Creative Business Handbook : Follow Your Passions and Be Your Own Boss

Offering veteran insight and friendly, actionable advice from two self-made women who manage three six-figure businesses, this practical handbook acts as a roadmap to guide anyone wanting to build a profitable venture out of their creative passion.

Figuring out how to make a living from your creative work poses unique challenges and obstacles. From choosing the right business model to building a brand, from managing your time to scaling up your production—starting your own creative business often means doing it all yourself. Enter The Creative Business Handbook by Alicia Puig and Ekaterina Popova, the dynamic duo behind Create! Magazine.

With its conversational tone and accessible advice, this handbook lays an essential foundation for anyone wanting to earn a living with their art—no fancy business degree required! In addition to nuts-and-bolts advice based on the authors' real-life experiences, each chapter of the book includes an interview with a creative entrepreneur from a different background and craft, and ends with action steps that will help keep you on track. Written by creative business owners for creative business owners, this is the perfect book for anyone with a vision who is ready to hit the ground running.

EXPERT AUTHORS: Informed by the authors' decades of experience founding and managing three successful creative businesses—as well as the lessons they learned from some projects that didn't stand the test of time—this book offers tried-and-true advice for artists looking to get their creative enterprises off the ground and achieve real financial success. Popova and Puig have also included interviews with other self-employed creatives across a variety of fields, giving you a window into the myriad paths available to you as you embark on your entrepreneurial journey.

FOR ALL CREATIVES: This book offers real wisdom for starting and sustaining your unique creative business no matter your passion, whether you are a career artist looking to make a living outside of the gallery space, an experienced freelance writer interested in mentoring your peers, or a podcaster who dreams of sustaining yourself by making content that you genuinely care about. From advice about best marketing practices to striking the ever-elusive work-life balance, this guide will help you to understand the business side of your creative practice.

Perfect for:

• Artists, designers, makers, illustrators—recent graduates and budding professionals—looking to start their own businesses
• Creative people exploring career ideas and looking for practical advice and inspiration
• Graduation, birthday, or holiday gift for artistic and entrepreneurial friends and loved ones
• Readers of Create! Magazine, Steal Like an Artist, Big Magic, and Untamed

Ekaterina Popova is an award-winning artist based in Philadelphia. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Create! Magazine and the CEO of the Art Queens Society, a coaching service and community dedicated to lifting up women artists. 

Alicia Puig is the curator and cofounder of the gallery PxP Contemporary, the director of business operations for Create! Magazine, and an independent arts journalist. She is based in Costa Rica.

Illustrator Leila Simon Hayes is a Boston-based abstract artist, fabric designer, and maker.