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20 Years of Content Creation... the books I'd recommend
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items After more than 20 years of creating content online, these are the books I would recommend to anyone who wants to create meaningful work, build an audience or turn their ideas into a business. Whether you are just beginning or have been creating for ...
Start here for permissio to create before you feel qualified, certain, original enough or feearless. This is the book for the person wants to create but stuggles to get started.
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
Because inspiration is not the real problem… resistance is. There will be days when creating suddenly feels uncomfortable, inconvenient, pointless… this is the book for those days.
The War of Art: Break Through Blocks
Probably the most directly useful beginner creator book on the list. It teaches that you do not have to wait until you are an established expert; you can share what you are learning, making, noticing and discovering along the way.
Show Your Work! a book by Austin Kleon
This book is going to help you figure out what sits underneath your content. Not just What am I going to post?! But Why should anyone care and what do I want this work to stand for. The classic book for making work that matters.
Start With Why - by Simon Sinek
This book is the introduction to the audience first business model. Create useful content for a clearly defined group. Earn their trust and then build products around what they need. A must have for every content creator building a brand.
Content Inc.: How Entrepreneurs Use Content
No content creation list would be complete without Gary V. Some of the platform examples are dated but the central lesson remains extremely useful; give people content they value before asking for something in return.
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: Social Storytelling
Creating and persuading are two totally different skills. This book teaches the psychology behind attention, headlines, desire and action. If you want content to support your business or BE your business, this is a must read.
Cashvertising: 100+ Secrets of Ad-Agency
This book will convince you that any ordinary person can create a recognizable personal brand around what they genuiely care about. This book will build your confidence around the fact that it is very possible.
Crush It!: Why NOW to Cash In on Passion
If you believe you need to have a completely original idea before you create… this is the book that will give you the perfect reframe for that false premise. ;)
Steal Like An Artist - a book by Austin Kleon
Content creators are writers… even if most of your content is in video format. Hooks, captions, scripts, emails, headlines, calls to action all depend on clear writing. Thib book focuses on creating stronger marketing content and storytelling.
Everybody Writes
This is a good counterbalance to Cashvertising. It is less about getting an immediate response and more about trust, empathy, connection and creating something meaningful for a particular group. Seth Godin is the OG of internet marketing… a list with...
This Is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen
Learn how to clarify your message so people quickly understand who it is for, what problem it addresses, and why they should care.
Building a StoryBrand 2.0: Clarify Your Message
This is not specifically a marketing book, but it is completly relevant because a content career is built through repeatable systems, not waiting to feel inspired every day.
Atomic Habits: Easy & Proven Way to Build
This is going to help you understand why some ideas are remembered while others disappear. This applies directly to stories, hooks, demonstrations, teaching and explaining why something matters.
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive
How do I figure out what works without making every decision feel permanent? Content Creation is basically one long series of experiments: try a topic, test a hook, change the format, watch what people respond to. The big idea is to replace rigid all...
Tiny Experiments: Live Freely in Goal-Obsessed World