Book excerpt: The Indispensable Roadmap Artists Need to Navigate Their Careers"The Profitable Artist's chapters address a spectrum of practical topics for working artists." —Artsy.net While all art is unique, the challenges artists face are shared regardless of background, experience, and artistic medium. With decades of experience training and helping artists worldwide, the expert staff of the New York Foundation for the Arts—in conjunction with outside professionals—have compiled a “best practices” approach to planning and organizing an art career. In The Profitable Artist, Second Edition, NYFA has identified common problems, examined specialized areas of strategic planning, finance, marketing, law, and fundraising, and distilled these topics in such a way that readers can digest them and apply them to their own experience and practice. This newly revised edition has made considerable updates to reflect changes in the legal and financial landscapes, the vast shift in the tools and culture of both social media and fundraising, and proven planning methodologies from the startup community. All of this continues to be presented in an accessible manner, which encourages artists to apply the information and techniques in a way that is true to their personal and artistic integrity. This invaluable guide appeals to artists in all disciplines of the literary, media, performing, and visual arts—from recent art school graduates to established artists undertaking new arts businesses to artists seeking more from their careers at any stage.