Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
Show Your Work! is Austin Kleon's follow up to Steal Like an Artist and works as its practical sequel. Kleon argues that most creative people are shy about self promotion but that sharing the process, not just the finished product, is a healthier and more sustainable way to build an audience. The book is organized around ten short chapters, from You Don't Have to Be a Genius to Learn to Take a Punch, each illustrated with Kleon's own drawings, quotes, and collages. He draws on writers, musicians, and artists who built careers by working in public long before there was a term for it. The style is quick to read and easy to return to as a reference. Ali Abdaal has recommended it as one of the foundational books for creators trying to build an audience honestly.
What you might want to know about Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Austin Kleon's illustrated guide to sharing your creative process in public and letting the work find its audience.
Abdaal has cited Show Your Work! in videos and in his book Feel Good Productivity as one of the books that most shaped how he approaches YouTube and writing online. He points to Kleon's argument that sharing the process is more sustainable than performing expertise.
No. Show Your Work! stands on its own, though many readers enjoy pairing the two since Steal Like an Artist covers input and Show Your Work! covers output.
Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered was written by Austin Kleon, published in 2014 by Workman Publishing.
Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered is 224 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered takes most readers 3 to 5 hours to finish.
Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.