Funny, conversational, and relatable, Try Hard is for anyone looking to make sense of their own creative pursuit or bring more creativity into their life, offering a framework for how to do it and where to begin.

Let’s say you see a familiar musician from a globe-trotting, touring band hanging out at your local coffee shop, reading the newspaper and typing away on his laptop. This doesn’t look like a musician at work. He seems approachable enough, so you ask him what exactly he does all day. With a grin on his face, he admits the job might not be what you think. So you take a seat, and ask him every question you’ve ever had about how it all works: the nuts and bolts of writing a song, preparing for a show, marketing a band, and the day-to-day business of a creative life.

With each answer—none of it about talent—you realize this musician is a bit of a…try hard. That the mystery of being a creative person isn’t actually mysterious at all: it’s just exploring ideas with an enthusiastic and determined curiosity. Over and over.

Max is that musician in the coffee shop, and this is what reading Try Hard feels like: one-of-a-kind tales from a dynamic frontman, and a companion to your own creative work in progress. With a brick-by-brick attitude, Max explores his own growth in the craft of storytelling and performance, the pleasure to be found in collaboration, and the creative spirit required in sharing your art.

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MAX KERMAN is the frontman of the multiplatinum, award-winning touring band Arkells. Try Hard is his first book.

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