

The Handmade Marketplace: How to Sell Your Crafts Locally, Globally, and On-Line by Kari Chapin is the book for any crafter who wants to get into the craft business world. Author Kari Chapin covers the essentials from branding, business practices, craft fairs, all the way up to blogging and social media. The book’s fun format is peppered with cute illustrations and handwritten type throughout the chapters. Kari also has some great tips and Q&A’s with some of the top crafters out there such as Kim Werker, Amy Carol, Grace Bonney and more. You’ll even find a few tips from me in the book too! This book is a great handbook that helps guide you through all the steps in your craft business. What’s the right price to set for your crafts? How do you sell your goods at craft fairs? How do you get your craft goods into brick and mortar shops as well as sell online? Pick up The Handmade Marketplace to get answers to these questions and more.
Book Giveaway Time!
Three lucky CRAFT readers will each receive a copy of the book, The Handmade Marketplace. Just tell us why you would like this book in the comments. All comments will be closed by Noon PST on Friday, April 16, 2010. The lucky winners will be announced later on the site. Good luck!


I am trying to start up a business selling my creations and this book would help me out immensely. Thank you for the chance to win it. Will definitely look into it otherwise
Stacy
I would love this book! I have been more and more interested in making a living with a craft. I would love help being true to who I am and not having to punch a clock for someone else dream.
I am a dedicated crafter who is trying to survive on disability… I have found new purpose and meaning in creating with my heart and hands! This is SO therapeutic for all people! My greatest challenge has been how to make this work as a business as so few options are available to me now. This book appears to be the cure and I hope it offers suggestions on making this all come together!
Michele
I just became a mom and need a lot of money to take care of my son. i’ve tried to sell my crafts, but I have not been able to do well and could really use this book to help me out.
I have been drooling over the black apple illustrations for years. And i love to read books on building business……it motivates me to keep at it. I hope i win….
mucho love
manda soto
I suffer from sales fright. I can craft ’til the cows come home, but freeze when it comes time to sell something, so I end up with boxes and closets full of finished crafts that no one gets to enjoy. I need and extra push and some confidence to get my stuff out the door.
I’d love to have this book. I make lampwork glass beads and design jewelry using my handmade beads. I love making beads, but I could use some help with the business/sales part of my crafting. It sounds like this book could really help me out and make my business more successful!
I’m a fan of this artist, and I would love to hear her take on the homespun revolution. Marketing handicrafts is such an interesting field, especially with the creation of online marketplaces like etsy.
Thank you!
I’ve been thinking about this as a possibility. This book would sure come in handy!
thanks.
I would like this book because I know it’s awesome.
And also: faced with losing my job in education come September, I am researching what it will take to get my other *dream job* up and running… so I’ve been scouring all the resources I possibly can… and this seems like an amazing one!
I would like to sell my yarn and knitted goods on the net! I would love to sell my canned goods, but I don’t have an industrial kitchen.
I currently have this book on my holds list at the public library and can’t wait to read it. But if I win it, that would be sweeter!
I would like to start marketing and selling some of my crafts, but for now have no idea where to start!
I have been crafting for many years, and much of my crafting space is just storing completed projects that I’ll sell…”someday”…
This book would be the perfect jumping off point to finally start selling this stock of handmade goodies I’ve been hanging onto for so long!
What a great contest…I hope I win!
I’ve wanted this book since I first heard about it and wish it had come out years ago. I would love to push my crafting abilities beyond gifts for friends and family, but am so intimidated by networking and the business aspects of doing this that I’ve just watched from the sidelines instead. Learning from others, especially crafters that I really admire, and hearing about their experiences, would be invaluable to me at this time. Thank you for this great giveaway!
Everyone tells me “You should sell this stuff!” but i don’t know where to start?!? This book would be a big help.
I love to sell my work locally and it really works, it’s just the ‘global’ and ‘on-line’ bit that stumps me…..heeeeeellllllpppp!
Thanks.Jane,x
They say do what you love and you will love what you do. I LOVE crafting more than anything but- I need to get my butt in gear. I wold love to learn how to best market my crafts and get organized in the process. I heard about this book from madeinlowell and have wanted it ever since!
Fingers Crossed!!!
I would love this book! I would love the help it would give me to get my business really successful. Right now, I know there are a lot of things I should be doing differently, and hopefully this will help me get on track!
I would love to sell my work ‘globally’ and on-line and I could always do with a few more hints and tips to improve my local selling.
thank you!
Janebean.x
I’d love a copy of this book, since I became a mum just over two years ago I’ve become serious about crafting (and have been gradually making progress) – especially when I realised that caring for my daughter meant struggling to still be considered a professional. It’s far better to work for myself than a rude employer!
Thanks, Ange
I’ve been looking to start selling the things I make so this book would be perfect to help get me started.
I want this book so that I can increase the sales base of my etsy shop.
Would love to win the book to see what advice the author has to offer. Thanks for the opportunity! :O)
I’d love to own this book — selling online is something I aspire to — and this book could help!
Oh my! I would LOVE this book. After several months with a
shop on etsy, I have sold nothing!! I know I am missing tricks of the trade but don’t really know anything!
I love to sew and any advice on creating and making a profit with is would be wonderful!
Hi I’d love a copy of this book, over the last two years I have been working towards getting my craft out there after becoming a full time mum. It would be great to learn how I can improve on the business side of things and really get it off the ground.
Thanks for the chance to win!
Ange
I would love this book because I can’t seem to sell ANYTHING! As a guy working in crochet and jewelry, I really want to get more of my work out there, but it just doesn’t seem to move. I guess I just don’t know what avenues there are for me. I feel this book would help answer some of those questions.
–Jeremy
Oh, I need to read this book! I’m hoping to open an etsy store soon, just doing all my planning and research. So I’m sure this would come in super handy!
I thought I would like to win a copy of this book so that I could learn more about starting my own business. But I have read the other beautiful entries and decided someone else deserves more to win a free copy and I will go and buy the book. Thank you for the offer!
I would love to have this book! It looks like it includes some great practical advice for those who are creative yet lacking in the business/practicality department.
I have been wanting to sell my goods, but don’t know where to start. I need this book!
Rebecca
I just begin to sell creations on Etsy, so this book could be a great help! Thank you for this giveaway!
Ciao!
i need to start selling my handmade-with-love-wares in order to feed my knitting and crocheting habit… its addicting. i don’t want to sell my baby… i’d really love to have this book!
i am slowly but surely growing my own handmade one-woman business because it is what i love doing and it helps feed us since our college degrees are not getting us anywhere in this economy!
i am at the point where i have successfully sold online for over a year but am intimidated by fairs and consignment/wholesale—i could REALLY use some good advice and i’d be tickled pink if that advice came in the form of a beautiful book with art by the black apple!!
I’d love to win this book because I’m thinking about trying my hand at online selling but I’m scared to do it. This book might be enough to give me courage! I *never* win things, but I would love to win this!
I think I have exhausted all my resources in how to turn my listings and views into sales. A fresh outlook, new input on things would help me revamp and organize my craft selling online. and possibly, hopefully give me tips on how to proceed to advertise myself locally and globally.
I do sell my handmade items now but it’s a pretty hit-or-miss effort. I’d like to learn more about making it a more focused effort. Thanks for the opportunity!
Jeannie
My mom and sister sell their wares at farmers markets and craft fairs and beg me to join them, but I’m not confident that any of us really know what we’re doing. I’d love to take the plunge and I’m pretty sure that this book will make the difference.
I have no money to start anything (or to buy this fabulous looking book) BUT I have loads of craft gear and plenty of creative spark!
I am longing for a way to make my craftiness benefit my family – and for a way to avoid resorting to a 9-to-5 dull gray suffocation to make ends meet.
This book looks like the missing link to me! Have craftiness, will create! Just…desperately need some know-how in the marketable-ness section.
As a new mommy, I have to come up with a creative way to make a living so I can stay home with my little one for as long as possible. I would LOVE to own this book!
I’d love to start a business when I leave the US and return to South Africa in June. I would like to implement a business with a social welfare focus as there’s a lot of underprivileged people without basic necessities, like food, shelter, clothing, education, and employing them will hopefully give them a better chance in a country where the majority of the population are struggling with poverty.
I need to learn how to build it first before I can implement my idea which is why I think this book will be handy.
I started an Etsy business this year, and there’s still so much I need to know. I’ve browsed through this book at the bookstore and know it would be really helpful.
I have been pining for this book…. I love so many of the contribuors and I want to swim in their sea of knowledge
This is something I really struggle with. I love to craft and I love go to craft fairs and sharing my creations with others, but I just do not know how to really market what I am making and where to start as far as creating a business out something I love to do.
Crafting is swiftly becoming more and more popular. Whether you are the creator or the consumer. America is just coming into this transition of buying more local items with a more a personal feel and less mass produced wasteful junk and I want to apart of it.
I have been pining over this book…I love so many of the contributors and I want to swim in their sea of knowledge
I have a group of very creative friends and it would be nice for us to pool our creative resources and earn a bit of money as a reward. I’d love to know how to get started!
I love love love crafting! My husband is in grad school and we don’t have a lot of money and I’ve been thinking a lot lately about selling my crafts but I have no idea how to get started. I think this book would really help me. Thank you!
Veronica
This book is an excellent idea. With all the channels of selling and communicating, it makes sense to have a one stop source of information. Sharing lessons learned in today’s marketplace is a necessity for a crafter’s success. It is also pertinent that whoever you are or wherever you are, you should be able to reach out globally to share your ideas and handmade goods. I would love this book so that I am able to effectively sell my handmades online, hoping to inspire other crafters to do the same.
I’ve heard so much about this book. would love to win a copy!
I would love to have this book! I often sit around and try to think about ways I could sell my goods but really have no idea where to start!
Jenny
I am very serious about getting my indie craft biz off the ground. I have dreamed about doing crafts for a living since I was a little girl, but of course life happened. I had 4 children and a home to take care of. Now that 3 of them have moved out I know it is now time for me to persue my lifelong dreams. This is one of the biggest. I want to do it right and I know this book could help me make it real. I want to do what I love and love what I do, but if I don’t take the right steps I am just running in place. Please pick me, I will make great use of all the wonderful information within it’s pages and sing it’s praises when I do.
I’ve had an etsy site since June 2009, have done one craft fair, and have had a slight (VERY slight) increase in sales since June. I am desperately seeking advice on how to grow my business. My dream is to be able to do what I love and create things that others can enjoy on a full time daily basis. It’s so very rewarding! I’m extremely motivated to make this dream come true and have been reading online forums and blogs like a madwoman, but still feel as though I’m fumbling around in the dark! I would love this book! It seems like it’s exactly the illumination I’m looking for.
i have recently started hosting ‘craft socials’ as a way to build a craft community. we meet monthly to craft toegther and inspire one another. in addition, i am working towards creating a craft library where anyone in the craft community can check out a book to inspire or train them!
the handmade marketplace would be a great addition to the library (which currently just contains all of my personal books). i know it would be a great resource for many of the crafters in my life who are looking to move towards making a livelyhood from their creations!
thank you so much for the opportunity!!
I would love to read this book! I just set up an Etsy shop and am searching for ways to make it stand out. There are thousands of artists and crafters trying to get noticed…how can I set myself apart? Thanks for the inspiring blog!
TheRangyThistle
aka
rena
I’m looking to get my craft business up and running this year. This book would be a tremendous help.
this would be the perfect assistance for my dream of selling my things!
I’d love to win this book! Crafting and selling handmade things is a way for me to stay home with my son. Any help in making that more profitable would make things so much easier!
I would share this with my sister, who is always dreaming up ways for us to start selling our crafts!
My future mother in-law has been a stay-at-home mother/wife since she was 22 up until a couple of years ago when her financial situation changed drastically. The past year has been a difficult one, as she has struggled to find herself amidst her many titles: daughter, wife and mother. But she has found herself and it has been incredible! She has begun making and selling lovely handmade jewelry in local antique shops and at outdoor festivals. We recently purchased a computer for her to use to try selling her work on Etsy, but it has been intimidating. I think this book would not only educate but give her more independence to understand and nurture this new beginning. And not have her future daughter in-law all up in her business all of the time trying to help. So, I am crossing my fingers!
…because I’m a Mad Scientist by Day, Seamstress by Night.
Although by day I’m in graduate school in Biochemistry, by night I run a small sewing business (custom work at seamstresserin.com, ready-made at seamstresserin.etsy.com) and I would love tips to build my night-time business further so that when I graduate (some day!) I can turn sewing into my full-time business.
I’ve always thought how much fun it would be to sell what I make, even if only to get enough money to buy more supplies! This book sounds like it would have some good pointers. Thanks for a chance to win!
I am a young student who is quite lost in her quest for a life after graduation, and as I brainstorm different paths to take I’ve found that nothing honestly interests me like crafting for a living and any tips that could even begin to point me in the right direction would be helpful. This books sounds like a great help
This fantastic book would take me on an adventerous magic carpet ride to places and ideas never thought of before. I will go from confused crafter to clever crafter and can share the new tips and tales with my friends!!! I have already made a lovely little box under my bed for it so I can peek at it every night and escape to ideas and wonder!!!
I have recently ventured into the world of self employment after being made redundant last year, to say it has being a challenging journey would be an understatement. Despite being and intelligent women, I have learned so many areas where I lack expertise. Reading great books has helped me immeasurably, and after seeing the great reviews and recommendations for this book on ‘Goodreads’ I added it to my ‘must read’ list. Sadly it could be a while before the local library gets it (buying it is not financially an option), rural living and distant country (New Zealand) things take a little longer to hit our shelves. If I could expedite the process by winning it, one VERY happy little lady you would make.
if only i had a book like this to help me start my own little business………….
Get me outta here!
I am the mother of two dreaming of setting up an online shop of really cute kids stuff. I really need some pointers and advice to set me on the right course.
I need to supplement my income and love to craft, so selling my crafts would solve my problem. I can make great stuff, but I’m terrible at selling it. I think this book would be just the thing I need to be able to actually sell what I make!
I’m working on expanding my part-time home-based craft business and I can use all the guidance I can get! I’ve seen this book recommended on a bunch of craft blogs that I read so I’d be thrilled to win it!
This will be the second or third review I have read of this book, and as a single mom, I need to review everything before I spend money. I want to set up my own etsy/artfire/craft shop but every time I sit down to do so, I am staring at a blank screen. I want to make sure that I have all the details figured out before I start. For instance, when do I have to start paying sales tax and letting the government know?
This book would be a great help.
It would also help my local art group as a resource.
Thanks for the chance!
Having this book would serve a dual purpose in my life; I’m currently a grad student in biology, so having this book would help me turn my crafting hobby into a serious side buisness (something i’ve been contemplating for a while as they don’t pay us nearly enough, but need more info on how to jump start it). It would also give me some justification for spending my off time making things instead of reading more academic papers! I would love love love to have this book and get this dream kick started.
This book is high in my wishlist. I’m thinking about joining etsy in the next few months, and this sounds like a must have. And thanks for the giveaway – I probably wouldn’t have found your site without it!
I’ve always wanted to open my own Etsy shop, but I’m not sure how to go about it or if it would be successful or worth pursuing. This book would help me immensely to figure that out!
While I’ve been knitting and crocheting for years, it’s only been relatively recently (for a year or so) that I’ve started thinking of branching out into the etsy world (and maybe into the consignment world of brick-&-mortar stores, too).
I’ve created my own patterns and have been making crochet/knit flower creations, and will actually be in a charity art show next month with two new pieces!
For this art show, I was asked to price my work and I was completely lost. I gave an estimate and the event organizer told me to double it (which was probably only exciting for me)!
So I would love a copy of this book to help me figure out the world of “selling your crafts” to help me with my goal of “branching out.” More so now, too, since I am also in the process of moving abroad! I don’t know if there’s international advice in the book, but yeah, I still want it!
I have an etsy shop that little by little has started to pick up, and this book would be a great help to plan out my next steps!
I would like to win this book because I want to learn more about marketing my crafts locally, globally and online! Thank you.
I would love, love a copy of this book! (I’ve been eyeing it for the past few weeks). I’m in the midst of starting my own craft business, and would love to have it as a resource.
Thanks!
Caitlin T.
I make jewelry and would love to know how to better/expand my business!
I’m trying to start my own stationery business and this would be fabulous for helping me get set up!
I have bee trying to figure out the business side of the craft business for a few years – I want to do it right the first time. I just read a review of this book this morning and it said that this was THE book to get. Thanks for the chance to win a copy!
Ana.