Published 2022-12-22
Keywords
- Subscription,
- Subscription services,
- Direct sales,
- Business practices
Abstract
There’s nothing quite like opening your mailbox to find a hand-addressed envelope with some art enclosed. Over the almost thirty years I have been making books, I’ve noticed a number of artists who work in the book arts and who offer serial subscriptions of some kind. Even before crowdfunding and online sales sites, some artists made books or prints, usually smaller, more modest pieces, that sold in the manner of traditional mailed magazine subscriptions. Pay your money and receive a regular mailing of a piece of art—prints, ephemera, zines, or pamphlets.
What does it take to create a successful subscription series? What advantages are there for an artist to produce one? And why should a subscriber sign up? I’ve been curious about this for some time, so I reached out to a handful of artists with current or past subscription series to find out.