Creativity Now, 2nd Edition

Use OPM

THE PRINCIPLE

If you’re short of funds, use other people’s money (OPM)

There is an even more literal version of pre-selling, namely selling a product before it exists. Artist Karen Sperling did this. She’s an expert at using a software program called Painter to transform photos into paintings. She has taught this internationally and has contributed to a number of books. When she decided to write and self-publish her own book on the subject, she asked people to order and pay for it in advance, and to wait six months to get it.

It’s a clever approach because it instantly gave her an idea of how many potential customers there were for the book and of course it meant she could use their money to produce the product.

If you use this approach ...