I set a goal for myself: 14 pieces a week.
Seven weeks ago, that felt completely doable.
Then came a major Nor’easter with 18 inches of snow to shovel. Then a birthday week. Then another big blizzard and lots more shoveling and all the soreness that comes with that. And what I’m seeing now, in reality, is that I’m producing closer to 7–8 good pieces a week.
So the real question becomes: how much do I actually need to produce for the shows I’ve committed to? Is what I’m making enough, or do I need to seriously ramp things up?
Right now I have seven definite shows on the calendar. Some are one day, some are two, and one is a “leave on site for two weekends” situation. That’s a big jump from last year, when I did one show and one art walk which are my only real reference points for sales and what I should be producing.
At the art walk, I sold 10 pieces in four hours.
At the two-day show, I sold 37 pieces. The second day was much slower thanks to a significant snowfall that kept people home, but even so, I was thrilled with the outcome.
Those numbers are helpful, but they’re limited.
In researching what other makers recommend, I’ve seen a range of advice:
- Bring inventory worth 5–10× your booth fee in potential sales value.
- Smaller markets: 25–40 pieces.
- General target: 50–80 pieces.
- Larger or multi-day festivals: 80–100+ pieces.
So what’s right for me? That’s what I’m still navigating.
It’s not just about having enough stock to look abundant and professional. It’s also about what I can realistically throw, trim, and — my favorite — glaze. And then there’s photographing finished pieces, pricing them, updating the website, and keeping up with social media.
Right now, I’m thinking 50 pieces for a one-day show and around 80 for a two-day show feels reasonable.
Now we’ll see if the math, my hands, and the kiln gods agree.