“Sowing Seeds” is a phrase David and I use to mean “put your energy out into the world.” Our expectation is that if we keep on doing our best work and putting it out there, that good things will come back to us. Call it the “Artist’s Law of Attraction.”
We attract back to us the energy that we put out, but we don’t control it: You may put a lot of energy into volunteering at a particular school, hoping to land a part-time teaching gig there. The teaching gig goes to someone else, but one of the parents turns out to be the coordinator of community events, and hires you to play regular weekend gigs. The process that ended up with me getting me a contract to write a book on piano playing started when a fellow writer heard me playing piano during a break in a writer’s conference at a country inn. I have long since stopped trying to figure out how the “Artist’s Law of Attraction” works; I just know that it does.
Here are some ways to get started:
- Tell everyone you meet what you do.
- Always carry business cards.
- Advertise once in a while, just to keep your name out there.
- Patronize local businesses that deal in your field (music stores for musicians, book stores for writers). Talk to the owners, send them referrals, use them for regular purchases, even if the Internet IS 10 percent cheaper.
- Volunteer to give programs at the local libraries, at schools, and at community centers.
- Join your town’s arts league or cultural events committee and participate in community arts events.
- Trade skills with other artists: A designer does a CD cover for a musician; the musician reciprocates by playing for a dinner party. A photographer does a quick head shot for an author; the author writes the photographer’s press packet.
- Join the national groups in your field for which you qualify. Get involved in Internet forum. discussions, participate in mutual help exchanges, or volunteer for a committee.
- Join — or create — a local group of your peers where you can share contacts, trade critiques, and celebrate, or commiserate, as appropriate.
- Support fellow artists in your community: Buy their books, their crafts, go to their concerts and plays, use them to write your press releases or take your publicity shots.
- GET OUT OF YOUR HOUSE, STUDIO, OR WHEREVER IT IS THAT YOU SPEND ALL THAT TIME WORKING ALONE!
