how to be authentic online

this year, we're making art. not content.

Earlier this year (or last year depending on when you read this), I wrote an essay that I was afraid to publish. Actually — I wrote a lot of essays I was afraid to publish. But the one that freaked me out the most was my essay “Against Content,” which is about how content creation has become a vacuum that basically sucks all the humanity out of the social Internet for brand sponsorships and ad revenue.

You can read that essay here on my Internet Bedroom newsletter:

against content

It freaked me out because, when I wrote it, I was actively trying to figure out how to make content for my business. And every day after I published it, I was terrified of someone finding my business “content” and hitting my DMs to yell at me for being a hypocrite.

Wherever you follow me online or if you know me from real life, you probably know that I’m a full time writer, editor, ghostwriter, writing coach, creative consultant etc. etc. Basically, I work with a ton of creative, innovative people to help them make their writing goals a reality. And for most of the time I’ve done this job, I found clients exclusively through freelancing platforms, word-of-mouth, and cold pitching. I didn’t have a website or social media presence or “brand” for what I was doing. It didn’t even occur to me that I was running a business until around this time last year.

So I started trying to make content for my business and immediately found myself feeling weird and inauthentic on the social media platforms I had set up as my “business accounts.” I could see exactly how to make the type of content that would go viral, but I didn’t want to make it because I had this deep fear that someone from my real life or who knew me from my “real” creative work would find my shit and see it as an obvious, oblivious cash grab.

Plus, I come from academia (I got my ph.d. from OSU in 2020). And for some reason it’s deeply shameful to do anything other than be a professor after getting your ph.d. even though you basically make no money and higher ed is going down the drain.

So I wrote the essay and continued to feel weird and afraid that someone would find my business accounts and know I was a content creator wannabe like all the other pseudo-influencer boss babe girlies online.

But then something weird happened. I started getting messages from people that had found my essay on social media platforms I had never heard of before and app developers who were trying to figure out how to make a better kind of social media. I started seeing videos on YouTube and TikToks about what it would mean to make art again instead of focusing on making content. I saw people online getting tired of influencers and overconsumption and wanting to just connect with each other again. I found people like brattyxbre who weren’t just giving into TikTok trends and memes but actually reshaping their little corner of the Internet into what they wanted it to be.

Basically, I started to see the ideas I had explored in my essay having an impact.

And I was like, oh. Maybe I can be myself online. All of myself.

So, welcome to Captive Audience. If you’re already subscribed to this newsletter, it’s because this used to be my business newsletter, Ghostwriter Life, (which I abandoned last year to write Internet Bedroom and keep my substack “brand” cohesive, whatever that means). But I’m done with all that.

Captive Audience is all about existing as a creative in the age of the social Internet. Because I think that our vision and voices as artists and creatives matter and I want to see an Internet that truly values us.

I’m not a guru or someone who is going to teach you how to make millions of dollars overnight. I’m a writer and a creative with her Ph.D. who has taught at colleges for the past ten years and used to make zines as a teenager and wants to share what she knows about creativity, connecting authentically, making stuff, and telling stories that are uniquely ours.

So if you’re a creative or an artist or a writer or a business owner or whatever type of visionary and you’re tired of making content, I got you. And I hope you’ll stick around so we can make the Internet something we actually want to be a part of.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ *ੈ✩‧₊˚ *ੈ✩‧₊˚ *ੈ✩‧₊˚ *ੈ✩‧₊˚ *ੈ✩‧₊˚ *ੈ✩‧₊˚ *ੈ✩‧₊˚ *ੈ✩‧₊˚

💕this newsletter is for you if💕

• you’re a writer, artist, multi-hyphenate type person who doesn’t fit into one box

• you find the idea of developing a “personal brand” online to be weird and gross

• you hate making content but feel like you have to to promote your creative work

• you want to find a better way to connect with your audience

• you want to connect with other writers and artists and creatives who feel the same way about making art and being online

✨what you can expect from this newsletter moving forward✨

• writing about the care and keeping of your creativity

• ideas for making stuff on social media that feels authentic instead of being an obvious ploy for virality

• case studies of promo that doesn’t suck

• stuff I’m learning from working with clients, running a business centered on creativity and expression, writing books, and writing for substack

• a book club??? people wanted a book club over on Internet Bedroom but I feel like this might be a better space for it

I hope you’ll stick around <3 Although I’m shy about it, you can follow either of my instas:

my ˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖business insta˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖

and/or my 🏹writer grrrl insta🏹

And find my creative work over on Internet Bedroom.

ok love you byeeeeeee!