The Photographer's Guide to Marketing and Self-Promotion
If you're a photographer trying to earn a living from your work,The Photographer's Guide to Marketing and Self-Promotionmay be the best investment you make. Maria Piscopo has been a photographer's representative for more than two decades, and she has honed her message at innumerable industry conferences and workshops. In brief but information-packed chapters, Piscopo explains how to define the type of work you do, research different categories of clients, and persuade them to hire you. She deals with the nitty-gritty of portfolio presentation (how much do you show?), writing the selling "script" (what do you say and how do you tailor it to your audience?), and negotiating costs. Other chapters discuss how to work with a rep and a marketing coordinator. Throughout the book, first-person accounts by successful photographers add welcome practical details. While the level of detail on most topics is unusually thorough (where else are you likely to read about how to leave a voice mail message for a potential client?), a few areas could profitably be expanded or tweaked. There is a lot more to be said about styles and pitfalls of Web marketing, and the chapter on press releases could use the cautionary advice of someone on the other side (a newspaper or magazine editor). And maybe the next edition could lose all those distracting exclamation marks. Piscopo's cheerful, down-to-earth style is plenty persuasive without them.--Cathy Curtis