Photo Photo
Search Advanced SearchView Cart   Checkout   
 Location:  Home » Books » YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts  
Home
Blog

YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts

YouTube: An Insider's Guide to Climbing the Charts

zoom enlarge 
Authors: Alan Lastufka, Michael W. Dean
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Category: Book

List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $16.79
You Save: $13.20 (44%)



New (30) Used (6) from $14.50

Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars 5 reviews
Sales Rank: 51640

Format: Illustrated
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 301
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.9 x 0.8

ISBN: 0596521146
Dewey Decimal Number: 006.7
EAN: 9780596521141
ASIN: 0596521146

Publication Date: November 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: All orders ship same business day via standard shipping (USPS Media Mail) if received by 1 PM CST.

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
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 10,000 YouTube subscribers and millions of 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:

  • 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

Join Alan, who makes part of his living from YouTube, and Michael, a successful filmmaker, author, and D.I.Y. art pioneer. They'll take you from the basics of gear to making it big on YouTube, with a focus on networking and interaction. You'll also sit in on informative interviews with YouTube stars LisaNova, Hank Green (vlogbrothers), WhatTheBuckShow, nalts, and liamkylesullivan.

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.


Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Do-It-Yourself Today   December 20, 2008
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Indie Filmmaker and new media expert Michael W. Dean delivers with another happening "how to" book. Excellent advice for young filmmkaers and old goats trying to navigate the on-line film game. It's chock full of good info and a fun read. Pick it up for yourself or an aspiring filmmaker friend today!


5 out of 5 stars Thank you sirs, may we have another?   December 12, 2008
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Alan Lastufka and Micahel Dean have written a great book. I was already a fan of the $30 School Series and jumped on this as soon as it shipped. Informative and fun, conscience and fun, video and FUN. How many more kicks to the crotch videos does the world REALLY need? Digital video really is the new punk rock. These guys climbed the mountain and know what they're talking about. A must-have for any aspiring viral videographer.


5 out of 5 stars Michael W. Dean Hits Another Home Run   December 10, 2008
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Bottom line: Michael W. Dean's "how-to" books give you THE best insights and THE best bang for your buck, bar none.

As he did with $30 Film School, $30 Writing School, and $30 Music School, Dean (now with his very smart co-author Alan Lastufka) crams an unbelievable amount of very useful information into YouTube: An Insider's Guide To Climbing The Charts.

Everything is covered---even a complete novice can work his way through the book and, with practice, be well on his or her way to YouTube success. Chapters include, among others: Storytelling And Directing, Broadcasting Yourself, Building Your Audience, Reaching The World, and Becoming A Success Story. That's just a sample...there's a lot more to read here, with Dean and Lastufka taking the reader by the hand and showing him / her exactly WHAT, WHY, WHEN, and HOW to be successful.

You'd expect as much from any how-to book, but where Dean shines is his attention to detail; he's always delved into the meat-and-potatoes nuances of whatever subject he's writing about, and that tradition continues here. There are numerous useful resources provided...links to successful YouTube videos, links to relevant blogs, links to royalty-free content useful in your videos, such as music beds or still images---the whole nine yards.

There's another aspect of Dean's writing / teaching I've come to appreciate over the years, and it shows here as well: he takes a holistic approach to the subject, examining the macro scene (the big picture) as well as the micro scene (the small details.) There are, for lack of a better description, Interesting Things About Life Itself to be discovered when (for instance) making videos for distribution on the Web, as well as dangers and pitfalls to be avoided. Dean shares his experiences and thoughts on these matters and the wise reader pays attention; it's a good way to skip the bad and enjoy the good things about being an artist.

Though I'm not a novice video producer, there was plenty of new material here for me to benefit from. And though I prefer to showcase my work on sites other than YouTube, most of what Dean and Lastufka cover is very useful no matter where you choose to showcase your videos. Not a YouTuber but prefer another video-sharing site? No problem. The info in this book will do you good.

I think honest book reviews point out shortcomings and flaws, as well as the good stuff. Though I tried, and tried pretty hard, to find something to dislike about this book, the best I could come up with was this: I found a small typo. That's it.

YouTube: An Insider's Guide To Climbing The Charts gets five stars only because I can't give it six.



5 out of 5 stars Insiders Need This   December 7, 2008
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I am a fan of truth. I like it when I read it, and it is easy to digest. This book has some really good stuff in it for people caught up trying to find out what is meaningful to do on the internet personally, socially and for business.


5 out of 5 stars The Best Guide (by people who ACTUALLY KNOW!)   December 5, 2008
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

It's kinda weird to write this, but I've known Alan Lastufka for a long time, even back in the day when I had like only 2,000 subscribers, every day I'd be instant messaging with Alan and saying, "how can I get more subscribers?" and he'd always have an answer for me. And now my channel has 50,000 subscribers and there is no doubt that it is in part thanks to Alan.

Alan knows more about YouTube than any body. Alan knows more about YouTube than YouTube does. I'm almost certain of that.

There's so much you can do to get to the top of the charts on YouTube and it's not even that hard. It's all about creativity and a little bit of determination and yeah, you need to stick to it, but I've always had Alan there backing me up, ready with the next suggestion. And now, in a way, everyone's going to have that, which is kinda scary because I don't want everyone to know my secrets.


Disclaimer: This is an Amazon storefront - the products referenced on this site are manufactured and sold by other parties and sold through Amazon.com We make no representations regarding either the products or any information vendors offer about their products. Any questions, complaints, or claims regarding the products must be directed to the appropriate manufacturer or vendor, or to Amazon.com.