Creating Digital and Print Books from Your Art - Arts & Crafts 101

As an artist, you want to get your work out to the public and create a name for yourself. Creating digital and print books from your art can be a great way to reach a new audience.

I have been creating art for more years than I can count. Unfortunately, I had a hard time selling my artwork to anyone in the general public, so I started searching for ways to sell my art online. When you have digital copies of your art (or you're a digital artist) you can sell your art on products through services like Zazzle. You also have the option of turning your art into digital and print books.

I'm sure you've seen at least one of them in your lifetime, a large coffee table book filled with art, designed to be a conversation starter. It's a wonderful way to get people to see your art and become interested in purchasing it. I'm currently in the process of turning several hundred pieces of my art into a series of coffee table and digital e-books.

So how do you get started? Well, if you're a digital artist, you already have everything you need, since your books are already in digital format. You need to make sure your images are large in size, and at least 200 dpi or better so they will print clearly. If you're a traditional artist, you'll need to have clear, large photos of all the work that you want to show in your book, and upload those photos to your computer.

The next thing you need to do is choose an online publisher. I recommend Lulu, since there is no up-front cost, and they will allow you to create both print and digital books simultaneously. There are other digital publishers, so do some research online and find the one that best suits your needs. Once you choose a publisher, download their template for the size book you'd like to produce, if they have one.

Now you have your art and your template, so open the template in your document editor, and begin placing the images. Place an image on each page if you want to really show off the art, or on every other page if you'd like to have a lengthy description on the opposing page for each image in the book. I also recommend adding an introduction page or chapter that talks about you and your art, and has information on where people can purchase your art.

After you have the book set up the way you want it, save the document and follow the instructions on the publisher's site for submitting it and completing the production process. You now have your art available as print and digital e-books. You can begin promoting your book to the public, and attract people to your art. Creating digital and print books from your art will surely expand the number of people and potential customers you can expose your work to.

As a final note, if you have enough work, I suggest compiling your art into related groups and making more than one book. For instance, I am planning a book for my humor art, another for my dark and Gothic work, another for my general art and another for my kaleidoscopes. By breaking the art down by subject, you can market your book and your art to audiences that will be interested in it. Targeting your work to a niche market will always help with marketing and sales.