YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts
by Alan Lastufka, Michael W. Dean
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alan Lastufka, Michael W. DeanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-11-28
ISBN: 0596521146
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Book Reviews of YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts
Book Review: Helpful to an extent, but remember...
Summary: 4 Stars
First I learned things from this book so it is worth it if you can afford to buy it; I can't so I borrowed it from the library. So, my complaint is that there are so many links embedded in the text. Really, I don't like to sit at my computer and read a book. I'm at my computer enough. It's not like all the links are to resources such as [...]. A lot of the links are to his friends' videos. He'll mention a technique and then say "here look at it in action at so-and-so's YouTube video." It seems like he's promoting a lot of people on YouTube, which is fine too, but if I'm going to get through the book within a decent time frame (everyone considers their time valuable), then I can't go watch every video you give me a link to...it would take too long to get through the book. Not only that, but in every chapter, it seems he's mentioning one of his other books. Someone just bought your YouTube book, and now the author is already hinting / pushing you to buy his other one or two? It's like advertising built in to his book, and he himself says that there is so much money to be made in advertising (he even puts it in italic).
That said, I did learn some important things that will help me out. I'd share what I learned with you, but what each person learns in a book is based on what you don't know or don't consider important. So, to discover what is important for you, you'll have to read the book!
One thing that this book does not point out is that you must be a naturally creative person in order to succeed on YouTube. You have to offer something fresh and new, and it does take money to start out (not a lot, but some). Probably not everyone has a digital camera and a microphone and the $70 some odd dollars it costs to buy the software to edit the video...not to mention a computer fast enough and with enough memory to handle large video files.
So say for example you want to "make it" on YouTube, if you are not a creative person, you basically have to find another way to gain subscribers. He doesn't mention any of the other ways to do this. I can tell you one of those ways: share information with others. Personally I upload some of the same product reviews I upload to amazon up to YouTube, and guess what? My three most viewed videos are the same ones I uploaded to Amazon! (Thanks Amazon for the idea!) I guess the authors approach to YouTube is the only one he considers doable. Now I realize I will not be high on the charts for just uploading reviews of cell phones, but it's at least a place to start until I can make new videos that do catch more attention.
So, to recap, I like the book, but I like to read away from the computer where it's comfortable. (I'm at the computer enough, so I like to "escape" to other places away from the PC.) There is a lot of great information in the book with some shameless self-promotion as well as promotion of other YouTubers. I don't want to take the time to view every clip he gives a link to because I want to get to the "meat" of the information as quickly as possible. So, I skip the links that are not to critical information or sources. And, the author does not state that in order to be at the high top of the charts, you have to have a certain personality or at least be a good enough actor/actress to fake it. And, he does not give additional ways that a video can get lots of views, such as to offer product reviews, which is a way of sharing information.
So, it's worthwhile, but you'll have to buy it if you can't devote the time it takes to view all the URLs at your computer. I guess it'd be easier if you have a laptop.
Summary of YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts
Want to make a splash on YouTube? Even go viral? You've come to the right place. This book is written by two veteran 'Tubers who live their art and know what they're talking about -- especially Alan Lastufka, a.k.a. "fallofautumndistro," who has over 50,000 YouTube subscribers and over 6 million views. Alan and co-author Michael W. Dean show you how to make a quality video, and how to optimize, encode, upload, and promote it. This book can't promise you'll be rich and famous, but it can tell you how to make great video art, and what you need to do to get your work seen. You'll learn about:
Alan and Michael understand viral marketing -- and they know what it takes to get your work on everyone's YouTube radar. And, once you read this book, so will you.
- Storytelling and directing
- Shooting, editing, and rendering
- Creating your very own channel
- Broadcasting user-generated content
- Re-broadcasting commercial content
- Cultivating a devoted audience
- Fitting into the YouTube community
- Becoming a success story
Alan and Michael understand viral marketing -- and they know what it takes to get your work on everyone's YouTube radar. And, once you read this book, so will you.
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