Show Your Work! — Austin Kleon

Summary in 15 minutes. Doing good work is only half the job. Making sure people can find it is the other half. What to share, when to share it, and where to keep it. Once people start paying attention, you face relationships, criticism, money and the long haul. You have read the book. Now it is time to show the first piece of your work.

Key ideas of "Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered"

Getting Found

Doing good work is only half the job. Making sure people can find it is the other half.

1. Good, and Findable: Why Kleon wrote this book
2. You Don’t Have to Be a Genius: The lone genius is half a story

Show the Process

What to share, when to share it, and where to keep it.

1. Behind the Finished Work: People love to see how things are made
2. Share Something Small Every Day: The day is the only unit of time that matters
3. Open Up Your Cabinet of Curiosities: What you love is part of who you are
4. Tell Good Stories: Work doesn’t speak for itself
5. Teach What You Know: Sharing the recipe doesn’t empty the restaurant

People, Punches and Staying Power

Once people start paying attention, you face relationships, criticism, money and the long haul.

1. Don’t Turn into Human Spam: If you want fans, be a fan first
2. Learn to Take a Punch: Criticism will come, and you can handle it
3. Sell Out: Even the Renaissance had to be funded
4. Stick Around: The people who stay are the ones who arrive

Put It to Work

You have read the book. Now it is time to show the first piece of your work.

1. Your 7-Day Plan: One task a day. Tick it off when it’s done.
2. One-Page Cheat Sheet: The whole book at a glance. Save it.
3. Final Word: Be an Amateur Again: Keep learning, keep making, keep showing

From the free first chapter

Austin Kleon’s earlier book, Steal Like an Artist, was about making your own work. Afterwards, readers kept asking him a follow-up question: how do I get it in front of people? This short 2014 book is his answer.

Kleon agrees with Martin, then adds a condition. Being good is not enough on its own. You also have to be findable.

Read the first chapter free · Price: ৳250 · or every book with a membership