Print Offers: The Verdict

I want to thank everybody who answered yesterday for all the thoughtful feedback. I think I'd like to do something completely radical: just do what I feel like doing, and what I think I'll have the most fun with. Where's the harm? If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't.

So I'm going to try the following. Only two offers per week, on Mondays and Fridays. (That's so you can check in on those mornings to see what's available if you want to.)

On Mondays I'll offer one of my own pictures, in two "tiers": a Standard version on 8.5x11" HP Advanced Glossy, unsigned, unlimited in number but offered for a period of 1 week, for $45 each; and a Gallery version of the same picture on a larger size of 100% cotton rag fine art paper, limited to five copies for sale through the website, with a T.O.P. edition number, signed, for $90. That way people who'd like to own the print can choose their own price point.

The Standard version will be a high-quality print, suitable for framing. The Gallery version will represent the best print that I can make, and be identical to the prints I would show in galleries. I think both prices are eminently reasonable for original artwork. (In any event, if you don't like the picture enough to want to pay those prices for it, you probably shouldn't buy it anyway.)

On Fridays—maybe not every Friday—I'll offer a selected print by another photographer. Because the type, technique, size, and materials will vary, each of these offers will be individually customized, not standardized. In many cases, I'm sure, it won't be up to me anyway—the photographers themselves will determine what they're comfortable with.

So check in next Monday and have a look. Meanwhile, back to the news.

Posted by: MIKE JOHNSTON