’t appreciated until after his death.
There is no reason for this to be the expectation on behalf of artists. Getting paid for the work you do, even artistic work, is not just fair, but should be the norm.
Because I’m a self-published author, I choose to price my eBooks at a relatively low price. Since I don’t have the backing of a major publishing house and the marketing machine therein, I have to offer my work at a lower rate to attract buyers. Charge too little and I look unprofessional, charge too much and I get ignored.
It takes time and effort to take the idea of a story and turn it into a book. If I choose to share it with the world, shouldn’t I get paid for my effort? This is why creativity and money are not mutually exclusive.
Creativity and money are not enemies
Sometimes, when an artist succeeds, they’re accused of selling out.
There are sellouts in the world. These are the people who create something, but they do so with no joy; they pander to their audience, and what they produce is soulless. They don’t love the art, they only do it for the money.
This is where concerns about AI are often directed. AI has some great applications, and like any tool, it can be used for good or ill. It’s the abuse of AI that is most concerning. For example, the loving care that goes into the creation of a story and its dialogue, nuance, and plot can be partially circumvented by feeding an idea into generative AI and letting it do the work.
The biggest challenge when it comes to creativity and money is changing the narrative. This is especially hard when the first thing schools often cut is the arts. I think a big part of why American politics is currently such a shitshow is because we’ve deemphasized creativity, imagination, and progress in favor of ever-changing goalposts, anti-intellectualism, and metrics that are based in lack.
I’m getting off-topic here, because the reason why creativity and money is complicated comes from many different sources. However, the truth is that creativity and money are not mutually exclusive and are not enemies. You’re not somehow a nobler, more worthy artist if you suffer for your art and get paid little or nothing. Creativity and creative work should earn you money like any other work does.
The only way to change the collective consciousness is to change ourselves.
Buy local, shop small, support independents
Sometimes the answer is to buy the thing on Amazon. It’s just utterly logical to go online and make the purchase for delivery. Also, many independents use Amazon for exposure and distribution, so consider that when you click BUY NOW.
Amazon, Walmart, and the like shouldn’t be the only places you buy things. There are times when you should seek out the local mom-and-pop shop. Don’t just buy the best-selling, traditionally published authors; buy an interesting eBook from the authorpreneur. Shop small from that specialty shop online.
This is a choice on your part. If, like me, you’re an indie-author or any other type of artist, doing our part involves supporting one another.
Money can be complicated by all sorts of things, and creativity and money are especially fraught. Yet they’re not mutually exclusive, and asking to be paid fairly as an artist is not unreasonable at all.
When you and I do our part to support one another’s creativity with money, we are changing the narrative. You can’t get a big overarching change without small steps. Creativity is essential to life, and art deserves to make some money for the work that goes into it.
Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you every week, please consider this: How are you inspired and empowered to be your own creator, whatever form that takes?
You must be logged in to post a comment.