What Makes You Famous?

Everyone now a day has the opportunity to write and publish on the web. Anyone can become a writer and author without needing a publisher to edit, print, bond and distribute their work. 

The same is for musicians and dancers and artist. Though much of the performing arts need to be seen and heard in public, all the advertising and promotion can be done electronically. 

So other than tickets at a show or sales slips, how do you know you are famous? Maybe you are not as good as you think you are.

Just like the NSA collecting data, every artist must evaluate their work and the public response to see if they wish to continue with this line of work. 

Some web sites are effective and get attention and some don’t. The same is true for books and magazines. 

If you measure the number of hits on a website, is that a conclusive number of views? If you sell so many magazines, does that mean everyone who buys it will read your article? What about books? No matter how many are published, unless they become classroom text may only windup in the bargain bin. 

But the promise of being on the New York Times bestseller list or welcoming a movie deal keeps every artist hoping. 

I started out with 3 to 4 reads when I started. Now I’m up to 40 to 50 averages reads. Is my writing any better? Probably not, but it is rewarding that more eyes read this mess. 

All artist want some response for their efforts otherwise they would just do cave drawing for themselves. Just like the paintings hanging in the museum, does everyone appreciate them even though that they have been valued by the appreciation experts that they are worthy of hanging in a museum?

Distribution

It is an economic reality. Whatever it takes to create art, and however the promotion is used to make the public become aware, the art has to be disturbed to the location the public uses. 

Today the distribution of artwork or music can be handled through the Internet. Website can be established for branding or distribution sites can be uploaded with samples that can be observed but not downloaded without a charge. There are also other social networks to inform the public and guide them to your site. 

There are also the tours of festivals and fairs but the booths will have to be carried from location to location and a library of work carried. With the music is by one or several, instruments and sound systems must be moved and repaired from place to place. The same process holds true for any other performance art. 

Along with travel to distant destinations the distribution off your art includes eating, sleeping, and washing arrangements along with financial processing. Also every state and community has certain legal requirements for setting up and displaying your art.

The Audience

Most of us are in the audience. 

We pay for a ticket and attend a venue to watch and listen and enjoy a performance, but we are the audience. 

The audience has paid their fare but they are rude. Most are not there to appreciate the artistry being performed before them. For high-end venues, the audience is to be seen and will cough and squirm and leave at the first intermission. The smaller stage will present an audience who paid less per ticket but are true fans of the performance.

Due to the constant chatter from the audience, the volume gets louder to gain attention. 

The same is true for artwork of every kind. 

Flashy and bright artwork zooms across computer screens trying to catch the viewer’s attention. It seems no one has the patience to sit and enjoy a full opera or walk quietly through a museum to view the details of the artwork.

For sales of static art or performing art helps to know what the audience wants. Don’t take a violin concerto to a rock festival.

So as you plan your website and book your presentations, consider your audience.

Why do you write?

 

There are hundreds of thousands of books, short stories, magazines, website presenting ideas, opinions, factual observations, historical research, and more. Fiction, Science Fiction, Graphic novels, Cooking, Science, History, and even E-Books, the list goes on and on about subjects and categories. Behind all the different methods to deliver these words, someone is writing them.

What drives a person to sit down and write their thoughts for others to read? Some strive for the recognition, fame and fortune. Some hope for changing ways of thinking. Some just enjoy creating sentences that will tell a story that someone else may connect with and enjoy.

The same is true for anyone with a creative slant. Painters, dancers, musicians, performers what to entertain, inspire, and overall influence their audience. The reviews and comments are much more cherished than the paycheck.