Show Your Work!

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.

• Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad
• Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative
• Maximize Your Potential: Grow Your Expertise, Take Bold Risks & Build an Incredible Career (99U)
• How to Sell Your Art Online: Live a Successful Creative Life on Your Own Terms
• The Steal Like an Artist Journal: A Notebook for Creative Kleptomaniacs
• The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video
• Newspaper Blackout
• Shaping Space: The Dynamics of Three-Dimensional Design
• Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur
• Anything You Want