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Good Art Does Not Sell Itself
The Artist's Definitive Guide to Visibility and Opportunities
Over the past decade, Shirley-Ann O’Neill and Laura O’Hare have worked with hundreds of artists to help successfully build their practices and sell their work. During the past two years, they have built a community which focuses on
supporting artists in their professional lives. Now, they are sharing their knowledge and experience with you.
Good Art Does Not Sell Itself guides artists through the ins and outs of income streams and art sales. Success is a journey and this book is the roadmap. No matter what stage you are at in your career, Good Art Does Not Sell Itself will equip you with the knowledge to increase your visibility and create more opportunities.
Over the past decade, Shirley-Ann O’Neill and Laura O’Hare have worked with hundreds of artists to help successfully build their practices and sell their work. During the past two years, they have built a community which focuses on
supporting artists in their professional lives. Now, they are sharing their knowledge and experience with you.
Good Art Does Not Sell Itself guides artists through the ins and outs of income streams and art sales. Success is a journey and this book is the roadmap. No matter what stage you are at in your career, Good Art Does Not Sell Itself will equip you with the knowledge to increase your visibility and create more opportunities.
- GenresArtNonfiction
174 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 3, 2022
69 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 3, 2024
A practical and useful book about selling - or getting set up to sell - your artwork. Beyond the obvious need to do more social media, and build a mailing list, I came away with several new-to-me ideas and perhaps an action plan. Time will tell! At least I have a website: https://larkcreative.art.
January 10, 2023
Really easy to follow, with great practical advice.
Aimed at the working artist or those who are thinking about taking the plunge and selling their art.
Quite inspirational, in bite size chunks so you can dip in and out. Highly recommended!
Aimed at the working artist or those who are thinking about taking the plunge and selling their art.
Quite inspirational, in bite size chunks so you can dip in and out. Highly recommended!
October 9, 2025
Book Review: Good Art Does Not Sell Itself
I bought this book because the author clearly knows about marketing and visibility — they’re good at making themselves seen. Unfortunately, that skill didn’t translate into substance within the book itself.
The content repeats the same advice found in many better-written art business guides: “Put your work out there,” “find opportunities,” “tell your story.” But it never goes beyond surface-level suggestions. There are no real examples, case studies, or insights into what others artists are actually doing or trying in practice.
The author throws around impressive figures — apparently an artist they’ve worked with, selling a piece for £30,000 after being on a popular televised art competition — yet never mentions the show by name or provides any transparency about how that success came about. I apply for the portrait and landscape artist of the year every year. It could have gone into why this helped elevate their business, was it simply more saw it, I guess that was implied . Maybe that omission is for legal reasons, but it makes the story feel incomplete and, frankly, unhelpful.
The message seems to boil down to: make art and share it. Sure, that’s true, but any working artist already knows that. Even without the book suggesting of where to show, a lot of us know about and are sharing our art within our local opportunities. The book doesn’t dig into the how. It’s all very well saying what to do but the conundrum is knowing who to contact and what opportunities to apply for beyond markets and art trails — how to find consistent opportunities, build genuine connections, or sustain momentum in the long run.
Personally, I was hoping for insight into how to develop more steady engagement with like-minded collectors or collaborators — something beyond the obvious. Instead, after 40 pages (and a quick skim through the rest), I realised it wasn’t going to deliver anything new that I figured out on my own. It did teach me to stop spending on help and realise it is within you. It ironically touches on self believe.
For context, I already do much of what the author suggests: I show my work at local markets, art trails, festivals, and small businesses. I’ve painted at Europe’s biggest street art festival upfest, and have sold my work worldwide. I use social media, engage with my local art community, and keep an eye on open calls (though I’m wary of the paid ones — they often seem to benefit organisers more than artists).
This book added nothing to that knowledge. I don’t think it would even help those starting out and is working off of artists wishing for the answer, there are many working off the fears, hopes and dreams of artists. It’s not that the message is wrong — just painfully generic and as bad as telling someone to calm down , and all it says is believe in self, find opportunities. It could have written just those words and be just as complete as this entire book. Writing from personal experience is valuable, but readers need more than “try harder and be visible.” There wasn’t any actual examples of this knowledge.
In short: if you’re already an active artist, looking for meaningful strategies or real-world examples, this book won’t offer much. If you’re at the beginning like myself and researching how to make this into full time, sustainable and consistent, knowing the steps to put your efforts into.I wouldn’t recommend spending your time reading this book.
I bought this book because the author clearly knows about marketing and visibility — they’re good at making themselves seen. Unfortunately, that skill didn’t translate into substance within the book itself.
The content repeats the same advice found in many better-written art business guides: “Put your work out there,” “find opportunities,” “tell your story.” But it never goes beyond surface-level suggestions. There are no real examples, case studies, or insights into what others artists are actually doing or trying in practice.
The author throws around impressive figures — apparently an artist they’ve worked with, selling a piece for £30,000 after being on a popular televised art competition — yet never mentions the show by name or provides any transparency about how that success came about. I apply for the portrait and landscape artist of the year every year. It could have gone into why this helped elevate their business, was it simply more saw it, I guess that was implied . Maybe that omission is for legal reasons, but it makes the story feel incomplete and, frankly, unhelpful.
The message seems to boil down to: make art and share it. Sure, that’s true, but any working artist already knows that. Even without the book suggesting of where to show, a lot of us know about and are sharing our art within our local opportunities. The book doesn’t dig into the how. It’s all very well saying what to do but the conundrum is knowing who to contact and what opportunities to apply for beyond markets and art trails — how to find consistent opportunities, build genuine connections, or sustain momentum in the long run.
Personally, I was hoping for insight into how to develop more steady engagement with like-minded collectors or collaborators — something beyond the obvious. Instead, after 40 pages (and a quick skim through the rest), I realised it wasn’t going to deliver anything new that I figured out on my own. It did teach me to stop spending on help and realise it is within you. It ironically touches on self believe.
For context, I already do much of what the author suggests: I show my work at local markets, art trails, festivals, and small businesses. I’ve painted at Europe’s biggest street art festival upfest, and have sold my work worldwide. I use social media, engage with my local art community, and keep an eye on open calls (though I’m wary of the paid ones — they often seem to benefit organisers more than artists).
This book added nothing to that knowledge. I don’t think it would even help those starting out and is working off of artists wishing for the answer, there are many working off the fears, hopes and dreams of artists. It’s not that the message is wrong — just painfully generic and as bad as telling someone to calm down , and all it says is believe in self, find opportunities. It could have written just those words and be just as complete as this entire book. Writing from personal experience is valuable, but readers need more than “try harder and be visible.” There wasn’t any actual examples of this knowledge.
In short: if you’re already an active artist, looking for meaningful strategies or real-world examples, this book won’t offer much. If you’re at the beginning like myself and researching how to make this into full time, sustainable and consistent, knowing the steps to put your efforts into.I wouldn’t recommend spending your time reading this book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews