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An essential book for any person in or entering
any of the arts as a profession:
music, dance, acting, film, writing or visual art.
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Our society feeds us a constant diet of fable and fantasy about careers in the creative arts. That puts most new aspiring artists at a great disadvantage. Those careers are already hard enough.
"Success in the Arts: What It Takes to Make It in Creative Fields" cuts through the clutter and pretenses of the arts. It has real-world counsel for anyone going into artistic careers and gives it in a light-hearted and often humorous way.
$10.95
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Get answers to these essential questions:
• What qualities promote success in the arts?
• How do you know if you have enough talent?
• What do you need besides talent?
• What are the myths about creativity?
• What is real creativity and how do you cultivate it?
• How do you get through tough times?
• How do you deal with criticism?
• How do you “get the breaks” in your field?
• What foundation principles don’t change?
• How do you hang on to the important things in life?
• How do you keep from “selling your soul?”
• What if you don’t make it?
Save years of trial and error
Avoid the common pitfalls of creative careers |
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Who is the Grand Poobah?
The first day of teaching new students, I tell them to call me Michael, not Professor Shumate or Mr. Shumate. Then I tell them if they forget my name, they can always call me the "Grand Poobah." That always gets a laugh from them and they know that even though I have much to teach them, I don’t take myself too seriously and will at least try to deal with issues with some humor. The term Grand Poobah has come to mean anyone "with no real authority but who acts otherwise” (defined, appropriately enough, in Wikipedia). There you have it. I will speak with great authority where I have none, except that which experience has given me.
I’ve been a professional designer and illustrator for over thirty-five years. Among my clients are the NFL, Simon & Schuster Publishers, Kelly Services, British Airways Magazine, the Screen Actors Guild, Business Week and Prudential Financial to name a few. And for the last nineteen years, in addition to freelancing, I’ve been a professor of graphic design and illustration at St. Lawrence College.
I’m also the son of a musician and an artist, and husband to a piano teacher. Two of my children are piano teachers and one plays French horn with the Phoenix symphony. Another of my children is a writer, one a photographer, another is a fine woodworker and two others are studying film at university.
The observations I share in this book apply equally to any and all of the arts.
It doesn’t matter which art you’ve chosen these principles apply as much to painting as to music, as much to writing as to film and as much today as fifty years ago.
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Success in the Arts: Table of Contents
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Section 1: Personal Experience
1. Who Is the Grand Poobah?
2. Fame at an Early Age
3. Trial By Ordeal
4. The Issue of Talent
5. To Catch A Monkey
• Eat an Elephant
6. Challenging Decisions
Section 2: Talent
7. Everybody has some talents
• The Magic of Talent
• Inclination, Aptitude and Skill
• Talent and Tangent Skills
• Craft
8. Discover Your Talents
• Definition of talent
• Intelligence
• Personal Strengths
• Dyslexia
• Nurture or Nature?
9. Models of Talent
• The Soil Model
• The Seed Model
• Why Worry About It?
10. What is Creativity?
• What Creativity Isn’t
• What Creativity Is
• Brainstorming
• Thinking Outside the Box
• Using Your Back Burner
Section 3: Smarts
11. Using Your Smarts
• Learning Tricks
• The Cycle
• Seek a Mentor
• Cultivate Challenging Peers
12. Conventions, Rules & Principles
• Conventions
• Rules
• Principles
• Popular Art or Purist?
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13. Getting the Breaks
• Luck or Leverage?
• Get Out There
• Underestimating Your Profession
• Work Your Plan
• The Art of Sacrifice
• Marketing Yourself
• Attitude Equals Altitude
• Aim for the Top
• Networking
14. Don’t Pop Your Own Bubble
• Ease Off Before You Pop
• Influence, Homage and Plagiarism
• Finding Your Own Voice
• Never Stop Learning
• Take Care of Important Things
15. Prima Donna or Professional
• The Balancing Act
• Walk the Fine Line
Section 4: Heart
16. Paying Your Dues
• Einstein, Mozart and da Vinci
• Stretching Yourself
• Get Going
• Tough times
• Face your bullies
17. You Gotta Have Heart
• Facing Criticism
• Personal Taste
• Valid Criticism
• Consider Your sources
• You Still Have to Be Yourself
18. Getting and Giving
• Life As Art
• Teaching to Give Back and Learn
• No One Wants to be a Wannabe
• Don’t give up
19. What If I Don’t Make It?
• Suppose I don’t Meet My Goals?
• The Journey and the Destination
20. Final Words
About the Author
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What others say about "Success In The Arts"
"This short and very readable book... Although mildly motivational, it lacks the pretense of many motivational books. It concentrates mainly on the ideas and attitudes will help an aspiring artist actually to become an artist and includes a few excellent quotes. Shumate addresses all practitioners of the arts, including visual artists, actors, writers, and musicians. There is a lot of good common sense in this book, which is necessary these days because common sense is in such short supply. Shumate urges people to work hard at their art, and to practice virtue and eschew the tendency to feel sorry for oneself, or to focus too heavily on oneself. In this day and age, this is sound advice because in many places, schools train prima donnas, not achievers."
--By Pat Goltz: digital artist and web designer, homeschooler and cofounder of Feminists for Life.
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"This is a witty, easy-to-read book, with practical advice for those trying to break into the arts. It's well worth the investment."
--By Maureen C. Rauscher
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"What a great mentor Michael Shumate would be for anyone planning a career in the arts! It is quite clear that he has good advice developed over a long and successful career. I especially liked the part about "the Grand Poo-Bah": a bit whimsical, but it gets the point across with humor. If he can't be your mentor in person, then his book is next best. He is always clear, down-to-earth, and honest. You can read the book in an afternoon. It's a great investment for anyone in the target audience."
--By L. Whitehead
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"Michael Shumate gives extremely insightful and relevant advice in a sometimes confusing career path. Unfortunately, being successful in the arts isn't as straightforward as some other professions (go to the right school, maintain a good GPA, get a solid internship). He suggests that if you have two of these three traits, you MIGHT make it:
-talent
-smarts
-passion
I've personally seen the road to a successful career in the arts littered with people lacking a few of these traits (yes, even very talented people). Definitely worth a read if you or someone you know is considering a career in the arts."
--By B. Porter
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"I found "Success In The Arts: What it Takes to Make It In Creative Fields" to be an entertaining, interesting and informative book which should help any aspiring artist, whatever their chosen field in the arts, to avoid the pitfalls that have swallowed the less fortunate.
"With a wealth of experience as a creative illustrator and graphic designer, Michael has paid his dues, and reaped the rewards in his creative field.
"He makes it abundantly clear in his book that talent alone is no guarantee for success in the arts. Indeed, latent talent may not even be the most important requirement. The book is divided into three parts, each of which cover the three major components necessary to make a success in creative fields - these are: talent, heart, and smarts. Each is very clearly explained in detail, with pearls of wisdom on just about every page.
"Success In The Arts: What it Takes to Make It In Creative Fields" will make a valuable resource for anyone with ideas of using their creative ability to survive in the demanding world of artistic endeavour; but it goes a lot deeper too. This book certainly is a valuable guide for life in the arts, and in the process, Michael wrote a guide for the art of life, too."
--By David Ambrose "Author: 'Your Life Manual
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