The problem with waiting for the right moment to talk about your creative work
Because actually anytime is fine. Also, don't let anyone set the agenda for you, ffs
I've been watching all kinds of creative folks really knock themselves out with launch energy lately. I love seeing smart and interesting people doing the hell out of their creative work. But I also see/hear a certain exhaustion (unrelated to the chaotic state of the world at the moment) in their self-promotion.
You know what I mean: it looks like a little scramble before their book or play or film or whatever comes out, repetitive social media posts for a thing they're wildly proud of, all in the name of ramping up visibility efforts when there's something immediate to promote. Then after the big launch, it’s back to being quiet or random shitposting until the next thing needs pushing.
It's like trying to get in shape the week before vacation: not likely to work, definitely fucking exhausting and ultimately… not terribly sustainable.
The whole approach assumes that creative visibility is something you turn on and off as a promotional tool rather than a practice.
Creative artists especially seem to believe that their work should speak for itself, that good writing/filmmaking/music/art will somehow find its audience through pure merit. It’s a romantic little idea, but it’s also one deeply rooted in a pervasive narrative about “being discovered,” which is still so much the dominant narrative, I sometimes think we have a hard time considering that’s not even how any of this shit works anymore.
(Plus, the whole idea of “being discovered”…? Really interrogate that idea and it quickly becomes a deeply disempowering deal of surrendering a lot of control over your art and life to others. Fuck that. Build a team or get an agent or work out a distribution deal or whatever support looks like for you, but “getting discovered” or getting your work “picked up” ain’t it. I can think of few places in the creative realm where specificity of language is more important than there. I digress…)
Yes, the work and how it’s received should be about the work itself, but in a landscape where public discourse is fractured across platforms and nobody owes anyone else their attention, the act of promoting your creative work is fits and starts feels like a weird game of Whack-a-mole. But, also, consider this: people don't remember you because you shouted really loudly that one time or said the same thing over and over until people bought your book or whatever. They remember you when they understand what your deal is and know when and where to find your thought-leadership in the public conversation and about which things.
But the opposite approach of constant and unrepentant self-promotion, the idea that “personal branding” means looking and behaving in certain “marketable” ways (gross), and performing your creative life for an audience? That feels equally shit.
What I keep coming back to instead is the idea of signal consistency. Not content consistency in terms of the same message over and over, but the consistency of what people can expect from you over time: the questions you're always asking, the kinds of things you’re being seen doing and being into, the framing you bring to whatever you're talking about, and what you can be counted on to notice that others might miss.
And that demands a different kind of discipline that is not at all the hustle energy of launching a thing, but the steady practice of showing up with your actual thinking and actual self on a rhythm that your people and your own creative practice can count on.
It means making visible not just your finished work, but sometimes also your process of working and sharing the questions that are driving your current projects and the connections you're making between seemingly unrelated ideas. All that.
What if, instead, we treated visibility as an extension of our creative practices rather than a separate promotional task?
To be sure, I am definitely not suggesting oversharing or documenting everything on your social platforms. Decide where the fucking line of privacy is for you right now and be decided. And, I’m also not suggesting you exhaust yourself with some unrealistic (and, tbh, fucking annoying af) posting schedule some marketing influencer decided is the only way.
But, I am suggesting that your audience might be interested in more than just your final, polished works. And the only way to make that visible is through consistent participation over time, not sporadic promotional efforts.
The creative folks who build lasting influence don't do it through single viral moments but through the sustained intellectual and energetic generosity of showing their thinking in progress, engaging with ideas publicly that matter to them, and contributing to conversations in ways that help other people think more clearly.
Also? Life happens and nothing is perfect and this won’t be perfect, either. But, it’s a practice and one that requires clarity and participation and showing up even when nothing exciting is happening.
But it works. And more importantly, it's sustainable. Because instead of exhausting yourself with launch energy every few months, you're building momentum that compounds over time.
If this is your jam and you're tired of the launch-and-disappear cycle, I wrote a framework for how to start building this very kind of sustained momentum. It's called the 90-Day Visibility Sprint. Use code SUBSTACKER and it’s my gift you. (Yes, that means it’s free.)
