End-of-year query: please respond!
To my esteemed readers:
Thank you for reading my "Image of the Week" posts. I receive many wonderful comments on my writing and art. Most gratifying are my local friends and acquaintances who stop me in the grocery store to tell me how much they appreciate what I do. Thank you!
Last week's post, "Urban Manger", was read by the most people yet to date – about 145 readers. And yet not one person purchased so much as a greeting card.
If you like my art, if you appreciate my books, my illustrations, and my paintings – and if you think therefore someone else must be buying it – please think again.
Here is the sober truth: artists do not live on air. Or appreciation. And yet, since the children's book publishing industry took a significant downturn during the recession, most publishers have survived by paying their content-providers – authors and illustrators – less and less. That was ten years ago, and while the economy as a whole has recovered, artists and authors are still expected to survive on the equivalent of (or even less than) minimum wage (as if creative gratification helps pay the bills?). The advances I'm paid to write and illustrate a book (which can take up to six months to complete) were over $10,000 per book before the recession; since the recession, they have ranged from zero to $6500.
That's right: zero. And yet, I'm considered a successful professional illustrator, because I'm able to earn at least a portion of my living with my art. I also hold down several part-time freelance jobs, such as tutoring Hebrew, drawing technical patent illustrations, and teaching occasional arts-in-ed programs – but it's not enough. As a single parent, I survive partly on social services – and I live very frugally. I'm not the only one: most of my fellow authors and illustrators are in the same boat – some, with no life jacket, are struggling just to put food on the table, despite their highly professional work.
So if you like my art, please tell your friends and family about it, and please consider supporting my work by visiting my webstore and buying a greeting card ($3.50), a poster ($10), a picture book (signed to the child of your choice, or donated to your library); or a calendar (I have only a few left of this year's Jewish Eye). All prices include shipping.
As the calendar season comes to an end, I would also like to know: if you have bought my calendar, The Jewish Eye Calendar of Art, have you also read "The Stories Behind the Pictures"? The URL for this blog post is printed on almost every grid inside the calendar, and may be accessed here. I put a great deal of work into this compilation, which tells more about each painting in the calendar, and how it came about. I'd like to have some idea of how many people actually read it. It is hosted on my Wordpress blog, which does not report back readers' response. Have you read this post, and if so, do you like it? Please take a moment to respond to this email and let me know!
As always, thanks for reading my post, thanks for your feedback, and most of all, thank you for your interest in my art and writing.
This week's "Image of the Week" will follow later today.
with appreciation,
Durga Yael Bernhard
D Yael Bernhard