How to Start a Mail Art Project: Part Two

Remember: organization is a very important piece to this puzzle.

Here are some tips for staying organized through the process:

Title your project: use a title or number for your project so it's easier to reference when talking about it to other participants. (and it won't get confused with other projects this way, either) Mark your project's title or number prominently on all your correspondence and the project, itself.

Keep your project simple: if there are numerous steps, there's a higher chance of it getting lost or forgotten.

Be clear when outlining your instructions: keep your wording short and to the point, be descriptive in terms of how long participants should work on a project and be clear about if they'll receive anything in return.

Mark your name, username (if applicable) and address on everything: for example, if you're sending a journal or an altered book, write this information on the inside cover.

Keep a list: keep a running list of all the participants involved with their name, username (if applicable), email address and mailing address.

Include a distribution list in with your project for participants to include in each mailing.

Don't be afraid to follow-up: if your project has been with one participant for a particularly long period of time, don't be afraid to send a friendly email asking them about their progress with your project.

Be prompt: if you're expecting participants to follow a deadline and returns are involved, have enough respect to send out returns promptly. If you can't, be sure to communicate why and provide an expected date for each participant.

Many people often wonder why, when sending out their projects, why they don't hear anything or why their projects don't return home. This doesn't need to be a mystery if you're willing to stay on top of things and communicate. Before long, you'll see many (if not all) your projects return home successfully.

Keep in mind that I've been involved in 100's of mail art projects since 2003, some with good results and some with bad. I've had nothing but positive experiences on some sites and nothing but negative results on others. You can't base your expectations on my experiences, though. Your best bet is to start slowly, work with the tips you've learned so far and keep an open mind. There are many forums where information and support about mail art projects are available - tap into these resources to learn more and to ease your mind.