The Entrepreneurial Artist

Book excerpt: In The Entrepreneurial Artist: Lessons from Highly Successful Creatives, Aaron Dworkin offers an engaging, practical guide to achieving artistic fulfillment, both personally and professionally. Based on the accomplishments of Shakespeare, Mozart, and several contemporary creatives, these lessons will help you realize your goals—no matter your medium. Among those Dworkin personally interviewed for this book are Emmy-winning actor Jeff Daniels, Tony-award winning choreographer Bill T. Jones, Grammy award-winning musician Wynton Marsalis, and Pulitzer Prize winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, among others. The stories of these twelve remarkable individuals come alive with lessons of love, loss, despair, sacrifice, perseverance, and triumph. Some of the artist-entrepreneur takeaways explored in this book include: Build partnerships—with peers, patrons, and sponsors Embrace diversity Expand your focus Allow your work to mature Whether one is an aspiring student artist in search of practical tools to build a sustainable career, or a veteran seeking reinvention, The Entrepreneurial Artist offers insights—well-tested, unusual, or innovative—that are meaningful for every kind of creative.