Self-help · Similar reads
Books like Show Your Work!
The best books like Show Your Work! are Steal Like an Artist, Bird by Bird, and Big Magic. Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon is about creativity, sharing, creative work. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- Steal Like an Artist
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Austin Kleon · Self-help
Steal Like an Artist is Austin Kleon's short, illustrated guide to the creative process, built around the premise that nothing is truly original — all creative work is built from and inspired by what came before.
Shares creativity and creative work with Show Your Work!.
Read the summary → - Bird by Bird
02
Anne Lamott · Self-help
Bird by Bird is Anne Lamott's guide to writing and the creative life, grown from a course she taught at UC Davis and developed over years of writing novels, essays, and journalism.
Shares creativity and process with Show Your Work!.
Read the summary → - Big Magic
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Elizabeth Gilbert · Self-help
Big Magic is Elizabeth Gilbert's manifesto for living a creative life — not as a professional artistic career but as an orientation toward existence.
Shares creativity and creative work with Show Your Work!.
Read the summary →
- The War of Art
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Steven Pressfield · Self-help
The War of Art is Steven Pressfield's short, blunt manual for anyone who creates — or wants to create — and finds themselves blocked, procrastinating, or unable to start.
Shares creativity and creative work with Show Your Work!.
Read the summary → - The Creative Habit
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Twyla Tharp · Self-help
The Creative Habit is legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp's account of how creativity works in practice — not as inspiration but as habit, discipline, and preparation.
Shares creativity and creative work with Show Your Work!.
Read the summary → - On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
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On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King · Memoir
On Writing is Stephen King's memoir of the writing life combined with a practical toolkit for writers.
Shares creativity and process with Show Your Work!.
Read the summary → - Do the Work
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Steven Pressfield · Self-help
Do the Work is Steven Pressfield's shortest and most directly operational book about creative resistance.
Both dig into creative work.
Read the summary → - Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within
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Effortless Mastery: Liberating the Master Musician Within
Kenny Werner · Self-help
Effortless Mastery is jazz pianist Kenny Werner's account of what he calls "the space" — a state of relaxed, fearless attention that produces music of genuine quality, and that most musicians, including Werner himself for much of his early career, never reliably access.
Both dig into creativity.
Read the summary → - Hyperfocus
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Chris Bailey · Self-help
Hyperfocus is Chris Bailey's second book, narrowing in on the attention piece of his earlier productivity triad.
Both dig into creativity.
Read the summary → - Keep Going
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Austin Kleon · Self-help
Keep Going is Austin Kleon's third book in his series on creative practice, following Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work.
Both dig into creativity.
Read the summary → - Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers
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Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers
Dennis DeSantis · Self-help
Making Music is Dennis DeSantis's catalog of seventy-four specific problems that electronic music producers encounter, paired with concrete strategies for addressing each one.
Both dig into creativity.
Read the summary → - Mastery
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Robert Greene · Self-help
Mastery is Robert Greene's long account of how extraordinary human mastery develops — from childhood inclinations through apprenticeship through creative independence to the integration that characterizes true mastery.
Both dig into creativity.
Read the summary →
Books like Show Your Work!: quick answers
What are the best books like Show Your Work!?
The best books like Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon are Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with Show Your Work!, such as creativity, sharing, creative work.
What should I read after Show Your Work!?
A natural next read after Show Your Work! is Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. Shares creativity and creative work with Show Your Work!. Other strong choices are Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.
What books are similar to Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon?
Show Your Work! centers on creativity, sharing, creative work. Books with a similar feel include Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
