How This Article in "American Craft" Came to Be.
December 06, 2011
When I see something amazing happen for a fellow artist or maker, I wonder how it happened or what they did to make that happen. Do you wonder the same thing?
Recently, my work was featured in American Craft Magazine -- two pages in the Craft in Action section about Pick Up Your Pencils, Begin. While there was an increment of good fortune, it was years of making, along with taking everyday actions that readers of ASK Harriete could implement for greater visibility for their work.
In this case, a quote of Louis Pasteur comes to mind, "Chance favors only the prepared mind."
Since I knew that this project was going to take several years, I started a page on my website very early in the project to document each stage.
The website was updated frequently with pictures of work in progress.
I also posted a link to this page on the home page of my website (shown below). The link was an eye-catching yellow of #2 pencils.
While there are no guarantees for anything in life, the article in American Craft came about in part because of the ongoing four years of communicating each milestone of the project. I took the time to give the project visibility on my website.
It seems Julie K. Hanus, Senior Editor of American Craft Magazine, is like many editors who "troll" the web for ideas, information, and new work whenever they have a chance. I heard the same comment from Marthe Le Van, Editor at Lark Books in the presentation she gave during the Professional Development Seminar.
The lesson learned here is that your website is a window to the world for people to see your work. While I use many other social networking platforms....your website is paramount. Even though I would wonder how many people were looking at my website, all the work that I put into my website did matter after all!
The article in American Craft happened because of hard work and my website!
My words of wisdom to everyone is that YOUR WEBSITE IS YOUR MOST VALUABLE TOOL to promote your work.
Learn how to update and maintain your website.
Update your website regularly.
This post was updated on February 16, 2022, to provide current links.