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Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative (Austin Kleon) Paperback – February 28, 2012

by Austin Kleon (Author)

4.6 17,593 ratings

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

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Unlock your creativity.

An inspiring guide to creativity in the digital age, Steal Like an Artist presents ten transformative principles that will help readers discover their artistic side and build a more creative life.

Nothing is original, so embrace influence, school yourself through the work of others, remix and reimagine to discover your own path. Follow interests wherever they take you—what feels like a hobby may turn into you life’s work. Forget the old cliché about writing what you know: Instead, write the book you want to read, make the movie you want to watch.

And finally, stay Smart, stay out of debt, and risk being boring in the everyday world so that you have the space to be wild and daring in your imagination and your work.

“Brilliant and real and true.”—Rosanne Cash

Print length

160 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Workman Publishing Company
Publication date

February 28, 2012
Dimensions

6.02 x 0.56 x 5.9 inches
ISBN-10

9780761169253
ISBN-13

978-0761169253
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Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered (Austin Kleon)

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Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad (Austin Kleon)

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Popular Highlights in this book

What are popular highlights?

Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by.
Highlighted by 10,432 Kindle readers
If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.
Highlighted by 9,734 Kindle readers
Establishing and keeping a routine can be even more important than having a lot of time.
Highlighted by 9,473 Kindle readers

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Brilliant and real and true."
-Rosanne Cash

"Austin Kleon is positively one of the most interesting people on the Internet... Kleon makes an articulate and compelling case for combinatorial creativity and the role of remix in the idea economy."
-The Atlantic

"Breezy and fun and yes, scary. Scary because it calls your bluff."
-Seth Godin

"A quick, easily digestible read that is particularly relevant in today's digital world."-School Library Journal

"Filled with well-formed advice that applies to nearly any kind of work."-Lifehacker.com

From the Back Cover

Unlock your creativity.

Steal like an artist.
Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started.
Write the book you want to read.
Use your hands.
Side projects and hobbies are important.
The secret: do good work and share it with people.
Geography is no longer our master.
Be nice. (The world is a small town.)
Be boring. (It’s the only way to get work done.)
Creativity is subtraction.

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.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

HOW TO LOOK AT THE WORLD (LIKE AN ARTIST)

Every artist gets asked the question,
“Where do you get your ideas?”

The honest artist answers,
“I steal them.”

How does an artist look at the world?

First, you figure out what’s worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing.

That’s about all there is to it.

When you look at the world this way, you stop worrying about what’s “good” and what’s “bad”—there’s only stuff worth stealing, and stuff that’s not worth stealing.

Everything is up for grabs. If you don’t find something worth stealing today, you might find it worth stealing tomorrow or a month or a year from now.

“The only art I’ll ever study is stuff that I can steal from.”
—David Bowie

NOTHING IS ORIGINAL

The writer Jonathan Lethem has said that when people call something “original,” nine out of ten times they just don’t know the references or the original sources involved.

What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original.

It’s right there in the Bible: “There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Some people find this idea depressing, but it fills me with hope. As the French writer André Gide put it, “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”

If we’re free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it.

“What is originality? Undetected plagiarism.”
—William Ralph Inge

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0761169253
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Workman Publishing Company; 1st edition (February 28, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780761169253
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0761169253
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.02 x 0.56 x 5.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7 in Popular Psychology Creativity & Genius
- #15 in Creativity (Books)
- #41 in Entrepreneurship (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 17,593 ratings

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Austin Kleon

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Austin Kleon is a writer and artist living in Austin, Texas. He's the author of two bestselling books: Steal Like an Artist, a manifesto for creativity in the digital age, and Newspaper Blackout, a collection of poetry made by redacting newspaper articles with a permanent marker. He speaks about creativity for organizations such as Pixar, Google, SXSW, TEDx, and The Economist. Visit him online at www.austinkleon.com.

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Matthew Jablonski

Once in my hands, couldn't stop reading

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2024

Verified Purchase

Using negative space on each page is Mr. Kleon's most showcased talent. As others have said, the methods he has visually laid out the content vs. his efforts in keeping the reader absorbed is immediately evident and deliberate - very simple but to the points.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone struggling with creative block while trying to apply their passions and more...

2 people found this helpful

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Paulange

The first of his trilogy

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2024

Verified Purchase

I bought this one and the other 2 by Austin Kleon. I love the advice, the art that comes with it and all the quotes chosen to support the mesage.

2 people found this helpful

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KellysHero718

Where Have I Read This Before?

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2024

Verified Purchase

On the lightweight side, but that's okay. Some good ideas, worth the minutes it takes to read them. Lots of useful quotations, stolen words with attribution.

2 people found this helpful

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Alice

great read

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2024

Verified Purchase

Easy and short but a great one for all readers ! Well written and easy to follow - great one to keep next to your bed

One person found this helpful

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Lean

For artists and creators

Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2024

Verified Purchase

Encouraging and a must have for any artist out there.

One person found this helpful

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Michelle S.

Extremely insightful

Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2024

Verified Purchase

I read this over 10 years ago and I still think about it. It's full of glorious insights that will stick with you and change your view of how creativity actually works. I've recommended it to many.

2 people found this helpful

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Justin J. Carson

Great Short Read

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2024

Verified Purchase

This was actually a great short read. Read it in less than a day. If you are a creative I recommend you read it as well.

One person found this helpful

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Lea Mae

Great book, cheap quality

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2023

Verified Purchase

Finished the book in a few hours. It fell apart three pages in. Continued to fall apart as I read it until it became what it is now...a mess of pages.

The book offers great advise. It was a quick easy read. It got strait to each point and left out all the clutter. I highly recommend. Just maybe get a different copy if available because the paperback crumbled and fell apart.

5 people found this helpful

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Daniel

absolutamente fantástico

Reviewed in Mexico on January 11, 2024

Verified Purchase

Un libro que te provoca e inspira a cada página. Un libro que te invita a leer una página y parar a pensar. Un libro que leerás decenas de veces y cada una te dirá algo distinto. Un libro fantástico.

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Julie

Thinking outside of the box!!!!

Reviewed in Canada on November 16, 2023

Verified Purchase

I not sure stealing is a great to place in a title!!! Thieves don’t make the greatest neighbors. Anyways the book is so insightful and borrowing ideas is a great idea. I think it’s a great book to give as a gift. It’s well done and makes us think outside the box.

2 people found this helpful

Ricardo

A must to read

Reviewed in Brazil on September 7, 2022

Verified Purchase

É um “classic”. Ten que ser lido. Precisava em idioma inglés e consegui com esse fornecedor um preço menor do que na livraria. Chegou em boas condições e no tempo certo sem pagar taxa extra.

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Majeed Kalandariya

Inspirational

Reviewed in India on January 24, 2024

Verified Purchase

"Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon is quite an enlightening read. It encourages readers to embrace influence, remix others' ideas creatively, and discover their unique path. It's not about plagiarism, rather, it's about understanding that all creative work builds on what came before. It's a guide that encourages the artist in everyone to look to the world around them for inspiration. Remember, as we journey through life, we're all artists, painting our own unique masterpiece.