Chapter 8 focuses on learning how to take criticisms and comments that people leave on

your work online. You can’t avoid criticism and you have to be able to differentiate constructive

criticism from people being trolls. When faced with criticism the first thing to do is stop and take

a deep breath. Stop picturing the worst case scenario because that will make the situation worse.

Most criticism can help make your work better so don’t be afraid to continue to put yourself out

there. If you do encounter trolls, just ignore them. If you don’t give them the attention they want

most will go away. The good thing about social media today is that most if not all sites have a

block button. Say you encounter a particularly nasty troll who won’t leave you alone. Just block

them. You don’t have to listen to what they’re saying as they aren’t interested in helping you get

better. Another option is to disable comments if possible. If there is no space for trolls to leave

their nasty comments most won’t make the effort to message you directly. Those who do want to

help you however will be willing to take the extra step to message you directly.

Chapter 9 focuses on the term sellout. We often hear sellout used as an insult thrown at

artists whose fans have decided that the artist now cares more about money than anything else.

Austin Kleon encourages his readers to get rid of the idea of the “starving artist” and tells his

readers that it’s okay to take other jobs to make some money to support themselves. After all

Kleon states that “some of our most meaningful and most cherished cultural artifacts were made

for money” (163). Just because you want to try something new or take an odd job here and there

to support yourself doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with your work. Sometimes you

need money to continue to follow your dreams. There’s also nothing wrong with asking people

to donate money to support you but just know that some will feel that they should have some

control over what their money is being used for. No matter what, make sure to pay it forward.
Give others a chance to share their work but still make sure you have enough time to get your

stuff done.