ArtistsNetwork.com 91location. Estimate
your necessary
sales to recover
this base cost.
Additional costs
may include
renting a booth
and one or more
tables from
the organizers.
Renting this kind
of equipment
is a good choice
until you begin
regularly partic-
ipating in fairs. At that point you’ll
want to select your preferred setup—
keeping in mind that you’ll be the one
responsible for transporting it from
place to place.
Whether you rent or buy your table
or booth, you may wish to invest
in display easels, cases or plinths.
You’ll need packing materials such
as bubble wrap and tape, both for
transporting goods to and from the
fair and for packaging your work for
buying customers. A sturdy plastic
container keeps prints and fragile
items secure during transport. The
distance between the parking lot and
the display area may be long enough
to make a handcart beneficial.
Also consider the subsidiary needs,
such as your meals and drinks, as well
as the cost of transport and a poten-
tial overnight stay. These may be less
relevant if the fair is situated locally
since you can pack a picnic and snacks
and sleep at home. If, however, you’re
traveling more than an hour each way
for a multiday fair, your end-of-day
exhaustion may deserve an easy-to-
reach rest location. Even for local fairs,
you may need a truck or moving van
to transport large-scale works. Track
all these costs so you can adjust your
expense estimates for future events.INVALUABLE SUPPORT
A day at a fair is commonly eight
hours or longer so having an extra
person available is helpful—especially
if the fair lasts more than one day.
A companion can help pass the time
during slow hours, chat with people
in the booth while you’re explaining
your work to a potential client, and
keep an eye on your artwork while
you take a break or roam the fair to
learn about the other sellers.
Whether or not you’re paying your
companion, be clear about your needs
and expectations. You don’t want to
mar a friendship because the friend
couldn’t or wouldn’t do what you pre-
sumed was an obvious task. At the
very least, cover meals and ad hoc
expenses as a thank you. If you hire
an assistant, prepare that person with
knowledge about your work, including
titles, costs and information about
your practice.
Make sure everyone understands
that a fair includes packing the work,
loading it for transport, unloading it
at the fair, setting it all up, interacting
with passersby, repacking and reload-
ing at the end of the fair and unloading
everything back at the studio. Those
tasks add many hours to the time you
spend while the fair is open, and every-
one involved should plan for that.“A COMPANION CAN HELP PASS THE TIME
DURING SLOW HOURS, CHAT WITH PEOPLE IN THE
BOOTH WHILE YOU’RE EXPLAINING YOUR WORK
TO A POTENTIAL CLIENT, AND KEEP AN EYE ON
YOUR ARTWORK WHILE YOU TAKE A BREAK OR ROAM
THE FAIR TO LEARN ABOUT THE OTHER SELLERS.”
LETTING THE
WORLD KNOW
Once you’ve committed to a fair, let
your network know. Send an email
blast, post on social media and ask your
friends to spread the word. The fair may
give you opportunities to advertise.
If it’s in your budget, consider it; a
color display or box in the program
may help attract attention. Many
first-time participants don’t adver-
tise, instead using the experience to
learn first-hand about the fair and its
attendees’ preferences in order to better
target advertising for the next fair. If
you want to make a big splash, then you
may wish to plan an activity, display or
talk to attract attendees to your table or
booth. Mentioning these “extras” in an
advertisement makes the draw stronger
and more specific. You can measure
the impact to determine whether to
repeat your efforts in the future.
The process of finding the right
fairs for selling your work takes time
and effort. Your first events will prob-
ably include both successes and
failures. Keep notes on what works as
well as what doesn’t. Maintain a list
of your expenses, needs and tools to
make planning easier. Most impor-
tantly, find some small way to
recognize your courage and effort in
presentingyourarttotheworld.C.J. Kent is a freelance writer and editor
as well as a professor at Montclair State
University. She founded Script and Type
(scriptandtype.com), which helps people
express themselves eff ectively in writing
and in person.