Quote:
Originally Posted by pam
Obviously I have been looking at this all wrong from the beginning, I really thought it was about sharing knowledge of lampworking, not a pattern to be followed.
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I think this is true for the majority but, believe it or not, there are people that want to make EXACT replicas of tutorial beads. I know this because I've talked to several different people that feel that way. For example, one of my tutorial buyers can't afford my beads. She's a hobby beadmaker with a family and a day job. This is a "win win" situation for her because now she has her own version of the bead that she loves and she was able to make it herself.
Another individual told me that she planned to sell her tutorial beads at shows. She wanted to know before she purchased the tuts, if I would be okay with that. Then, there's a gal who got into lampworking because she's a jewelry designer who can't afford to pay top dollar for lampwork beads. She buys the tuts she likes and uses the beads in her jewelry. I could go on and on. . .
Lampwork is becoming more of a mainstream craft. You can get kits at Hobbylobby. Some crafters do not consider themselves to be artists. They enjoy crafting and because glass is such a seductive medium to work in, it appeals to a lot of people.
I had to come to terms with all of this before I could release my first tutorial. I also had to find the confidence that I needed in order to move on because I knew that once people could make versions of my beads for themselves, my own sales for the same style of beads would suffer. This is not because I thought that the market would be flooded with beads that resembled mine, it's because the beads seem to become less special once the "secrets" are revealed. Lampworkers make up a huge portion of my bead buying business. Today, I don't get orders for the floral panel style beads that I was making before I released the tutorials. It's a good thing too, because I completely lost my zest for making them.
I know I've rambled a lot here, but basically I think that if you choose to publish techniques, you have to mentally prepare yourself for the possible retirement or evolution of the technique that you may have been well known for. You have to be ready to set it free and let it go or else you'll go mad.