Product Description

U.S. craftwork is $13 billion industry and crafts artisans now average $76,000 in annual sales. As the crafts business has increased, so have the legal and business problems. Fortunately, you now have a guide to help wind your way through the maze of legal and business rules.

Your Crafts Business covers everything from intellectual-property rights to dealing with business taxes. Learn all about:

*contracts, consignments, sales, shows and collections

*business basics

*copyrights, design patents and trademarks

*preventing infringement and tracking down infringers

*licensing principles and agreements

*hiring and firing employees, contractors and sales reps

*lawyers, lawsuits and liability

*getting your crafts business on the Web

*and more

Your Crafts Business clearly explains legal principles that protect a crafts business and help it grow. It also provides practical advice on how to deal with day-to-day problems -- such as dealing with delinquent payments. The book provides over a dozen tear-out contracts and other legal forms, plus step-by-step instructions to fill them out.

From the Author

If you're a crafts artists concerned about issues such as sales disputes, consignment, design thievery, tax disputes, studio leases, workspace safety and employer liability, then this is the book for you. It's my attempt to provide a real-world view of running a small crafts business and to offer tips for steering your business on a "no problems" course. I've tried to incorporate the experiences of various crafts artists as well as my own experience working with crafts clients.

This book will help you:

· Determine the form of your crafts business.

· Secure your workspace and negotiating your studio lease.

· Sell your work, whether consignment, retail, wholesale or commissioned sales.

· Go online including choosing a domain name, setting up a shopping cart and choosing a web host.

· Work with employees and contractors.

· Register and protect trademarks and business names.

· Register and protect your work with design patents .

· Register your copyright and avoid copyright problems.

· License your crafts (including a sample agreement and analysis).

· Deal with sales reps (and a model sales rep agreement).

· Avoid liability and legal problems including finding a lawyer, examining your insurance options and resolving contract disputes and rip-offs.

· Calculate and pay income taxes.

In addition to this information, you'll find a dozen agreements and sample letters that you can modify on the CD-Rom attached at the back of this book.