Here’s a book for aspiring artists written by a successful artist. Combining the author’s own story with answers to the tough questions rising artists inevitably have, this book is not only about the creative process, but about navigating the turbulent waters of the social, professional, critical, and museum world artists inhabit.

What Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential did for the world of chefs and restaurants, Making It does for the art world.

Making It is a gonzo memoir of an established artist crossed with objective advice, tips and tricks fleshed out by a best-selling art historian and Pulitzer finalist writer on art. It peels back the shroud and reveals the highs and struggles in the life and career of a working artist.

Specifically aimed at aspiring artists and art students, it will be of interest to anyone who wants to know what it is like to have an artist’s-eye-view of the art world, asking the tough and often glossed-over questions that rising artists inevitably have, not only about the creative process, but about navigating the turbulent waters of the social, professional, academic, critical, museum and trade elements of a career as a visual artist.

How best to deal with the abundance of alcohol, drugs and sex while wire-walking your own artistic dilemmas? How can an artist launch his or her career and help it flourish? What’s it like to achieve every artist’s dream, including showing at the Venice Biennale? What does it really mean to "make it" and how can you maintain your groove once you’ve arrived?

All these questions and more are answered in this combination tell-all memoir and how-to manual for rising artists and anyone wanting a behind-the-scenes tour of what it’s like to be an artist.

Introduction: Career Making vs Making Art

1 On Origins and Early Years: Is it true that the greatest art emerges from unhappiness and dysfunction?

2 The Making of the Artist:How do I choose between “real life” and schooling?

3 At the Academy:How soon do I need to find my style?

4 First Shows and Entering the Art Scene: How quickly and how should I show my work?

5 Young Artist 101:How do I survive in my early years?

6 Money, Art, Sex: How do I navigate the triumphs and pitfalls?

7 Shifting to a Bigger Stage” How can I get into a museum of contemporary art through the back door?

8 Behind the Venice Biennale: How do you judge the success, from the external point of view, of your exhibit?