Hi there Reader,

This week we're running a new email series on Media & PR for artists. If you don't want to read this series, click here and we'll remove you.

What is a media kit?

A media kit is a document you can show to a journalist or blogger that shows them who you are and why you matter to their audience. Sometimes it’s a single, multi-page document. Modern media kits are often a one-page bio with links to images that can be used by media for stories.

What makes a good media kit?

Your story. Open with a short, punchy story that tells people why you’re interesting to write about or to interview on a TV show or podcast. It doesn’t have to start with “World famous artist…” (though that doesn’t hurt). It can start with a fun story like Maud Guilfoyle’s media kit.

To show that it works, Maud shared this story. “One of my collectors was a patron for NYBG. I sent her the pdf and asked if she could put me in touch with staff that would be interested in my images. She did and I had an arrangement for them to have limited copyright for 8 images in greeting cards for one year.”

Your work. Obviously you need to show some of your best or most popular art in your media kit. There’s a lot of ways to do that.
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Social proof like press clippings and testimonials. If you’ve never been featured in an article before, no worries. You can leave that part out. But if you’ve had press before, include some screen shots of the articles, or at least the headlines, like this example from Claire Harrison:

Your bio, CV and/or resume. Whoever is writing about you needs the hard facts. Where were you educated, how long have you been making art, what exhibitions you’ve had, where you teach and other details. There are lots of ways to present this. I like Diane Staver’s layout here.

Contact info, including social media. Straightforward. Include your email, phone number, and social media handles.

Images. Be sure to include a link to some high resolution images of your headshot and 2-3 watermarked versions of your artwork they can use as promotional material. You can upload those to a web-based sharing platform like Google Drive or Dropbox and just include a link to the folder in your media kit.

Join us for Media & PR for Artists.

All of the examples in this email are from artists who’ve taken our Media & PR for Artists course (when it was called How to Sell Your Art Online 301). If you’d like to learn more about the course, click here. We start May 8.

That’s it for today!

Cory Huff

PS. Up next, we'll talk about pitching journalists & media orgs. ;)