4.0 KiB
aliases, Is A, Author, Topics, URL
| aliases | Is A | Author | Topics | URL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Note | Austin Kleon |
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https://example.com/show-your-work |
Show Your Work
Austin Kleon
Kleon's premise is simple and liberating: you do not need to be a genius to share your work. You do not even need to be an expert. You just need to be willing to learn in public and share your process, not just your polished outputs. The book is a practical guide for anyone who creates things and wants to build an audience around their work without resorting to self-promotion tactics that feel slimy. Kleon's approach is generous rather than transactional: share useful things, teach what you know, credit your influences, and the audience will come as a byproduct.
This book fundamentally shaped my approach to the newsletter. Before reading it, I felt pressure to present myself as an authority -- someone who had figured things out and was dispensing wisdom from above. Kleon convinced me that sharing the learning process itself is more valuable and more authentic. Readers connect more deeply with "here is what I am figuring out" than with "here is what you should do." This shift made writing more enjoyable (less pressure to be perfect) and more effective (readers trust vulnerability more than polish). The concept of "learning in public" has become central to how I think about content creation.
Kleon also offers practical advice on the mechanics of sharing: keep a daily dispatch of what you are working on, maintain a "cabinet of curiosities" (things that inspire you and that you share with your audience), and build a body of work over time rather than chasing individual viral moments. The emphasis on consistency over spectacle is particularly relevant for newsletter operators. You are not trying to go viral; you are trying to build a trusted relationship with a specific audience over months and years. That requires showing up regularly with genuine, useful content, which is exactly what Kleon advocates.
Key takeaways
- Share your process, not just your polished output -- audiences connect more with the journey than with the destination
- You do not need to be an expert to share; being a dedicated learner in public is valuable and authentic
- "Learning in public" builds trust and attracts an audience of people who are on a similar path
- Consistency beats virality: regular sharing builds a body of work and a loyal audience over time
- A "cabinet of curiosities" (things that inspire you, tools you use, influences you draw from) is content that only you can create
- Credit your influences generously -- this builds relationships with other creators and demonstrates intellectual honesty
- The "So what?" test: before sharing anything, ask what value it provides to the reader, not just to you
How I apply this
- My newsletter follows Kleon's "learning in public" philosophy directly. Rather than positioning myself as the expert with all the answers, I share what I am reading, testing, and thinking about. This approach has generated the strongest reader engagement and the most organic growth because it invites readers into a conversation rather than a lecture.
- I maintain a running list of interesting tools, articles, books, and ideas that I share in a "links" section of my newsletter. This is Kleon's "cabinet of curiosities" in practice -- it costs almost nothing to produce, adds genuine value, and gives readers a window into my thinking process.
- I share early drafts and work-in-progress publicly more often than I used to. A half-finished framework posted on Twitter generates more useful feedback and engagement than a polished final product, and it builds anticipation for the full version in the newsletter.