Makingamark's Top Ten Art Books in October

Here's my regular monthly update of Makingamark's Top 10 Fine Art Books which has been revised to include the best selling and top rated art books in October.

Just click a link and go straight to the category of your choice and find out which I think are the top 10 art books in October!

• DRAWING - Top Rated Drawing Book in October 2010
• DRAWING - Best Selling Drawing Book in October 2010
• PAINTING - Top Rated Painting Book in October 2010
• PAINTING - Best Selling Painting Book in October 2010
• ARTISTS - Top Rated Art Book in October 2010
• ARTISTS: Best Selling Art History Book in October 2010
• ART BUSINESS: Top Rated Art Book in Octobr 2010
• ART BUSINESS - Best Selling Art Book in October 2010
• NEW BEST SELLER in October 2010
• NEW TOP RATED in October 2010
• PLUS - THE TOP 10 NEW ART BOOKS IN OCTOBER

Remember these change every month - and what you see this month won't necessarily be there next month.

Movement in titles has slowed down this last month, with the majority of the listings staying the same or reverting to previous top books.

However new books in the listings this month include

• top rated painting book Colored Pencil Painting Bible: Techniques for Achieving Luminous Color and Ultra-Realistic Effects by Alyona Nickelsen which continues to get very positive reviews
• best selling new book is Color for Painters: A Guide to Traditions and Practice by Al Gury
• top rated new book is Grant Wood: A Life by R. Tripp Evans
• plus there are some interesting titles in the top ten new books list - including a blogger favourite Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter by James Gurney (Gurney Journey) which is due to publish very soon.  

Tip for aspiring authors

For artists who are aspiring authors, having repeatedly reviewed the listings and seen the changes over time, I can tell you that achieving a lot of documented high ratings makes a HUGE difference to

• how well it ranks 
• the way your book displays in Amazon
• how many it sells
• how much money you make at the end of the day!

Although interestingly the best ranked books are not always the best selling books.

However the way you market your book via teaching workshops and via your blog is vital to pre-publication purchases, initial sales and overall sales.  By marketing, I don't mean direct sales pitches to your readers.  I mean building a relationship with readers through good quality content which means that they want to read your blog or take another of your workshops - and hence also want to read your book. Plus recommend it to all their friends!