Barbara Simler (a.k.a. moonbindery)

Barbara Simler, a.k.a. moonbindery on the forums and blogs, is a talented and artful bookbinder from Kamloops, BC. Her handmade books have just the right feel to them. They are works of art that are both stylish and inviting and long to be filled with your thoughts and visions.

You can keep up with Barbara’s life at her blog and you can usually find her work for sale in her Etsy store. For the next couple of weeks she is revamping her studio and her store and getting ready to present her work anew. Bookmark her store and subscribe to her blog because you don’t want to miss the grand reopening.

Here is my interview with Barbara:

OAM: What kind of art do you currently produce?

BS: I do the occasional OOAK artist’s book, but mostly I make handcrafted books–journals, sketchbooks, address books, and a few other things. I love William Morris’s idea that everyday objects can and should be beautiful, so my objective is to make books that are both beautiful and useful.

It’s been an interesting adventure–some people tell me that my journals (the ones with handmade paper cover designs) are too beautiful to write in. Funny, eh? It had never occured to me that something could be considered too beautiful. One woman told me that she never writes in her book. She just takes it out of a drawer now and then to look at it, which gives her pleasure. It’s a real compliment, but not at all what I was expecting!

So, it’s been very interesting to explore the balancing point where beauty and utility meet. In terms of designs, I tend to make what interests me, rather than following a particular fashion, but at the same time I want to be responsive to people’s needs, so I’m making more books that have a specific purpose, such as address books and sketch books, books that people will want to keep for a long time.

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OAM: How many different ways do you currently sell your art and which 1 (or 2 or 3) have worked the best?

BS: I currently sell my work four different ways:

1. Higher-end arts and crafts shows

These have been the most successful venues for me so far. My books are very tactile–the covers of some of them have pieces of bark and leaves in them, and others have leather covers, so I think it’s helpful for buyers to be able to pick them up and really touch them. One thing that has improved my sales a lot is that I set up a separate small table next to my book table that has examples of all the kinds of books I make, along with cards that briefly explain the histories of the different bindings. Doing demos, telling your story, things like that can be very helpful.

2. Art Gallery Shop

I have some of my books on consignment in the gift shop at a local art gallery. Sales there have been steady for two kinds of small books of quotes that I sell for around $12 . I recently added some journal/sketchbooks, and sales of those have been increasing. Two things I’ve found to be useful in increasing sales at the shop are a) telling the story of my books (I created a display card and put the information in each of my books), and b) just being patient. When you do work that’s a little bit different from what people expect, it can take time for them to decide to make a purchase.

3. The third venue is online at my Etsy store at http://moonbindery.etsy.com.

I opened this store over a year ago, but only put books in it late in November, 2007, so I’ve only had an online presence for a little over three months. I’m still busy getting the hang of selling online, and like many artists, I suspect, I’m wondering how people will respond to the idea of buying based on seeing a picture of my work, as opposed to seeing it up close and personal.

One thing that’s been amazing about selling online is that I’ve discovered a whole world of artists in cyberspace, people who’s work I’d never have known about if I hadn’t joined Etsy and started blogging. I really have to restrain myself, or I’d wind up spending the whole day surfing blogs, instead of making books

4. Word of Mouth.

I sell a surprising number of books just from people telling other people about me. Which is really nice! I try to remember to always carry business cards, in case people ask.

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OAM: What additional avenue for selling your work would you like to pursue?

BS: I only have a certain amount of time and energy for marketing, so instead of adding more avenues, I’m focusing on refining the ones I’ve listed above. Doing fewer and larger art/craft shows, paying attention to what people are buying at the art gallery, so I can supply more of those kinds of things. Trying to make the pictures in my Etsy store look as good as possible (a never-ending challenge).

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OAM: Do you have any additional thoughts about selling your art online that you would like to share?

BS: I think I’ll probably have more thoughts after I’ve been online longer! One thing I am trying to do is to refine my book descriptions, to give buyers the sense of how nice the books look and feel–to supply the things they can’t necessarily get from looking at the pictures.

I think like most artists, I’d much rather spend all my time creating, rather than doing the marketing part. For me, the important thing is that the people who buy my books are people, not just “buyers”, and to relate to them on that level.

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Chris O’Byrne
www.OnlineArtsMarketing.com
www.YourArtMarketing.com

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