Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered

by Austin Kleon

Overview

In his New York Times bestseller Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon showed readers how to unlock their creativity by “stealing” from the community of other movers and shakers. Now, in an even more forward-thinking and necessary book, he shows how to take that critical next step on a creative journey—getting known.

Show Your Work! is about why generosity trumps genius. It’s about getting findable, about using the network instead of wasting time “networking.” It’s not self-promotion, it’s self-discovery—let others into your process, then let them steal from you. Filled with illustrations, quotes, stories, and examples, Show Your Work! offers ten transformative rules for being open, generous, brave, productive.

In chapters such as You Don’t Have to Be a Genius; Share Something Small Every Day; and Stick Around, Kleon creates a user’s manual for embracing the communal nature of creativity— what he calls the “ecology of talent.” From broader life lessons about work (you can’t find your voice if you don’t use it) to the etiquette of sharing—and the dangers of oversharing—to the practicalities of Internet life (build a good domain name; give credit when credit is due), it’s an inspiring manifesto for succeeding as any kind of artist or entrepreneur in the digital age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761178972
Publisher:	Workman Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/06/2014
Series:	Austin Kleon
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	76,428
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of a trilogy of illustrated books about creativity in the digital age: Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work!, and Keep Going. He’s also the author of Newspaper Blackout, a collection of poems made by redacting the newspaper with a permanent marker. His books have been translated into dozens of languages and have sold over a million copies worldwide. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and sons. Visit him online at www.austinkleon.com.

Table of Contents

1. You don't have to be a genius.
2. Think process, not product.
3. Share something small every day.
4. Open up your cabinet of curiosities.
5. Tell good stories.
6. Teach what you know.
7. Don't turn into human spam.
8. Learn to take a punch.
9. Sell out.
10. Stick around.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Austin Kleon is one of the brightest new minds on the creative landscape. SHOW YOUR WORK! demonstrates why. With simple yet profound insights, and an array of his amazing images, he casts aside old stereotypes of the creative life and tells what it’s really like.”
—DANIEL H. PINK, author of To Sell Is Human and Drive

Editorial Reviews

01/13/2014
Some people are natural self-promoters. For others, it’s painfully difficult to put their work out there. In this creatively designed pocket-sized book, Kleon (Steal Like an Artist) offers the latter group effective strategies that allow them to share their work without leaving their comfort zone. Kleon advises becoming part of a “scenius”—a group of creative collaborators that can spark ideas, provide connections, and start conversations. Such groups are easily found online via blogs, social media sites, e-mail groups, and more, all of which allow individuals with like interests to connect and contribute. Kleon offers common sense advice (find your voice, don’t be a hoarder) on how to demonstrate your talent, and describes a new way of operating that is less of a sell and more of a conversation. He advises readers to share something small everyday and to tell good stories, but cautions against turning into human spam. He also offers advice on how to handle criticism from online trolls, and overcoming the stigma of being a “sellout.” Kleon’s advice is sassy and spot-on. Illus. Agent: Ted Weinstein, Ted Weinstein Literary Management. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Austin Kleon is one of the brightest new minds on the creative landscape. Show Your Work! demonstrates why. With simple yet profound insights, and an array of his amazing images, he casts aside old stereotypes of the creative life and tells what it's really like." - Daniel Pink, author of To Sell is Human and Drive

"[Show Your Work is] timeless; readers can return to it repeatedly throughout life and still glean useful ideas and tips... Anyone starting out (or starting over)...will find upbeat encouragement here."
—Library Journal

“Some people are natural self-promoters. For others, it’s painfully difficult to put their work out there. In this creatively designed pocket-sized book, Kleon offers the latter group effective strategies that allow them to share their work without leaving their comfort zone…. Kleon’s advice is sassy and spot-on.”
—Publishers Weekly

“[The] subtitle could just as easily be, ‘How to Self-promote Without Being a Jerkface.’ It’s an incredibly useful and compulsively readable short book.”
—Fast Company

“Kleon addresses with equal parts humility, honesty, and humor one of the quintessential questions of the creative life: How do you get ‘discovered’? In some ways, the book is the mirror-image of Kleon’s debut — rather than encouraging you to ‘steal’ from others… it offers a blueprint to making your work influential enough to be theft-worthy.”
—Brain Pickings

“A must-read for anyone involved in the creative process.”
—LibraryReads

“Kleon’s powerful advice makes this small-format book not-at-all little.”
—Booklist

“In this motivating book, packed with smart approaches, ideas and quotes, Kleon teaches you how best to navigate through creative work in the present day. . . . A certain and deserved bestseller.”
—The Bookseller

“It’s not often that I find myself reviewing a book that I can say has already changed my life. . . . At a crucial turn in this fabulous little wallop of a book comes the simple directive, ‘Share something small every day.’ That ‘something’ oughtn’t be your Instagrammed latte or a selfie, but something ‘useful or interesting’ about your work. Put enough somethings out there, and a lone artist or entrepreneur can soon be a productive part of a creative community.”
—BookPage

From the Publisher