A conversation with @vectorveen and @SamelaArt brought to my attention an issue that I feel I should talk more about. Setting expectations as an NFT artist

For many artists, an ideal outcome would be earning enough from NFT sales to live off of. Many creators feel disillusioned or suffer burnout when they work super hard but don't achieve this goal.

Based on total artwork value and not accounting for royalties, approximately 1300 artists have earned more than $20k from NFT sales (all time) across @makersplaceco, @withFND, @KnownOrigin_io, @niftygateway, @AsyncArt and @SuperRare (Credit: @richardchen39, Archmage of Dune )

𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: All Time = since 2018, when the earliest sales occurred

A total of ~16400 creators have minted NFTs on the aforementioned platforms. Therefore, the proportion of artists who have earned $20k+ on these platforms over the past 3 years is in the order of 𝟴%.

This is not meant to discourage but simply to help set healthy expectations. NFTs are an amazing opportunity for artists to capture more value from their digital work, but so far, for most creators, it is a supplementary income stream. Not a total replacement.

Knowing this, be kind to yourself, plan your finances accordingly, and don't get stressed out if you're not hitting certain sales targets.

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆.

The vast majority of artists entering the space are in the same boat as you