Nancy Zastudil has been advocating for artists’ voices for nearly two decades. She has held directorial, curatorial, or editorial roles at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, the Frederick Hammersley Foundation, Tamarind Institute, Arts+Culture Texas, and Hyperallergic, where she commissioned global coverage of contemporary art, with special attention to art in the Southwest.
In 2014, she launched her business The Necessarian, LLC, through which she offers essential advising, editing, and publishing services to the creative sector. Nancy was a 2024 Rabkin Prize nominee and her writing has been published in Artforum, Arts+Culture Texas, Hyperallergic, Southwest Contemporary, and more; her research has been supported by the Women's International Study Center, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Graham Foundation, Utah State University, and others. She received her BFA in Painting and Drawing from The Ohio State University, her MA in Curatorial Practice from California College of the Arts.
Virginia Broersma: Let’s begin with how you describe what you do.
Nancy Zastudil: The bulk of my work right now is as an editor, advisor, and project manager for artists who want to publish a book that can transform their career and, most of the time, further their legacy.
A lot of the artists I'm working with are in a stage of their career that they want to publish a monograph or some other substantial project. We often get into conversations about their legacy and the impact of their life's work, so I also work with artists on their legacy plans and their legacy ideas, helping to point them in the direction of resources they might need to make that happen.
Could you talk more about how you arrived at supporting artists' legacy plans, and how it overlaps with what you're already doing, or how it's different?
I have a BFA in painting and drawing and my master's is in curating. Out of necessity, and I think because my mother was an English teacher, I did some editing training as well. That’s how I became an editor, specifically for artists and arts organizations.
All of those things combined when I began project managing artists’ monographs. I thought, "Oh, this makes so much sense!” It's all physically, literally contained in a book. Curating an exhibition is similar to editing a book. We're trying to tell a story.
Who are the artists you tend to work with? Is there a certain career stage that these artists have achieved?
It's typically artists who are age 50 and over for the monographs. In terms of the stage of their career, it's mostly artists who have been seriously practicing as a professional artist for at least 10 years.
By “practicing professional artists,” I mean they've had a pretty strong studio regimen and maintain consistent exhibition activity. They're highly productive. They may or may not have strong gallery relationships. It's different for every artist.
Why might an artist want a book of their work? To get opportunities, or increase their credibility? What are some of the reasons you hear from artists, or give them, to think about why they might want a monograph?
Typically, there are a couple different scenarios. One of the situations (which is kind of amazing from my point of view) is that there's a patron who financially contributes to an artist’s monograph.
That patron has already collected the artist’s work, has really gotten to know that artist, and they recognize that the artist could benefit from a monograph. That benefit typically takes the form of connecting them with museum curators, museum directors, and other folks who are managing substantial public or private collections.
Outside of a patron relationship, other artists are typically at a stage in their career where they have a similar desire to reach a broader audience to help advance their career.
Have you seen examples where the publication has led to either museum acquisitions or new commissions?
Yes, each of the artists I’ve worked with to publish their monograph has seen increased exhibitions, acquisitions, and commissions
That's great. Are these books sold in stores? Is visibility gained (their name being out there) part of the goal; part of the value?
Definitely.
I'll back up just a little bit and explain that typically we are pitching to a publisher so that the book is created, published, distributed, and marketed through established outlets. Sometimes the artists will choose to self-publish. Sometimes they'll publish under my very small fledgling imprint. But ideally, no matter what sort of publishing path they're choosing, that kind of visibility is really important.
I know that the cost to publish a book has many variables. Do you have a way to break down the cost, or to describe what an artist can expect for something that costs $5,000 or $50,000?
This is the question I get most often, so I try to be as frank as possible. I've worked with artists who have spent anywhere from $1,500 (for something like a handmade book) all the way up to $75,000 for an oversized coffee table book — hardcover, full color, all the bells and whistles.
An artist can basically spend as much as they want on a book. The possibilities are truly endless. For an artist who's looking to publish a monograph (a hardcover book, over 200 pages, full color, with commissioned essays, beautiful image plates) that is anywhere from (again, depending on who your designer is, who the publisher is, where you're having it printed, and the quality of that printing) $20k to $50k.
The idea of a monograph doesn't have to be a coffee table book. A monograph, by definition, is a focus. It might be a specific body of work. You could have a monograph about one painting and think about all the millions of aspects of that one painting and put it into a book. It doesn't have to be a career retrospective in printed form.
Do you have any other things artists need to think about when considering publishing a book?
My advice would be: Don't let the potential cost of a book dissuade you from imagining what a book of your work might be. There are a lot of artists I talk to in the consulting phase who look at the price tag, and they'll think “I don't have $20,000 for a book.” I totally hear that. I don't have $20,000 for a book either.
However, we break things down and think strategically about selling that book. I don't advise that artists just give their book away. There is a real impetus to want to share that book with the world, and I totally get it. However, most situations are such that the artist needs to recoup some costs of what they've put into that book.
If you're self-publishing, you get to put a price value on that book. If you are working with a publisher, they typically set the price . Either way, I suggest that you think about the people who might buy this book. Make a list of 100 people you know, who love you, who support you, who have supported you in the past, who have expressed interest in wanting to support you but maybe they can't afford to buy an artwork from you. A $20 to $50 book is much more doable for people who want to support artists, but they don't have an art-buying budget.
Let them know that you are getting ready to publish a book and ask if they would pre-buy that book. If they give you $20, then you've got $20 in your pocket. You do that with a couple hundred people, you've got a budget to work with.
I also want to reiterate that it's a big lift. If you're publishing a book, it's a lot to manage and it is a year-long project at least, and it's a lot of energy. If you're ready to embark on that book, just make sure that you have the time and space to do it.
Do you need to be a famous artist to consider creating a book? Is it still important to do this work even if you aren’t famous?
My answer to the second part of that question is always yes. I tell artists to look at their bookshelves. I guarantee that the books on your shelves are not only famous artists, they're your friends, they're fellow artists, they're lesser-known artists, they're books you've come across at the library, at yard sales, used bookstores, things that have just captured your imagination.
It’s not just famous artists who are publishing. And especially today, there are so many different ways to publish a book. I do believe that there is a publishing path for every artist who is interested in doing it.
Learn more about Nancy at The Necessarian.