Introduction
Being an Artist in Business, as I will discuss in due time in my upcoming article, can take many different aspects. It can certainly take the aspect of the artist selling his or her photographs as fine art prints. But it can take other aspects as well, with the artist selling products other than his or her prints. The business approach chosen by Bill Irwin is a case in point.
Following my publication of Bill Irwin's account I received a number of questions about the state of my long-awaited and final essay in the Photography & Aesthetics Series: Being an Artist in Business. So, I thought I'd post some news about this essay is moving along. Here goes.
The "essay" is currently 27 pages long, single spaced. That's without photographs or formatting. This same text, with formatting and photographs, will reach 35 pages easily.
The thing is, I am not even half done writing the text... Let me explain.
Clearly this essay is becoming more than an essay. There's no denying it. At this point, I split it into two parts:
Part 1 - My Story
Part 2 - How you can do it too
My Story, which as of now covers only half of the time span I want to cover, is 11 pages long. It will be, when finished, at the very least, 22 pages and most likely close to 50. I'm not sure if it's an essay any longer. To me it looks more like an autobiography.
How you can do it too is 16 pages, many of them unedited notes about specific areas I want to emphasize. A lot more work is needed to make it a comprehensive text. Essay? Maybe. But a long one.
So this is where I am now. I love the process and you'll love the results. But, publishing it the way I intended to originally publish it may prove challenging (that's the word that's used when something can't be done in case you wonder. It goes right along with people who answer "that's a good question" when they really don't know the answer to your question). How did I originally intend to publish it? On the web and as a PDF file sent to Briot's View subscribers. I now consider publishing it as a stand-alone piece. A book? Maybe, although I hope it won't come to that. I am also considering publishing it in several installments, some on the web and some on CD or in PDF format. Nothing's decided, so don't fret quite yet.
If you have the feeling that this is the series that never ends: number of essays that keep increasing (from a planned 7 to 11 currently), essays that are split in two parts (Being an Artist became that plus Being an Artist in Business) and split essays that are divided into parts (as I explained above) don't worry: you are not alone. I have this distinct feeling as well ;- )
So what should you do? Simple: sit back and relax, I got it all under control (or wish I did). The bad news: it is taking a lot of time and the format is undecided. The good news: you'll get the whole story. The alternative? Get the edited, cleaned up, shortened, bland, un-controversial version. But who wants that?
I don't, and if you enjoy my writing, I believe you don't want it either. Why? Because the version I am working on is worth waiting for.
And in the meantime listen to the full, 4 hour recordings. Briot Speaks CD-1 is available at this link.
Alain
