There are two parts to writing art. Making the art and sharing the art.

Buying your art is a high compliment.

A purchase indicates that the art resonates with an audience enough that they are willing to pay for it.

Think about what it means to pay for something. What it truly means is that someone is willing to exchange their life energy for your art.

Why? For most people, money comes from working, and working is an expending life energy.

So if someone is paying for your work, it may indicate a high resonance with their essential self.

That is a high compliment.

Finding your audience and selling? It seems like artists, true successful artists, are first focused on creating art, not selling.

When I was an undergraduate, I would go to creative writing salons and hear from famous writers. After hearing moving passages, witty anecdotes, and having the audience laugh and love with the author, the organizer would open the floor to questions. One-on-one advice from a real writer?!

One of my recurring questions was: "How do you find your audience?"

Most did not know, and then had some anecdote about unusual or unexpected audiences they heard had adapted their work.

On the one hand, that was cool, but for me at the time, it was frustrating because to me, if you did not have an audience, well what was the point of writing.

And I realize now, that, this recurring response underlies an incorrect assumption on my part.

An artist creates art. That is the number one focus. That is the number one desire. That is the number one requirement.

Focus on creating writing. Share your art. Sell your art.

Three components.

Build your capacity and skill in all of them, in what order you choose.