Let me begin by making an observation that the authors are too humble to make for themselves: This book will change your life. But more on that in a moment. First I’m going to do something prototypically YouTubian: I’m going to talk about myself.

Like most people, I got to know YouTube as part of my lifelong project to discover every method of procrastination available on the Internet. I’d go online and watch music videos or laughing babies or squirrels on water skis or whatever the new viral video happened to be. But I didn’t get it, not really. I didn’t understand the immense potential of YouTube, because what is truly powerful about the site is its community-building features.

In the summer of 2006, I discovered two very different YouTube channels and fell in love. The first was askaninja, a hilarious show in which a man dressed as a ninja answers viewers’ questions. The quick-cut editing and rapid-fire speech of askaninja have since become a hallmark of countless popular videos (including mine). The second was lonelygirl15, a seemingly real vlog made by a seemingly real 16-year-old girl whose parents were caught up in a profoundly weird occultist religion. Lg15, as the show was known, felt to me like all the best parts of Lost, but it was even better. It felt real in a way that no television show ever could.

After watching it for a few months, I began to understand why I enjoyed it so much: I was participating in the creation of the show. My video responses (Chapter 8) appeared on the lg15 YouTube page, as did my text comments. I interacted with other fans and became friends with them. Television shows don’t bring together strangers like YouTube communities can, because a TV show—even an awesome one—is merely something you watch. TV does not get more awesome as a result of you watching it, but YouTube channels do. That’s the miracle of YouTube: You get to help make the awesome.

And that’s where the changing-your-life part comes in. In this book, you’ll learn the technical details of how to create and edit a video, how to maximize its quality for the Web, and how to upload it to YouTube. These are vital skills for anyone seeking to make web-based video content. But you’ll also learn how to find an audience on YouTube—how to get your content to the millions of people who watch and enjoy online videos. YouTube is so huge and there are so many videos that it can at times feel impossible to get anyone to watch yours. Building a base of subscribers and fans is tremendously challenging, but no one in the world knows more about how it works than YouTube star Alan Lastufka. Along with coauthor Michael W. Dean (a well-known independent filmmaker and author), Alan will show you a variety of effective strategies for becoming more popular.

My brother and I made vlogs back and forth to each other every day for seven months before any of our videos received 1,000 views. Then our audience started to grow, and with Alan’s help, it has continued to grow ever since. We have more than 40,000 subscribers now—a vibrant community of smart, thoughtful people celebrating nerd culture and brotherhood. The people of the YouTube community have changed my life for the better, and in some small way, I’ve changed theirs, too. Not every channel will have a million viewers, of course, but every channel can participate in the growth of exciting and passionate online communities.

I don’t know of a more vibrant creative sandbox than YouTube. There are already so many great writers, artists, singers, comedians, filmmakers, and actors making YouTube great. But by the very design of the site, there is always room for more—for a new perspective or a niche we didn’t even know existed.

So, let’s get started! Proceed into the wisdom of this book, and I look forward to seeing you pass me on the Most Subscribed list. Best wishes!

—John Green (vlogbrothers)