Never has it been easier and more economical. Picaboo.com advertises a 20 page hardcover book for $29.99 per copy. The site touts their books as “archival quality”. What better way to promote your work than to have a book of it for sale in the gallery where your work is hanging.

Their is also a ton of software available for your computer, most of it free. Apple lets you compose, edit, and transmit your book in iPhoto while most of the other self-publishing sites have free software to download. They also offer promotion and marketing services to help sell your masterpiece.

Because the book is digital, updating it with new work or revising it to mirror a particular show you’re in is much easier than creating it from scratch.

“But isn’t this just vanity publishing?”, you may ask. While standing in the shadows and pretending you don’t care about what people think about your art, the truth is, you wouldn’t go through the expense and work of displaying your art if you didn’t want your work seen. If necessary, think of it as a really cool promotional tool or as an heirloom to be left to your descendants.

I am a published author and artist. I like being able to walk in to a potential client and lay my book down on their desk with a silent “I did this”. Usually, very little more need be said. The power of your work in print often rises above the original in impact.

The digital era also makes publishing an “as you need it” process. It’s called on-demand printing. You can print one book or a thousand (or anything in-between). The price per book drops with larger print orders making this process absolutely affordable for even a modest budget.

There has never been a better time for artist to get their work out there. The internet, digital photography, online galleries — all display your work in colorful, small images that may or may not convey the beauty of the original. But their is still nothing like the feel, the smell and the beauty of a real book.