Should I Publish a Book of My Art? Part 1

It's easy these days, so why not?

Wiliam Caxton, who printed the very first book in English, showing specimens of his printing to King Edward IV and his Queen. Caxton was born in 1422 and died in 1491.

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I sometimes get asked by students and mentees: Should I self-publish a book of my art? It's an easier task than it used to be; today, you can just go to Mixbook, upload some images, and voilà, so why not?

I'll share my answer in a moment, but first, why would anyone want to do this? It's common, of course, for artists of note to have catalogs published by a museum or gallery to accompany a retrospective exhibition or, once they're gone, to have an authority publish a catalogue raisonné. As for self-publishing, an artist might take this route for many reasons. If he's an emerging artist, perhaps the book would serve as a portfolio he can present to galleries. Or, if he's mid-career, perhaps he wants to generate more interest in his paintings and help sales. If he's in his sunset years, perhaps he just desires a beautiful coffee-table book for faithful collectors. I'm sure you can think of many other reasons to self-publish.

And that's my answer to the question: It really depends on your goal.