A bestselling guide to staying creative in good times and bad. Get a signed copy.
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About the book
The world is crazy. Creative work is hard. How do you keep going?
In my previous books — the New York Times bestsellers Steal Like An Artist and Show Your Work! — I showed readers how to steal their way to a more creative life and then share their creativity to get discovered. In Keep Going, I show you 10 ways to stay creative, focused, and true to yourself:
1. Every day is Groundhog Day.
2. Build a bliss station.
3. Forget the noun, do the verb.
4. Make gifts.
5. The ordinary + extra attention = the extraordinary
6. Slay the art monsters.
7. You’re allowed to change your mind.
8. When in doubt, tidy up.
9. Demons hate fresh air.
10. Plant your garden.
Whether you’re burned out, starting out, starting over, or wildly successful, Keep Going will help you stay on the path to more creative work.
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Praise
Publishers Weekly Bestseller
#1 Amazon.com Bestseller
“Built for the pandemic, despite being released in 2019, a year before the lockdown.”
—Forbes
“Anyone living any sort of creative life needs this pep talk on their bookshelf.”
—Bookpage
“Austin Kleon is a constant rainbow amidst gloomy Internet clouds. I open his weekly newsletter every single week… because it’s a neverending cornucopia of creative delights and inspirations that keeps my thinking fresh. If you liked his mega-hit Steal Like An Artist or books that push and motivate you like Brave Enough or The War of Art, then you will love this thoughtful, mind-expanding, idea-filled romp. Yes, romp. You will read this … and you will romp.”
—Neil Pasricha, author of The Happiness Equation
“Really, really wonderful. It has been a balm and an encouragement to me.”
—Alan Jacobs, author of How To Think
“Following up a successful series is really hard, especially a monster hit like Steal Like An Artist…but Austin not only does that here, he crushes it. This book is so good and so perfect for the moment, whether you’re an artist or an entrepreneur, a parent or a movie producer. There are so many strategies for pushing through despair, chaos or that looming sense that the world is falling to pieces around us. Austin doesn’t promise any magical solutions but he does think that all of us sitting down and getting to work—making good stuff—can add up in a big way. I think he’s right and I really loved this book.”
—Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle is the Way
“Austin Kleon might be one of the most optimistic and motivating people on earth.”
—Omnivoracious
“Zine-like in appearance, jumbling together comics, poetry, and artistic advice. The homemade aesthetic and Kleon’s sense of humor help these books transcend the self-help genre that they’re nominally filed under. Kleon’s new book, Keep Going, is especially potent, the kind of book that desperately needed to be written right now. Its starting point is the dilemma that a lot of people are facing: how do we keep making art in a world that just keeps getting messier, and what role does creativity play during anxious times?”
—Art Levy, KUTX
“Inspiration for how to keep making art in an artless time…”
—Clayton Cubitt, photographer and filmmaker
“Austin Kleon’s books always arrive like an unusually pleasant day in early spring… [Keep Going] is a call, so sorely needed today, for ‘less despair’ and ‘more repair,’ and that is exactly what it offers.”
—800 CEO Read
“This is a no-holds-barred approach to hanging tight with the mindset and habits we all need for an inspired life. A long line of creatives, like John Waters, Ralph Waldo Emerson, C.S. Lewis, and Wendell Berry, are quoted here, and if these alone don’t move you along, any of the practices in this sweet little book surely will. Perfect for gifting.”
—Nancy Scheemaker, Northshire Bookstore, Saratoga Springs, NY
“Austin Kleon is known for his genius writings on creativity and art. Keep Going is full of perfect mantras to learn (or try) to separate your brain from the tiny computer in your pocket.”
—Book Riot
“If you are interested in maintaining a creative life, or if you’re looking for a short, practical but enjoyable primer on how to stay productive in your life, take a look at Keep Going.”
—The Amazon Book Review