Austin Kleon's Steal Like an Artist turned a South by Southwest talk into a publishing phenomenon, and by the time he sat down to write his third short, illustrated book on creativity, he wasn't writing from a place of confidence -- he's said directly that he wrote Keep Going because he needed to read it himself, at a moment when he was genuinely unsure he could keep doing this work. That origin shapes the whole book, which trades Steal Like an Artist's focus on originality for a harder, longer-range question: how do you sustain a creative practice once the initial spark and outside validation aren't enough on their own. This review works through the real press reception, the real reader numbers, and the specific, sourced criticism that this book can feel like familiar ground if you've already spent time with Kleon's earlier work.
What Keep Going Actually Is
Like its two predecessors, Keep Going is a short, heavily illustrated book built around a numbered list rather than a continuous narrative or argument -- ten chapters, each centered on one practical, mantra-like idea: things like “Every day is Groundhog Day,” “Build a bliss station,” “Forget the noun, do the verb,” and “Plant your garden.” Kleon mixes short prose passages with his own collage art, hand-lettered aphorisms, and the visual scrapbook style that's become his signature since Steal Like an Artist. It's designed to be read in a single sitting or dipped into one chapter at a time, and it doesn't ask readers to follow a sustained argument so much as absorb ten separate, related reminders about staying creative for the long haul rather than in one initial burst.
Because the book leans so heavily on visual design -- full-page illustrations, hand lettering, and white space used deliberately rather than as filler -- it reads noticeably faster than its page count would suggest for a typical nonfiction title. That's a deliberate continuation of the format Kleon established with his first two books, where the physical object itself, not just the text, is part of what the book is trying to communicate.
About Austin Kleon and Why He Wrote This
Kleon is a writer and artist based in Austin, Texas, best known for his blackout poetry -- erasure poems made by redacting most of the words on a newspaper page -- before Steal Like an Artist, adapted from a talk he gave, became a surprise bestseller in 2012 and launched what turned into a three-book series. That background as a visual artist, not just a writer, is part of why all three books in the series look and function so differently from a typical prose-only advice book -- the illustration and design are load-bearing parts of how Kleon communicates each idea, not decoration layered on afterward. Show Your Work! followed in 2014, focused on generosity and sharing process rather than only finished output. In interviews about Keep Going, Kleon has said the book grew out of wanting to counter the noise and anxiety of daily social media consumption, and out of a more personal, present-tense need: after years of doing this work, he'd hit a real period of doubting whether he could keep making it, and this book became the manual he wrote for himself to work through that doubt, more than a plan mapped out in advance for other people. He's described it as the first of his three books written specifically to help himself in the moment he was living through, rather than looking back at lessons already learned.
How It Compares to Steal Like an Artist
Steal Like an Artist is about getting started -- permission to borrow, remix, and stop waiting to feel original before making anything. Keep Going assumes you've already been making things for a while and is aimed at the much harder, less glamorous problem of sustaining that practice once the initial excitement fades, once you've had failures, and once daily life and news cycles start crowding out the mental space creative work needs. If Steal Like an Artist is the book that gets you moving, Keep Going is the one aimed at the moment, months or years later, when you're tempted to stop. Readers who loved the punchy, quotable energy of the first book sometimes find this one quieter and more inward by comparison, which is a fair, sourced distinction rather than a flaw exactly -- it's doing a different job.
What Critics Actually Said
Rather than inventing a verdict, here's what was actually published about it:
“Austin Kleon is known for his genius writings on creativity and art. Keep Going is full of perfect mantras to learn.”— 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
And the aggregate reader picture, for what it's worth:
Where Real Reviews Pushed Back
A consistent, specific note shows up across independent reader reviews: several describe the book as feeling repetitive, particularly if they'd already read a fair amount about creativity, productivity, or mindfulness before picking it up, or if they'd already read Kleon's first two books and were expecting more genuinely new material. One recurring reader observation is that it can read as “a giant list of thoughts loosely connected” rather than a single sustained argument -- which is by design, but doesn't land the same way for every reader. A separate, smaller complaint concerns value: at least one reviewer flagged the book as feeling expensive relative to how quickly it can be read given its short length and heavy illustration. None of that erases the book's core appeal, but it's a real, sourced picture of where it falls short for some readers, not just where it succeeds.
On Building a Bliss Station and Protecting Your Attention
The book's second chapter, “Build a bliss station,” argues for deliberately carving out a space and a stretch of time genuinely disconnected from outside input -- news, social media, other people's opinions -- as a practical requirement for creative work, not a luxury. It's one of the more concretely actionable chapters in the book, and it connects directly to Kleon's stated motivation for writing Keep Going in the first place: his own sense that daily digital noise was actively eroding his ability to make anything.
On “Every Day Is Groundhog Day” and the Case for Routine
Kleon has traced this chapter's material back specifically to a 2015 talk and a 2017 blog post, meaning the idea had already been tested in front of live audiences and refined through reader feedback online well before it became the book's opening chapter -- a pattern that holds for several of the ten chapters, which grew out of shorter pieces Kleon originally published and reworked once he saw which ones resonated most with readers.
The opening chapter, expanded from a 2015 talk and a 2017 blog post, makes the case that meaningful creative output comes from treating each day as fundamentally the same rather than waiting for inspiration or a breakthrough moment to strike. It's a deliberately unglamorous argument -- that showing up in a repeatable, almost boring daily structure matters more than chasing novelty -- and it sets the tone for the rest of the book's emphasis on sustainability over intensity.
On Slaying Art Monsters and Letting Go of Perfectionism
A later chapter, “Slay the art monsters,” pushes against the specific internal voices -- comparison, self-doubt, the sense that your work isn't as good as someone else's -- that Kleon frames as the real long-term threat to a creative practice, more dangerous than any lack of talent or opportunity. Paired with the later chapter on being allowed to change your mind, this section is where the book's underlying argument comes together most clearly: that staying creative over years, not just getting started once, is mostly a matter of managing your own internal resistance rather than external circumstances.
It's also worth flagging that the book was published in 2019, before the widespread pandemic-era conversations about burnout and creative sustainability that followed shortly after -- several readers who came to it later have noted that its core argument about pacing yourself for the long term reads, if anything, more relevant now than when it first came out.
Key Takeaways
- Kleon has said directly that he wrote this book as a pep talk to himself during a period of genuine creative doubt, not as advice handed down from a place of certainty
- It's the third in a loose trilogy but works fully as a standalone -- no need to read Steal Like an Artist or Show Your Work! first
- The ten chapters function as independent, mantra-like reminders rather than a single sustained argument
- “Build a bliss station” is the book's most concretely actionable chapter, arguing for deliberate disconnection as a creative requirement
- A real, recurring reader criticism is that it can feel repetitive if you've already read widely in the creativity and productivity space
Who This Book Is Actually For
Readers already making creative work of some kind -- writing, art, music, any sustained practice -- who are looking for short, illustrated encouragement to keep going during a rough patch, rather than a step-by-step productivity system. It particularly suits fans of Kleon's visual, collage-driven style from his earlier books.
Who Should Read Something Else Instead
If you haven't read Steal Like an Artist yet, start there instead -- it's the more foundational and more consistently quotable entry point to Kleon's ideas. And if you've already read widely on creativity, productivity, or mindfulness, the sourced criticism above is a fair warning that this book may cover ground that feels familiar rather than break genuinely new territory.
Readers who want a single sustained argument, developed at length with supporting research and case studies, are also likely to find this book's format frustrating -- it's built as ten separate mantras rather than one continuous thesis, and that structural choice won't suit everyone equally well.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Short, visually engaging format that respects a reader's limited time without feeling thin
- Grew out of Kleon's own genuine creative doubt, giving it real emotional honesty rather than generic advice
- “Build a bliss station” and “Every day is Groundhog Day” offer genuinely actionable, specific ideas
- Strong 4.26 out of 5 rating across roughly 18,000 Goodreads ratings
- Works well as a standalone even without reading the earlier two books in the trilogy
Cons:
- Can feel repetitive to readers already familiar with creativity and productivity writing, per multiple reader reviews
- Reads as a loosely connected list of mantras rather than a single sustained argument, by design but not to every reader's taste
- At least one reviewer flagged it as feeling pricey relative to how quickly it reads given its short length
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to read Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work! first?
No. Keep Going is the third book in Kleon's loose trilogy but works as a standalone -- each book covers a different stage of a creative life (originality, sharing your process, and staying creative long-term) and none require the others as setup.
What's the actual Goodreads rating?
4.26 out of 5 from roughly 18,000 ratings as of this writing. Check the live number yourself via the source link below, since it will keep moving.
Why did Austin Kleon write this book?
He's said directly it was a book he needed to read himself -- he was feeling worn down by the daily churn of social media and had hit a period of doubting whether he could keep making creative work at all. He's described it as a pep talk he wrote for his own present-tense self as much as for readers.
What's the most common criticism of this book?
That it can feel repetitive or like a loosely connected list of mantras if you've already read a lot about creativity and productivity, or already read Kleon's earlier two books -- a real, recurring note in reader reviews, not an isolated complaint.
Sources & Further Reading
- Goodreads — Keep Going (aggregate rating, reader reviews)
- Book Riot — Keep Going review, and “Art, Books, and How to Keep Going: An Interview with Austin Kleon”
- The Amazon Book Review — Keep Going review
- austinkleon.com — Keep Going publisher/author page
- PositiveLifes.com — free inspirational and life-changing PDF books
Final Verdict
Keep Going succeeds at exactly what Kleon set out to do -- write something honest enough about creative burnout and doubt to help himself, which is also what makes it land for readers going through the same thing. The sourced criticism about repetition is fair, especially if you've already spent time in this genre, but the book's short format and genuine emotional honesty carry it past that. It's not the trilogy's essential entry point, but for the specific problem of staying creative once the initial spark fades, it's the right book at the right moment for a lot of readers.
Buy Day rating: 8.3/10