I'm Talented... Now What? : A 16-Week Workbook for Performing Artists

This book guides young artists in setting specific goals within their art form and then breaks down each goal into how to create a marketing plan, how to create and present a brand specific to their goals, how to create a network of industry-related contacts, and how to make all of these plans with an eye toward remaining financially stable.

It is often assumed that successful artists have “made it” forever when they are “discovered” by a producer, director, or agent, but the reality is that a freelance career in the arts takes research, careful planning, networking, financial prowess, thoughtful specificity, and dedication to creating a career with longevity.

I’m Talented . . . Now What? is a 16-week workbook suitable for arts courses that helps aspiring performing artists do just that—make actionable plans to pursue a successful, financially stable career. Using dozens exercises throughout, author Michelle Loucadoux fosters creativity, specificity, and practicality and shows creatives how to create a marketing plan, present a brand specific to goals, and build a network of industry-related contacts, all with an eye toward remaining financially stable. Actors, singers, dancers, musicians, and other creatives will find this book useful in becoming entrepreneurial in their approaches.

The first part walk readers through specific brainstorming and goal-setting exercises to define their ideal career and trajectory. The second part takes those specific goals and divides them into exercises that focus on networking, skill building, branding, and marketing. The Coin Calculator helps gauge what to expect from future careers and actively plan to make futures financially sustainable. The exercises are repeatable and can be revisited intermittently throughout an artist’s long (and profitable) career any time an artist chooses to pivot into another media.