Why Add Text to Art Books

Unless your art book is meant for just a handful of readers, of course you’re looking for a wider audience. These are friends you just haven’t met! They want to know you because you have value to share! How to find them?

Traditional art monographs can end up as fairly monotonous, disjointed—just portfolios to flip through. I find myself disappointed, wanting to know more about how the artist or photographer came to create the images, how they felt about each location, event, abstraction, or portrait.

First essay and lead cloud image in the book Fragments of Spirit

So many reads, so little time. One of the best ways to create value for your reader, and to retain readers’ attention, is to add text. Commentary helps the unknown, or just moderately known, artist stand out. It’s that added value of entertainment, education, inspiration, or emotion that will attract the reader/buyer from a wider audience pool than friends and family.

Maps add content to story and place of the book Fragments of Spirit

Text does not necessarily conflict with, or overshadow, imagery, nor vice versa. Image and text can augment each other, even elucidate point of view, drawing the reader into the story. It could be poetry, journal, memoir, local legend, anecdotes, essays, personalities. Whatever the text is, it must relate and intertwine with the imagery. You say you don’t write? (From the other side, it’s “But I just write, I don’t paint, draw, or photograph!”) Consider collaboration. Writers are looking for ideas too.

Be of service. Tell a story worthy to be read again and again. Remind yourself: it’s all about story!