How to Create Your Own Jewelry Line: Design – Production – Finance – Marketing & More by Emilie Shaprio is published by Lark with a copyright date of 2016. It’s a hardback 178 text that, as the author explains, is pretty much everything Shaprio knows about the jewelry industry and how jewelry designers can not only create their own line of jewelry but go on to sell it. Obviously, this means there is a lot of information in this book, so it is not a casual read. I found myself hopping around to different parts and using it more of a reference guide. However, those with no jewelry business knowledge could start at the beginning where basics are covered such as taxes and how to set up a jewelry business and move on as each of the many areas required for this are covered in detail.

Because of the title, I thought this book would focus only on creating a jewelry line, so it was a pleasant surprise to see that much more is covered. In fact, the subtitle is “Design/Production/Finance/Marking and More,” and all of these subject areas are included in the book. It can be a little overwhelming, but again, I see this more as a reference book to go to when needed versus a step by step manual. It takes awhile to get to the actual idea of creating a “marketable collection,” which does not show up until page 41.

If this book’s purpose is to describe every single item you need to know for a successful jewelry business, then the only area I felt was a little weak is the part concerning social media. It seems to gloss over this, but there are books written about social media and business, thus this is understandable.

Clearly, Emilie Shapiro has a wealth of information, and in an industry that sometimes can be a little tight with information, it is refreshing to see a successful designer and business person like her step forward and share.