It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living is a non-fiction compilation book, edited by Dan Savage and his husband, Terry Miller. It was published March 22, 2011 by Dutton. The book includes selections of essays inspired by the It Gets Better Project, founded by Savage. He decided to start the project after a series of incidents of suicide among LGBT youth. Individuals were encouraged to submit videos with a message of hope and optimism for teenagers who were victims of bullying due to their sexual orientation. Over 100 essays are contained in the book. Contributors include finance advisor Suze Orman; comedic writer David Sedaris; United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; and President of the United States Barack Obama.

Sales of the book were successful, and IndieBound reported it reached a list of bestsellers in the United States less than one week after publication. It reached The New York Times Best Seller list in April 2011. The Chicago Sun-Times noted that the book "features handpicked and heartfelt essays from contributors famous and obscure, gay and straight."

Dan Savage started the It Gets Better Project in September 2010 in order to address incidents of suicide among LGBT youth. He felt impacted by suicides of youths, including Tyler Clementi, who were tormented because of their sexual orientation. The purpose of the project is to reach out to teenagers and to provide them with hope and optimism in the face of bullying.

"I was just stewing on the kids, and the reaction you always have as a gay adult is 'I wish I could have talked to that kid,' to have been able to tell him it gets better," explained Savage. The project intended to inform teenagers that "it gets better" through video submissions to the organization. Savage commented,

When a 15-year-old or a 13-year-old kills himself because he is gay, what he’s saying is that he can’t picture a future with enough joy in it to compensate for the pain he’s in now, to make enduring this and getting through it worth it. We gay adults know adult gay life is pretty awesome....You can have a totally wonderful, rewarding adult gay life. A lot of gay kids don't know that. You wish you could tell him that it gets better and that was the phrase rattling around in my head.

Savage's initial goal was to compile 100 videos. By February 2011, approximately 10,000 people had submitted videos, which were watched 30 million times on video sharing websites, including YouTube. Video submissions included a speech addressed to youth from the President of the United States, as well as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Trevor Project, an organization which provides services to LGBT youth, noted that after the foundation of the It Gets Better Project, the group saw a 50% increase in telephone calls to their suicide hotline. Contributors to the book wrote essays after receiving inspiration from the It Gets Better Project. Savage donated his profits from the book to charitable organizations dedicated to assisting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender young people.

It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living contains selections of writings addressed to teenagers within the LGBT community. Celebrities, ordinary individuals and teenagers submitted pieces for inclusion in the book, which includes over 100 essays, selected from 10,000 entries. Contributors to the work include finance advisor Suze Orman; comedic writer David Sedaris; United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; and President of the United States Barack Obama.

Dan Savage writes of his own life in the book,