Youtube: An Insider's Guide To Climbing The Charts, by authors Alan Lastufka and Michael W. Dean, Foreword by John Green, Published by O'Reilly publications holding 281 pages and divided into 15 chapters.
"If you're smart (and you are smart because you picked this book), talented (and you are talented because this book attracted you and this book is about talent and vision), and have some good ideas, you'll have a really good chance of getting your work seen." - Alan
Chapter 1 - What is This YouTube of Which You Speak?
While explaining it's history, there is also information in this chapter about navigating through Youtube as well as what a video is and what it means for it to go viral. The following link shows a compilation of many viral videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkOnsIhIcu8
Chapter 2 - Storytelling and Directing
This chapter explains in depth about making videos for Youtube as well as how to edit, render and upload them. What the author advises is a use of "story-telling" and "conflict" within videos so that people will be interested in watching your videos and to perhaps pass them on to their friends.
Chapter 3 - 99 Cent Film School: Shooting, Editing and Rendering
Continuing from the previous chapter, a more technical walkthrough of movie production is presented in an almost step by step explanation about what to shot and what not to shoot. There is also information about location, lighting, props for production in your video.
Chapter 4 - Creating Your Very Own Channel
In this chapter is the process of registering for your very channel and enhancing your profile on Youtube. With the benefit of gaining a channel for your videos, there is also privacy issues and terms of use agreements that are covered as well.
Chapter 5. Broadcasting Yourself: User-Generated Content
This chapter follows on uploading videos to Youtube along with what is and what isn't appropriate, such as no pornographic and/or violent content. A certain page, "contacting Youtube while upset" shows what can be done if your video has been removed due to constantly being flagged inappropriate.
Chapter 6. Rebroadcasting: Commercial Content
This chapter in particular shows about using other people's work for your videos, going right into copyrights, fair use, and parody. Another topic included in about Public Domain, where the copyright of songs, books, arts, and more have expired.
Chapter 7. Building Your Audience
The chapter here explains on how to create "traffic" on your channel as well as ways of building your audience efficiently and legally.
Chapter 8. The Community: Where Do You Fit In?
Now more than halfway through the book, this chapter highlights networking and collaborating with your videos and that of others, including channels and even groups on Youtube.
Chapter 9. Hacking the System: How to Cheat (and Why You Shouldn't)
Here in this chapter deals with behaviors on Youtube concerning about what is acceptable and what can get you suspended and possibly even removed for good. One example of hacking mentioned is called "autorefreshing", where by using your Internet browser settings a user could manually set their video page to refresh in a range of every 5 minutes to every 5 seconds. By doing so would result in a rather quick gain in video views thus climbing to the Most Viewed list yet also quickly to become under fire from Youtube violations and penalties.
Chapter 10. Reaching the World
This chapter here talks about social networking side of Youtube going into other applications including blogging, vlogging, signatures, and social bookmarking.
Chapter 11. Money Money Money!
As the title points out, this chapter talks about money, going into different programs and opportunities within Youtube that can turn your work and participation into a profit.
Chapter 12. Beyond The Tube
Discussed in this chapter is about not just working on only Youtube, but out in society as well that one could work to create and build upon your identity with managing your time independently.
Chapter 13. Becoming a Success Story
An interesting chapter this is, discussing about how to become featured on the front page of Youtube, the news, and even being first in a Google search.
Chapter 14. Closing Arguments
This chapter is just a little philosophy by the authors.
Close to the end of the book, the chapter here has the authors talking about a little philosophy with how this book has made them think about Youtube, the Internet, and the world itself from their experiences.
Chapter 15. Interviews with Other YouTube Rock Stars
A kind of bonus chapter, here five individuals who themselves started from just getting to know what Youtube was to now being influential Youtube celebrities. Interviews include links to their webpages and videos.
This book I felt was quite informative in its tutorials and demonstrations about Youtube's programs and applications given for the user to create and share their works and themselves. What I didn't like from this book was that in some parts they were too personal to the authors and not quite broad enough in their range of views and thoughts for the people that would be to read it. Though definitely for the new and inexperienced enthusiasts who would want to take part in Youtube this book would show unto them what they could do and how to take part in the online community.
