Call For Entries - Art Scam
The art scam "business" models are certainly becoming a bit more intricate in their methods to trick artists into paying for their existence. There used to be the endless rounds of emails with opportunities for artists turning up in my inbox years ago. Most of these were for books or exhibitions.
The dead give away was they never addressed you by name, yet were gushing with compliments about how great your work was and how you have been selected for their high exposure opportunity of a lifetime. Delete. I never even bothered to reply.
Some times I would do a little bit of a cursory search (search engines are useful) to see what other people were saying and what reputation said opportunity had.
The sad part is, many people are taken in by these, lacking experience and being desperate for exposure.
How the latest hook works goes like this. Somebody comments on your Instagram (or other social media) post that if you would like to be featured on their profile, make a submission on their website. Hmmm... OK, if you want to feature my work, just go ahead and do it, like other people do. I check they have a reasonable follower count. So ok, I'll submit.
At this point, I have made a small mistake. They now have my email address. Guess who will have their email address sold to spam lists. I also later realise, in providing them with my name and email, they can now use an automated process to create a "personalised" email using my name.
A couple of days later I receive the following email.
I have some good news for you about the art you submitted a few days ago: our jury reviewed your work and you have officially been preselected for our magazine opportunity (based on your Instagram submission). This means you entered the next and final selection-round of our competition, to be featured in the printed version of our Q2 edition of XYZ MAGAZINE (April 2018). Can you send me more samples of your work using the form in the link below as soon as possible?
It looks legitimate, they used my name afterall (LOL!). So I follow the link, and bingo!
Congratulations! You have been preselected by our jury! You now have the chance to be featured in the printed version of our Q2 edition of XYZ MAGAZINE (Deadline: January 31). Your work could be shown to our readers all over the world! In order to enter our competition, you have to (re)submit your work using the form on the next page. Our magazine is mostly advertisement based. In this edition of our magazine, we dedicate a select number of pages to upcoming artists (not backed by large galleries or agencies). With our competition (small entry fee and by invite only) we want to give these artists the opportunity to gain global exposure for their work. XYZ MAGAZINE offers an opportunity to be published in the print and digital issue of April.
SUBMISSION OPTIONS:
1. ONE IMAGE – $20.00 non-refundable submission fee
2. FOUR IMAGES - $30.00 non-refundable submission fee
Submitting 4 of your works will give our jury a more balanced opportunity to review your work.
...uh-ha... I have to pay to play. So again I turn to the search engines and do a bit of research. It turns out their magazine is one of these print on demand projects. Meaning, their is no overhead whatsoever on reproduction, meaning they have NO distribution volume, meaning zero or near zero readership.
Maybe I've got them all wrong. The internet has largely laid to waste the print publication industry, so it is indeed hard to get something like this up and running these days. But on the flip side, when everything is for free on social media these days, why pay for exposure?
Even better still, when we have platforms such as Steemit which pay us to promote our work, why on Earth would we pay others that just don't have any large audience and reputation?
To that end, I have to say thank you Steemit for creating this r/evolution in social media, a viable platform that allows creatives to earn from their work.
Hands #12, Leo Plaw, 34 x 24cm, pastel pencil on paper
Leave a comment below, upvote and resteem if you like it.
More of my artwork can be found on my website. LeoPlaw.com
And if it takes your fancy, subscribe to my newsletter.
That is just so wrong! They should be paying artist to feature their work. I see the same stuff happen in the photography industry unfortunately. Like all kinds of award websites, where you just need to pay for your award. Making these awards meaningless :/
I agree, paying for an award is meaningless.
It would figure that photographers are targeted also. The problems is, whether its painting or photography, it is a crowded space to try and be noticed in these days. Anyone can pick up a brush or camera, but that does not make them a professional artist or photographer. So its easy pickings for these sort of "promotional" projects.
@leoplaw, thank you for this post, have similar mails, read some of them before deleting :) Love that part, we will do that and that..and at the end..put 1mil $ and we will call you back :)
Most emails I can pick straight off like you do. However, they tricked me with the initial offer of free Instagram exposure. As a foot note, I did actually reply, short and simple, thanking them and informing them, I do not pay to play. I usually don't go to so much trouble.
Yes, I understand, I have that urge also sometimes when they are writing to me on fb page that I can pay and boost my page..I know no one reads it but sometimes I wonder to write them back something interesting :))
It is definite that nobody at FB will read your message. I hardly visit FB these days; I spend most of my time here. =)
Same here, but I have customers sometimes asking about some paintings from page. Only reason I haven't deleted it jet..
True, I did make some sales last year because of my page, but as I watch my post reach dwindle, I'm wasting time that I could better use elsewhere. If only I could get all 7000+ FB fans on my mailing list, then life would be sweet. But you see, FB actively scans your posts for any such calls to action and bury it so no one sees it. Their game is rigged.
When I finished the art university, it started like that: pay for getting your works exhibited. I didn't want to do it. I don't want to support that system. It is just wrong. Thanks for the text @leoplaw!
It takes time to figure out the traps. However, some people never seem to learn. It all comes down to how much you value yourself and your work.
Anything that is "pay to play" is brutal. I've seen it work out well for folks that do things with mass -market appeal, though. Things like jewelry, clothes, pottery, etc. that a craftsman is trying to sell for cheap. Artists like that can benefit from participating in paid exhibitions, but anything that falls under the category of fine art doesn't fit.
Certainly things can work out with mass market appeal, but the one offering the opportunity has to have a mass market (audience) to promote to, otherwise you're wasting your time and money. I've made my mistakes along the way over the years and so now now calmly and critically examine purported offers and not get swept away with my own daydreams.
I've seen those too! they make it very tempting, because they made you go through a few steps already... very clever and looks almost legit a lot of times.
Honestly before Steemit i was against any kind of contest where an artist is likely to spend a lot of time pouring their best on paper and potentially get nothing for it. Here, everyone wins even if they didn't win in the contest.
Also very fitting to the subject hand study.
Yes, that is what makes Steemit so engaging, everybody wins something. Of course, if we put a bit more effort in, then we sometimes win a bit more. ;-)
I was scratching my head for a while over what image to use, then, I thought the fist on the palm would communicate the attitude of the article.
Hee Hee Hee, I've had plenty of these scammers sending me emails, funny thing is I'm not an artist, I'm an art dealer. At one stage I got fed up with one in particular for continuously sending me their request, addressing it to "dear artist" I sent them a mail requesting that if they really want to carry on wasting my time with the scam, they have the decency in future to address it in my name and that if they really did their research they would realize I'm not an artist. I never heard from them again.
At least you managed to get off their mailing list! I never reply, because doing so indicates that your email address is active and can receive spam from others. It's possible they bought a list.
I used to warn about "pay to play" on many occasions in the past. How do they make their money? Artist are often desperate for exposure and would feed those sharks their hard earned money. These scams been around with some variations forever.
I want to add another thing you should check: find out their Alexa rating!
I got the Alexa button right on my toolbar. Here is the rating for Steemit - which shows it being quite successful: a Global rank of 1,487.
If you check those scammers, you find they are somewhere at best 5 Million and up, if any ranking at all. This too should be a dead giveaway.
Here is another, similar one, and you might know about this: on Facebook there is one guy that solicits artists to be in his book. You submit your image on his Facebook page and you will be "voted" on how many likes you get - then you are encouraged to submit your work for possible inclusion in the book, for a nominal $ 10.- "jury fee". This scam is in operation for a few years already.
Of course not the first one, if you remember the WAF that started around 2009 across several social platforms. In that case the infamous "Jojo" stole images from prominent artists and put them on his website under the pretense that they are members of this "Global Organisation", and they never knew about that they were used as bait - and for a fee of $ 100.- (to start with) you could be featured on that website rubbing shoulders with all these great artists, and for more money, are given the rank of Master. Today all that is left of it is a forgotten blog on blogger, with dead end links and stories of great success for their sponsored artists. And there is still even a paypal button on that blogpage.
Back then I was in the forefront of fighting against this scam on Facebook - a friend who also carried that fight was actually banned from Facebook for over a year because he got turned in for harassment .
This in fact was the start of my VISIONARY ART GALLERY: I wanted to show that you don't have to pay to be featured on a website! This site features over 500 artists of our genre! Since then, my site has worked its way up in the Alexa traffic ranks to a respectable showing.
Oh yes, I remember the WAF/Jojo scam quite well. I guess he's still out there scamming away unless he's been finally locked up. We wasted so much time with that crook.
The Alexa ranking is a good tip Otto!
A video I pass on from time to time is this one by Matt Gleason - it's been around for 10 years already, and I am puzzled that it has not had more than barely 4.000 views in that time.
Managed to avoid those ones so far! Have had ones personally inviting me to join occasionally exclusive art sites with many other high quality artists (if they had actually looked at my art they wouldn't be extending such invitations XD), not sure if they've stopped or if my spam filter has learned. Going to hazard a guess at the latter as the ones telling me about recovering my lost bitcoin fortune have also stopped now XD
Damn! You're missing out on all of those lost bitcoins. Art opportunities... meh... but Bitcoin!!! =D
Keep dodging those bullets. ;-)
Been missing your latest posts until I found out my Autovoting isn't working. I didn't have this, because I didn't want to actually read your blog. For me its a sort of post alert for dummies... when I saw it made the vote, I saw you made a post. Looks like I have some catching up to do...
Ha.. yeah, these people are something. Always trying to get you into another trap. How about those vanity galleries who want you to rent their wall space?
Thanks a lot for sharing this one. Would most likely have responded the same way. But by now, we all know, when they come back with such a "premium service offer", its time to forget about them.
Oh, what are you using for an autovoter?
I didn't go near the vanity galleries as the article would have never ended.
Its all down to how much we value ourselves and our work.
Using steemvoter, but I only have a handful of users added. Guess there are some major changes in the working.
I wonder how the numbers compare... the income artists make from their art, compared to how much is spent on creating (art supplies), promoting, scams and all...
I guess the comparison of earnings versus expenses depends upon how successful an artist is. If the art can pay for itself, that is art expenses as well as the living expenses for the artist, then that is the start of success. But as with every business, the intent is to move beyond just getting by.
Agree completely, although my question was more about the total amount generated. Like adding all the art supply stores, workshops, vanity opportunities.. all together I think makes a huge number.
Of course, if you bring in the "high end art market", where billions are being moved around, its a whole different picture...
But take "normal people", like us compared to what Boesner and Agora are making.
We don't even have to consider the high end art market in this equation. My consideration is on established career artists, those who make their living solely from art, whom probably have some sort of representation through a dealer or gallery, or at the least their own circle of collectors. By this point in time, one should have learn already what the pitfalls are, and are not losing money on false opportunities, because they've been there done that, and have optimised their business of art production.
I always consider my artwork from a business perspective. Having started a number of business projects in my life now, I understand that there is crux that one has to cross. So after surviving and recovering from the beginner mistakes, it becomes a matter of building upon what you have established and growing the business.
So referring to your original question then, any decent business should be making well in excess of the expenses (art supply stores, workshops, ect.) otherwise it is not profitable, self-sustaining business.
So your comparison with businesses such as Boesner or Agora, should be measured in a relationship of scale, rather than a direct comparison of numbers. The aforementioned businesses will have other types of costs to cover, rent or purchase of business premises of large scale in multiple locations, transport logistics of a scale we never deal with, multitudes of workers with all of the attendant sick leave, holidays, health and retirement insurances, advertising and promotional expenses of magnitude excess of what we could ever dream of... and so on.